Welcome to Spokane County!
Spokane County and environs form the 97th largest MSA by population, but combines the best of both a large and small city environment. A large, rushing river runs through the County, with lakes and mountains within a half an hour drive. The community is home for four universities, a diversifying economy, significant sports and cultural events.
Recent Updates:
In PEOPLE:
Population by age group reveal a dynamic skewing growth to the young and old.
This measure presents a simplified version of a population pyramid. It uses four groups to track changes of the size of shares of the following age brackets: 0-17 years, 18-34 years, 35-64 years and 65+.
The current reading – from 2025 - shows the largest group in the county consists of 35-64 years-old, at 36%, slightly lower than the state share. The smallest group consists of older adults, with a share of 20%, slightly higher than the state share. The shares of the other two groups are remarkably similar to those of the state.
Over the past decade, the share of the 65+ group in the county has added four percentage points, the most of any, while the share of the 35-64 group has shed two percentage points. Young adults here (18-34) have seen their share decline while youth (0-17) has experienced an offsetting increase.
To simplify the graph, click of an element in the legend you would like to hide.
In ECONOMIC VITALITY:
The price parity index indicates the Spokane metro area is no bargain.
This measure from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis compares the cost of living of one metro area in the U.S. to the national average. This not the Consumer Price Index, with “standalone” values; rather, it’s a ratio. 100 then indicates that a metro area is right at the average; less than 100 signifies lower costs than average.
For the most recent year, 2024, the Spokane MSA (metropolitan statistical area) displayed a very average overall cost of living, at 100.3. The Spokane MSA consists of Spokane and Stevens Counties. The reading equaled the index value for the Tri Cities but was slightly higher than in the Boise MSA (98.4). Note the elevated reading for the Seattle metro area.
A decade ago, the Spokane metro area could claim to be less expensive than the national average, with an index value of 96.
Multi-family resident building permits in the county have recently been the highest ever.
The U.S. Census tracks building permits for all types of housing, with single-family and multi-family being the two dominant types. Permits are typically near-term harbingers of residential construction activities, key elements of most economies.
2025 market brought a slackening of units of multi-family plans in Spokane County from the prior three years, with about 1,600 units permitted last year. Still, the “intensity,” of multi-family planned units, or units per 10,000 residents continued to rest far about the rates for the U.S. and the state. The overwhelming majority of the units stemmed from buildings with 5 or more units, as it has been historically.
To simplify the graph, click of an element in the legend you would like to hide.
Spokane County’s labor force shrank further in 2025, as did its participation rate.
The labor force is defined as the sum of people employed or unemployed (but looking for work). The participation rate is simply the labor force divided by a population number, here the number of people who are 16 years or over. Economic development rests on the ability of a workforce to expand. One can do this via increases in the headcount, or by increases in the willingness of the population to engage in work, or by both factors.
For 2025, these components weakened in the county. The labor force shrunk to about 257,000 from over 262,000 the prior year. Both years are down from the peak reached in 2023 of about 264,000.
Not surprisingly, the participation rate slumped from the prior year to 56%. In 2019, it was 63%, and in 2023, it came in at 59%. Will this downward trend reverse in future years?
In EDUCATION:
The share of county 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in Spokane County preschool has continued to slide.
For 2024, Census estimates that 40% of 3- and 4-year-olds were enrolled in some form of preschool. This represents a significant decline from the peak reached in 2022, at 54%. The 2024 rates for the U.S. and Washington state were much higher, at 49% and 47%, respectively.
Over time, enrollment rates in the county for this age group have typically been lower than those of the benchmarks.
In EDUCATION cont:
Kindergarten readiness by Spokane County kids of color improves.
The WaKIDS assessment was first given to entering children of full-day, public kindergartens in the state of Washington in the fall of 2014. It aims are describing the “whole child,” via 6 areas: cognitive, language, literature, math, social/emotional and physical. Ideally, a child is deemed kindergarten-ready in all six domains. This indicator tracks the share of young children of color in all Spokane County public school kindergartens who meet that goal.
For school year 2025-26, the share of county public school kindergarteners who were ready in all six domains hit a peak, at 53%. Contrast that to a decade prior, when the share was 39%. The most recent result still places the county average below the state average, with the share at 55%. A difference that has existed for nearly the entire time of the assessment. Still, the gap has narrowed recently.
To simplify the graph, click of an element in the legend you would like to hide.
A high school diploma marks a significant achievement in a young person’s life. It is often even more meaningful for students who have overcome significant obstacles, such as a dealing with poverty at home or facing homelessness, here defined to included “roof-swapping” more than the unsheltered. Without a diploma, life’s prospects will be daunting.
This indicator tracks the extended graduation rate for these two student populations in the county’s public schools. Cohort-based, the rate calculates the share of ninth graders who receive their diploma within 5 years, with allowances made for transfers.
For low-income students, the most current rate is 82% for county schools. This represents an improvement from 75% over the past decade. For homeless students, the most recent rate is 72%, also representing an improvement from a decade ago, when it stood at 64%.
For both groups of students, Spokane’s experience bests that of the state, as it has every year measured.
To simplify the graph, click of an element in the legend you would like to hide.
Nearly all career advice given to high school seniors is to continue formal learning after the high school diploma. Economic evidence is clear about the value of some education beyond high school.
This indicator tracks the share of those graduating seniors who were in a four-year, non-profit higher education institution within a year of graduation from the two largest school districts in the county: Spokane and Central Valley. The schools may be public or private and can located anywhere in the U.S. (A companion indicator exists for the share of students of color enrolling in a two-year institution; see here.)
For the class of 2024, the racial group with the highest college-going shares was Asian American, at 52-53% of graduating seniors. These results still lie below the state average.
The next highest group was Whites, with 32-33% of graduates. This largely matched the state rates.
The third highest group consisted of two or more races, at 27-38%. The rate from Central Valley school district was above the state rate, while the rate from Spokane School lay below it.
To simplify the graph, click of an element in the legend you would like to hide.
In HOUSING:
The All-buyers housing affordability index for Spokane County turned up sharply at year’s end.
Housing prices often grab the headlines of news covering the residential real estate market. But without the context of buyers’ income, one can’t draw conclusions about prices being high, low, or in the middle. This measure, from the Washington State Real Estate Research Center at the University of Washington, presents affordability essentially as income divided by housing costs. Specifically, it is a ratio of median household income (in the numerator) to mortgage costs (denominator) of a median price home, with a 30-year fixed loan, under current interest rates.
The ratio is converted to an index by the assumption that a household doesn’t spend more than 25% of its income on housing. That implies a value of 100, or “just affordable.”. A value above 100 implies “more affordable,” and a value less than 100 signifies “less affordable.”
For the 4th quarter of 2025, the index value in Spokane County was 88.5. This represents a strong increase from the prior two quarters and the “most affordable” reading since Q4 of 2021. The gap to the state affordability index also widened at the end of last year, although it is still modest compared to the years 2015-2018.
In PUBLIC SAFETY:
Property crime has continued to decline in the county but remains above benchmarks.
In 2024, property crimes reported to the various public safety agencies in Spokane County were the lowest since 2008, with a rate the lowest on record. The total number of crimes reported in 2024 was nearly 19,000 and the rate per 1,000 residents 33.1. Compare this result with the peak experienced in 2013: over 31,000 and a rate of 60.8.
Since the turn of the century, the property crime rate here has been higher than that of the state for most years, although the gap has recently narrowed. Over all years, Spokane’s property crime rate has rested above that of the U.S.
To simplify the graph, click of an element in the legend you would like to hide.
list updated 4.26.2026
The complete list of Spokane Trends can be found here.
New Intern Features
Moon Alvarez
Hometown: Wapato, WA
Major: Accounting and Human Resources
Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2028
Post-graduation plans: Follow the jobs, whether here or elsewhere.
After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
My favorite thing so far is updating the indicators! I've always been a big numbers person. Updating indicators and seeing the way everything has changed over time is extremely interesting.
About The Institute
The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis is a research institute for applied regional research that provides easily accessible community indicator data. The Institute publishes nine community trend sites for thirteen Washington counties, all of which cover a variety of factors like economic vitality, health, housing, and more. The Institute’s work is aimed to promote data-based decision making and provide readily available and extensive data for communities across Washington state.
