By Morf Morford, Tacoma Daily Index
Not only is Pierce County a strange place in terms of history, characters, events and businesses, it is also a large place. Just under one million people live in Pierce County (about 925,000 in July of 2021). And our county has about 1,668 square miles. That works out to about 552 of us per square mile.
Most of us have come from somewhere else. The port, the military bases or some accident of fate has brought us together here. Some for a few years, some for a few generations, some for millennia.
We are in many ways, a region in motion. From the economy, to the weather, to the landscape itself, nothing stays the same for long here.
I was born and raised in Pierce County, but most of my childhood haunts are unrecognizable or even gone entirely.
From shrunken to thoroughly evaporated glaciers, to communities that seem to pop up out of nowhere to bridges and highways that are where I remember barren country roads to parks and schools where they didn’t exist just a few years ago, Pierce County looks little like it did a decade or two ago. And looks little like it will when today’s children are tomorrow’s adults.
What sets Pierce County apart
Pierce County holds the highest point in the state (Mt. Rainier) and of course, islands and a major port at or near sea level. Pierce County has several glaciers and two entire rivers – from source to sea (Nisqually and Puyallup).
Pierce County is larger than one entire state; Rhode Island – and almost as large as another – Delaware. Pierce County is about 1,668 square miles as compared to Rhode Island with about 1,214 square miles (and home to over 1 million people). Delaware is 1,982 square miles.
Some facts about Pierce County
As of 2021, about 23% of us are age 18 or younger. About 14% of us are 65 or older. About 10% of us are foreign born. We have about 83,500 veterans residing here.
Housing
About 65% of us live in owner-occupied housing. Which means about 35% of us are renters. There are about 336,000 households in Pierce County – with an average of 2.65 per household.
96% of us have a computer at home – but about 92% have home internet access.
92% of us have a high school degree or better. 28% of us have a bachelor’s degree or better.
The average annual household income in Pierce County is about $82, 500. And we have about 8% at the poverty level.
There are about 18,700 employers that employ about 279,500 of us. There are about 1,000 veteran-owned firms in Pierce County and about 3,000 businesses owned and operated by women.
Race and ethnicity
In many ways, Pierce County is a microcosm of the USA when it comes to race and ethnicity. About 70% of us define ourselves as white, about 8% as Black or African-American, about 8% Asian, about 4% Hawaiian/Alaskan or other Native, and about 12% Hispanic, with about 12% describing ourselves as mixed. You can see more details on Pierce County here.
Washington compared to other states
And if you think Pierce County is an interesting and diverse place, consider our state. With prairies, wheat fields, mountain ranges and massive rivers, Washington is large enough to swallow up other states, even nations.
The state of Washington is about 64 times the size of Rhode Island. You can see a map of Washington with Rhode Island superimposed here. Washington is about 70% of the size of Oregon. Washington has about 3 million more people.
Compared to other countries
The state of Washington is about the size of several entire countries. It’s about half the size of Germany, four times the size of Netherlands and about a third of the size of France.
Washington is about half the size of Japan – but almost 118 million more people live in Japan than Washington.
Washington is about four times bigger than Switzerland – and Switzerland has about 2 million more people.
In short, Washington is large enough, diverse enough and has enough resources to be its own free-standing country.
Visitors from other states or nations are often amazed that one can drive for hours without leaving the state.
From mountains to deserts to river deltas, massive agricultural areas and world class cities, Washington has it all.
