Benton County, Washington

• White (non-Hispanic) 137,553 64.6%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 54,546 25.6%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 3,401 1.6%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 6,490 3.0%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 8,220 3.9%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 869 0.4%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 461 0.2%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 1,365 0.6%

• Under 18 55,579 26.1%
• 18–24 18,128 8.5%
• 25–44 57,685 27.1%
• 45–64 47,717 22.4%
• 65 and over 33,796 15.9%

Median household income

$91,289

90% interval $87,245–$95,333

−$8,020 vs WA · 7th of 39

Below poverty line

10.6%

90% interval 9.2%–12.0%

+0.6 pp vs WA · 24th of 39

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.8%

−0.16 pp vs. state

County GDP

$16.9B

1.98% of state

Avg. annual pay

$74,052

Establishments

5,506

• Education & health services 24,628 24.6%
• Professional & business services 21,655 21.7%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 14,779 14.8%
• Leisure & hospitality 9,438 9.4%
• Construction 8,202 8.2%
• Natural resources & mining 7,266 7.3%
• Manufacturing 4,622 4.6%
• Public administration 3,424 3.4%
• Financial activities 3,153 3.2%
• Other services 2,082 2.1%
• Information 518 0.5%

Home ownership

67.6%

+3.8 pp vs WA · 28th of 39

Median gross rent

$1,306

−$454 vs WA · 13th of 39

Owner-occupied

52,779

Renter-occupied

25,267

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 61% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Professional & business services, $116,037/yr) pays 4.1× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $28,425/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Institutional employer scale

  Average establishment employs 18 workers, typical of an institutional-employer economy where large hospitals, plants, schools, and government agencies dominate. Expect many panelists to share an employer rather than work for themselves.

• Republican 59,555 59.6%
• Democratic 37,662 37.7%
• Other / third-party 2,730 2.7%

• Spanish 33,439 16.8%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 1,788 0.9%
• Arabic 1,228 0.6%
• Chinese 949 0.5%
• Vietnamese 708 0.4%
• Korean 508 0.3%
• German or other West Germanic 484 0.2%
• Tagalog 374 0.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 199 0.1%

Households

78,046

Family households

52,763

67.6% of households

Married couples w/ children

15,919

30.2% of families

Single-mother families

5,095

9.7% of families

Veterans

11,824

7.5% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 47,838 23.1%
• Catholic 29,972 14.5%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 27,542 13.3%
• Mainline Protestant 5,135 2.5%
• Black Protestant 120 0.1%
• Orthodox 100 0.0%

Health insured

92.1%

±0.6 pp

Uninsured

7.9%

±0.6 pp

8th of 39

With a disability

15.1%

±0.8 pp

25th of 39

Bachelor's or higher

33.2%

±1.3 pp

−6.4 pp vs WA · 12th of 39

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

9.7%

90% interval 8.8%–10.6% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

10th Superior Court District

Judges

8 (Superior Court judges per district (general civil + felony criminal + family + juvenile + probate jurisdiction); vintage 2026 courts.wa.gov; cross-checked against RCW § 2.08.064. District Court judges (limited jurisdiction: misdemeanors, traffic, small civil up to $100K) are separately allocated and not counted here. Municipal Court judges (city-level traffic + misdemeanor) also separate.)

Court seats

Pasco, Prosser

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

17

10.81 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

13