Whatcom County, Washington

• White (non-Hispanic) 174,501 75.7%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 24,461 10.6%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 2,118 0.9%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 10,036 4.4%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 14,396 6.2%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 3,609 1.6%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 503 0.2%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 879 0.4%

• Under 18 42,743 18.5%
• 18–24 29,969 13.0%
• 25–44 61,773 26.8%
• 45–64 52,450 22.8%
• 65 and over 43,568 18.9%

Median household income

$85,471

90% interval $79,700–$91,242

−$13,838 vs WA · 11th of 39

Below poverty line

11.4%

90% interval 9.9%–12.9%

+1.4 pp vs WA · 21st of 39

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.5%

−0.44 pp vs. state

County GDP

$20.6B

2.41% of state

Avg. annual pay

$69,434

Establishments

7,470

• Education & health services 22,676 24.2%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 16,162 17.2%
• Leisure & hospitality 9,790 10.4%
• Manufacturing 9,189 9.8%
• Professional & business services 8,889 9.5%
• Construction 7,930 8.5%
• Public administration 5,824 6.2%
• Financial activities 3,733 4.0%
• Other services 3,690 3.9%
• Natural resources & mining 3,643 3.9%
• Information 1,202 1.3%

The sectors listed cover 98.9% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

63.7%

−0.1 pp vs WA · 35th of 39

Median gross rent

$1,555

−$205 vs WA · 8th of 39

Owner-occupied

59,904

Renter-occupied

34,117

• Diversified

  Top three sectors employ 52% of the workforce, a relatively diversified local economy. Expect mixed employer backgrounds on the panel rather than concentration in any one institution or industry.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Information, $180,429/yr) pays 6.1× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $29,667/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 13 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Democratic 83,295 60.8%
• Republican 49,213 35.9%
• Other / third-party 4,498 3.3%

• Spanish 13,495 6.1%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 2,118 1.0%
• Chinese 2,030 0.9%
• German or other West Germanic 1,102 0.5%
• Tagalog 856 0.4%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 724 0.3%
• Vietnamese 698 0.3%
• Arabic 451 0.2%
• Korean 343 0.2%

Households

94,021

Family households

55,302

58.8% of households

Married couples w/ children

16,738

30.3% of families

Single-mother families

3,676

6.6% of families

Veterans

11,811

6.3% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 64,067 28.2%
• Catholic 16,069 7.1%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 11,891 5.2%
• Mainline Protestant 6,876 3.0%
• Orthodox 240 0.1%

Health insured

94.2%

±0.6 pp

Uninsured

5.8%

±0.6 pp

26th of 39

With a disability

14.3%

±0.7 pp

30th of 39

Bachelor's or higher

39.3%

±1.2 pp

−0.3 pp vs WA · 5th of 39

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

8.8%

90% interval 8.0%–9.6% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

9th Superior Court District

Judges

5 (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

Bellingham

Traffic fatalities

12

6.39 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

12