county

Kittitas County, WA

Demographic and economic profile of Kittitas County, WA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Kittitas County is a small, rural county in central Washington with a population of 44,736 and a relatively young median age of 35.8 years, reflecting the presence of Central Washington University in Ellensburg. The labor force of roughly 27,500 shows a 61.4% participation rate, with 35.3% holding a bachelor's degree or higher and median worker earnings of $40,478—below the county's median household income of $73,804. Population has been essentially flat (–0.2% over five years), unemployment sits at 5.1%, and a 14.3% poverty rate coexists with a median home value of $459,900, suggesting housing cost pressure relative to local wages.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

44,736

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$73,804

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

35.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.2% since 2018

Kittitas County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone38,721 (82.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races2,326 (4.9%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,308 (4.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,210 (4.7%)
  • Asian Alone813 (1.7%)
  • Black or African American Alone532 (1.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish2,171
  2. 2.Other Indo-European207
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island197
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic184
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)82

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

65.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

17.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,959

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$44,319

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$41,356

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance5,784
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services3,695
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)2,318
  4. 4.Construction (Group)2,081
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,815

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations8,870
  2. 2.Service Occupations5,487
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations4,015
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,499
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,151

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 3.19×)1,116
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.68×)3,235
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.47×)1,520
  4. 4.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.22×)614
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.15×)1,742

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$459,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,253/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

61.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,9993,058 (24.9%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9992,251 (18.3%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9992,121 (17.3%)
  • $750,000 to $999,9991,871 (15.2%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,999593 (4.8%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999503 (4.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

35.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

61.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,478

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

23.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone15,907 (70.5%)
  • Worked At Home3,102 (13.8%)
  • Carpooled1,676 (7.4%)
  • Walked1,221 (5.4%)
  • Bicycle276 (1.2%)
  • Other205 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.