County Factsheet: Clark County, Washington
| Summary County Data(and Source) | |
|---|---|
| Population (2008 CB est.): | 424,733 |
| Population (2000 Census): | 345,238 |
| Foreign-born Population (2008 FAIR est.): | 42,570 |
| Foreign-born Population (2000 Census): | 29,357 |
| Share Foreign Born (2008): | 10.0% |
| Share Foreign Born (2000): | 8.5% |
| Immigrant Settlement 1991-98 (INS): | 5,828 |
| Population Projection 2025 (FAIR): | 874,300 |
COUNTY POPULATION
The population of Clark County was estimated by the Census Bureau at 424,733 residents as of July 2008. That was an increase of 23 percent since the 2000 Census.
The 2000 Census recorded 345,238 residents in the County. That was 45 percent more residents than the 238,053 in the 1990 Census. During the previous decade, the population of the County increased by 23.8 percent from 192,227 in 1980.
According to the 2008 Census Bureau estimate, Clark County's population has increased since July 2000 from domestic migration (an annual average of about 5,610 more native-born residents arriving than leaving), natural change (an annual average of about 2,985 more births than deaths) and net international migration (an annual average of about 1,260 more foreign-born residents arriving than leaving). Therefore, immigration was the smallest component of population change, and it accounted for more than one-eighth (13.1%) of the County’s population increase.
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION
FAIR estimates the foreign-born population in Clark County in mid-year 2008 to be about 42,570 persons (10% of the population). This represents an increase of 45 percent from the 2000 Census and compares with a 21 percent increase in the native-born population.
Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 20 percent share of the County’s current births is large enough to account for about 1,110 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may be adding as many as 2,370 persons to the County’s population annually, which is nearly one-fourth (24.7%) of the county’s annual average population increase.
The 2000 census recorded 29,357 foreign-born residents in Clark County. That was a 8.5 percent share of the overall population, which was lower than for the state (10.4%). The 2000 data showed an increase of 238.4 percent in the immigrant population since 1990, which compared with an increase of 37.7 percent in the native-born population (which includes children born to immigrants) over the same period. That meant that the increase in the immigrant population directly accounted for 19.3 percent of the overall increase for the County.
In 2000, the Census recorded that more than half (57%) of the County's foreign-born population had entered since 1990. This was a much higher rate than for the state overall (46.6%). Over one-third (34.6%) of the foreign-born residents had become naturalized U.S. citizens. This was a lower share than for the state overall (39.2%).
Another indicator of the impact of the foreign-born population may be seen in data on residents who speak a language other than English at home. In Clark County in 2000, the share of other-than-English speakers at home (age 5 and older) was 11.5 percent. Nearly half (48.3%) of those persons described themselves as speaking English less than very well.
In 1990, the foreign-born population was about 8,675 residents. The share of the population that was foreign born was 3.6 percent. By comparison, the foreign-born population shares of the state and the country in 1990, respectively, were 6.6 percent and 7.9 percent.
LEGAL IMMIGRATION
A study released by the Center for Immigration Studies in October 2001 indicated that there were 5,828 legal immigrants who indicated that they intended to settle in Clark County between FY'91-'98. This number did not include persons granted legal immigrant status as a result of the 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens. The ten countries that supplied the largest number of these new immigrants are shown below.
| Immigrant Admissions FY'91-'98: Top Ten Countries | ||
| Rank | Country | No. of Immigrants |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 3,105 |
| 2 | Vietnam | 466 |
| 3 | Philippines | 327 |
| 4 | China * | 242 |
| 5 | Mexico | 185 |
| 6 | Canada | 160 |
| 7 | Korea | 155 |
| 8 | Romania | 154 |
| 9 | Yugoslavia | 153 |
| 10 | India | 122 |
* includes Hong Kong and Taiwan
POPULATION PROJECTION 2025
The current rate of population change between 1990-00, if continued, would result in a population in 2025 of 874,300. That is more than double (153.2%) the 2000 population. While it seems unlikely that the county could sustain the rapid population increase of the past decade for the next 25 years, the projection reflects what that would mean if that were that to happen.
