{"id":1850,"date":"2024-08-19T12:28:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T19:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/?page_id=1850"},"modified":"2024-08-19T12:29:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T19:29:30","slug":"june24_blog","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/june24_blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Spokane Trends Blog – June 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welcome to Spokane County!<\/strong><\/h3>

Spokane County and environs form the 99th 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.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Recent Updates:<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In ECONOMIC VITALITY<\/strong>:<\/p>

\u200bNon-employer Establishments<\/span>,<\/span> Total & Per 1,000 Residents<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>

This measure captures the number of registered businesses <\/span>that are sol<\/span>e<\/span> proprietorships. As <\/span>of<\/span> 2021 (<\/span>the <\/span>latest year for available data), Spokane County <\/span>had about 35,000<\/span> of these business entities<\/span>. <\/span>Expressed a<\/span>s a <\/span>per capita rate<\/span>, this was about <\/span>three quarters of the U.S. <\/span>result that year <\/span>but <\/span>nearly<\/span> e<\/span>qual<\/span> to the Washington rate.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u200bQuarterly Residential Building Permits & Number per 1,000 Residents<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>

These b<\/span>uilding permits offer a window in<\/span>to<\/span> near-term construction in the residential sector. <\/span>For the first quarter of this year, <\/span>the tally o<\/span>f <\/span>all <\/span>jurisdi<\/span>ctions<\/span> in the county <\/span>amounted to <\/span>786. <\/span>Th<\/span>is is <\/span>considerabl<\/span>y l<\/span>ower<\/span> than the permits in the same quarter from the prior two years (<\/span>1,087 and 1,116). Yet on a population basis, the County rate is still higher than the Washington state average.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

To simply the graph, click on the legend element you would like to remove<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>

\u200bTotal and Share of Overall Population Living in Poverty<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>

The estimated number of county residents living at or below the federal poverty threshold in 2022 was about 65,000. <\/span>This <\/span>represents<\/span> an increase of about 6,000 <\/span>from 2021 <\/span>and marks a return to pre-pandemic levels. <\/span>The 2022 estimate<\/span> implies a poverty rate of <\/span>approximately 12%<\/span>, above Washington\u2019s but about equal to that of the U.S<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In EDUCATION<\/strong>:<\/p>

STEM & Health Degrees Granted at Spokane County Higher Education Institutions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

The number of degrees<\/span> issued by Spokane higher ed institutions in these high demand fields has<\/span> largely plateaued<\/span> since 2015. <\/span>Bachelor\u2019s and associate<\/span>\u2019s<\/span> degrees have stayed stable while the count of <\/span>Master\u2019s<\/span> degrees has diminished. In contra<\/span>s<\/span>t, the number of doctorate<\/span>s<\/span> (<\/span>Ph.D.\u2019s<\/span> & MDs) <\/span>issued <\/span>has <\/span>climbed<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

To simply the graph, click on the legend element you would like to remove<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>

Share of Low-income High School Graduates Enrolled in Higher Education within One Year of Graduation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

The percentage of local, <\/span>public-school<\/span> graduates who <\/span>are low income and matriculate to a 2- or 4-year<\/span>,<\/span> no<\/span>t<\/span>-for-profit<\/span> college or university has typically been below the percentage<\/span> of students who are not low-income. However, the pandemic worsened the gap. For the class of 202<\/span>1<\/span>, <\/span>about 1\/3 of the County\u2019s low-income seniors went on to higher ed.<\/span> For the class of 2019, that<\/span> share<\/span> was 45%.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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In ENVIRONMENT<\/strong>:<\/p>

Air Quality Days, by Severity Level<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

The <\/span>U.S. <\/span>E<\/span>nvironmental <\/span>P<\/span>rotection <\/span>A<\/span>gency<\/span>, in conjunction <\/span>with <\/span><\/span>Spokane Regio<\/span>nal Clea<\/span>n Air Agency<\/span><\/span><\/a>,<\/span><\/span> continually <\/span>monitors<\/span> air quality<\/span> i<\/span>n the county<\/span>.<\/span> The data are <\/span>summari<\/span>z<\/span>ed<\/span> as d<\/span>aily values<\/span>, which are then <\/span>are then classified as \u201cgood,\u201d \u201cmoderate,\u201d \u201cunhealth<\/span>y<\/span>,\u201d or \u201cvery unhealthy<\/span>.\u201d For 2023, the number of good air days in Spokane County was 28<\/span>1. <\/span>This<\/span> result met exactly the <\/span>prior 1<\/span>0-year average <\/span>in the county.<\/span> The <\/span>number<\/span>, however, was below that of King & Pierce Counties.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

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\u200bWater Temperature Index of the Spokane & Little Spokane Rivers & Hangman Creek<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

A key <\/span>component<\/span> of <\/span>surface water quality is temperature. Washington Department of Ecology summarizes water <\/span>temperature in an annual index, with 100 the highest value. <\/span>Values between <\/span>80 and 100 <\/span>indicate<\/span> \u201clittle concern\u201d while values <\/span>40 and 80 <\/span>imply \u201csome concern\u201d<\/span>. <\/span>For the most recent year <\/span>of available data<\/span> (2022), <\/span>the temperature index of <\/span>the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers were of little concern<\/span>, but that of Hangman Creek was of some concern<\/span> (62).<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In HEALTH<\/strong>:<\/p>

Death by Leading Causes<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

2022 <\/span>represented<\/span> another year of falling death rates fr<\/span>om cancer in Spokane County (18.7% vs 21.5% a decade prior). <\/span>Heart disease and strok<\/span>e rates have also fallen over the decade. However, Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/span> has climbed as a cause of death over the period. <\/span>C<\/span>ovid-19 <\/span>was <\/span>still responsible for over 4% of all deaths<\/span> in 2022<\/span>, obviously not a factor in 2013.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

To simply the graph, click on the legend element you would like to remove<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>

In TRANSPORTATION<\/strong>:<\/p>

Local Government Expenditures on Road Maintenance & Operations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

The ability of local governments <\/span>to <\/span>maintain<\/span> roads <\/span>is a visible sign of their <\/span>success. While <\/span>an optimal<\/span> measure would be a road quality index, that is not available. <\/span>T<\/span>he <\/span>T<\/span>rends <\/span>appr<\/span>oximates<\/span> qua<\/span>lity <\/span>by tracking expenditures on maintenance. <\/span>For the most <\/span>recent <\/span>year of data (2022), total expenditures by all local governments in the county, expressed per capita, was about equal to the Washington avera<\/span>ge. <\/span>Expressed o<\/span>n an income basis, road maintenance expenditures<\/span> by the county\u2019s <\/span>jurisdictions<\/span> were<\/span> higher<\/span> than the<\/span> Washington average.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

list updated 06.20.24<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The complete list of Spokane Trends can be found here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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New Whitman County Trends Website<\/a><\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/a><\/div><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The new Whitman County Trends website has just launched, with nearly 100 indicators to track areas such as education, housing, public health and safety, and economic vitality. The website, like its counterpart here and for other Washington counties, has been designed to present data readily accessible to people in local communities. Trends sites are used by schools, businesses, non-profit...<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Graduating Interns<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In this issue, we say goodbye to four graduating interns. They have accomplished so much over the past year at the institute. Left to right, they are:\u00a0 Laura Velasquez-Neal (mechanical engineering), Jessica Phan (Visual Communications Design), Angelica Cortes (Data Analytics) and Miranda Carmona (Economics). Angelica and Miranda have each received the Frances Houston medal, awarded to 20 graduating seniors for excellence in academics. All four will do well wherever they go.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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About The Institute<\/strong><\/h2>

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 seven community trend sites for nine Washington counties, all of which cover a variety of factors like economic vitality, health, housing, and more. The Institute\u2019s work is aimed to promote data-based decision making and provide readily available and extensive data for communities across Washington state.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis\u2019s website has been revamped! Check out the new and improved website here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Spokane County!Spokane County and environs form the 99th largest MSA by population, but combines the best of both a large and small city environment. A large, rushing river… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1852,"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1850\/revisions\/1852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spokanetrends.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}