State
County
Land Area
48.7 sq mi
Density
3,849.0/sq mi
2020 Growth Rate
0.85%
Growth Since 2010
15.96%
Rank in State
Rank in Country
Metro Population
2,530,540
Vancouver is a city located in Washington. With a 2020 population of 187,615, it is the 4th largest city in Washington (after Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma) and the 136th largest city in the United States. Vancouver is currently growing at a rate of 0.85% annually and its population has increased by 15.96% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 161,791 in 2010. Vancouver reached it's highest population of 187,615 in 2021. Spanning over 52 miles, Vancouver has a population density of 3,849 people per square mile.
The average household income in Vancouver is $80,500 with a poverty rate of 12.75%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $1,219 per month, and the median house value is $286,500. The median age in Vancouver is 36.9 years, 35.8 years for males, and 38 years for females. For every 100 females there are 95.7 males.
Vancouver is a city that is located in the state of Washington. It serves as the county seat for Clark County and is a suburb of Portland. Through the years, Vancouver has been named as one of the best places to live in the country.
The city’s largest employer is PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. Other significant employers include Evergreen Public Schools, Vancouver Public Schools, the County of Clark and Fred Meyer, each of which employs over 1,000 people.
Vancouver has seen extensive population growth. In some cases, it has been due to the expansion of the city limits through annexation. The largest growth occurred between the censuses taken in 1990 and 2000 when the population grew from just over 46,000 to over 143,000. Though growth in recent years hasn’t been quite as staggering, since the 2010 census, estimates show that the population has grown by over 8%, indicating that Vancouver is well on its way to hitting 200,000 residents in the near future.
The Chinook and Klickitat tribes were the original inhabitants of Vancouver. Europeans arrived in the late 1700s, bringing along with them smallpox which eradicated about half of the Native American population by the early 1800s. The population of these original inhabitants and their ancestors continued to decline with the introduction of other diseases including malaria and measles.
Despite arriving in the area in the 1700s, Europeans did not settle in what is now Vancouver until 1824. The city began as Fort Vancouver and served as a fur trading post. The area came under the control of the U.S. in 1846 following the signing of the Oregon Treaty. Shortly before this a claim was laid and registered under the name Vancouver City. The claim was traced over just a few short years later, with the name changing to Columbia City before being changed to its current name in 1855. Only two years later, it was incorporated as a city.
Vancouver was once the capital of the Washington Territory, but this only lasted for a short time before Olympia became the capital once again.
In the 1900s, the city became quite prosperous following an economic boom from its three shipyards. The city continued to grow with the addition of an aluminum plant, which was powered using hydropower turbines. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, one of Vancouver’s shipyards went to work producing various ships, with a population of shipyard employees expanding to over 80,000.
The city has seen rapid growth throughout the years following its incorporation, with multiple annexations occurring throughout its history. In the 1940s, the city experienced an industrial boom with the addition of shipyards and a paper mill. Today, however, the city’s economy is now mostly reliant on high tech and service industry jobs. The Port of Vancouver, the third largest in the state, continues to operate and sees over 400 vessels each year, as well as barges.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Vancouver was:
2019 and 2020 population is estimated by projecting the raw 2018 numbers.
Year | Total Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 2,530,540 | 19,070 | 0.75% |
2020 | 2,511,470 | 19,060 | 0.76% |
2019 | 2,492,410 | 19,060 | 0.76% |
2018 | 2,473,350 | 18,530 | 0.75% |
2017 | 2,454,820 | 28,240 | 1.15% |
2016 | 2,426,580 | 44,920 | 1.85% |
2015 | 2,381,660 | 37,670 | 1.58% |
2014 | 2,343,990 | 32,970 | 1.41% |
2013 | 2,311,020 | 22,560 | 0.98% |
2012 | 2,288,460 | 25,630 | 1.12% |
2011 | 2,262,830 | 30,650 | 1.35% |
2010 | 2,232,180 | 0.00% |
Race | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White | 144,678 | 80.13% |
Two or More Races | 10,853 | 6.01% |
Asian | 10,140 | 5.62% |
Some Other Race | 6,913 | 3.83% |
Black or African American | 4,203 | 2.33% |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 2,769 | 1.53% |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 1,000 | 0.55% |
Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
---|---|---|---|
All | 72,508 | 2.46 | 51.7 |
Married | 31,169 | 3.22 | 67.1 |
Non Family | 29,293 | 1.33 | 42 |
Female | 8,085 | 3.21 | 33.1 |
Male | 3,961 | 3.21 | 40.4 |
3.07
Average Family Size
2.46
Average Household Size
Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Less Than 9th Grade | 3,679 | 2.96% |
9th to 12th Grade | 7,499 | 6.03% |
High School Graduate | 30,967 | 24.89% |
Some College | 33,202 | 26.69% |
Associates Degree | 12,708 | 10.22% |
Bachelors Degree | 23,910 | 19.22% |
Graduate Degree | 12,437 | 10.00% |
Name | Total | High School | Bachelors |
---|---|---|---|
White | 95,744 | 90,194 | 29,377 |
Hispanic | 11,922 | 8,336 | 1,684 |
Asian | 7,203 | 6,320 | 2,966 |
Multiple Races | 5,088 | 4,563 | 1,364 |
Other Race | 3,542 | 2,087 | 249 |
Black | 2,932 | 2,682 | 703 |
Islander | 1,668 | 1,281 | 285 |
Native American | 700 | 583 | 280 |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among white people with a rate of 94.20%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among asian people with a rate of 41.18%.
$40,349
Average Earnings
$46,044
Average Male
$32,902
Average Female
79.81% of Vancouver residents speak only English, while 20.19% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 9.76% of the population.
Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|---|
White | 127,563 | 13,857 | 10.86% |
Hispanic | 24,688 | 4,903 | 19.86% |
Multiple | 10,603 | 1,691 | 15.95% |
Asian | 10,119 | 1,398 | 13.82% |
Other | 6,808 | 1,050 | 15.42% |
Black | 4,046 | 798 | 19.72% |
Islander | 2,690 | 475 | 17.66% |
Native | 958 | 81 | 8.46% |
12.75%
Overall Poverty Rate
11.68%
Male Poverty Rate
13.77%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Vancouver is Hispanic, with 19.86% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Vancouver is Native, with 8.46% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 2.22%. Among those working part-time, it was 15.64%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 19.50%.
45.8%
Overall Marriage Rate
47.0%
Male Marriage Rate
44.6%
Female Marriage Rate
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 35-44.
Name | Veterans | % of Total |
---|---|---|
White | 10,749 | 9.35% |
Hispanic | 601 | 4.05% |
2 or More | 552 | 8.75% |
Asian | 292 | 3.54% |
Black | 252 | 7.63% |
Other | 146 | 3.27% |
Hawaiian | 61 | 2.95% |
Indian | 5 | 0.60% |
7.02%
Veteran Poverty Rate
31.07%
Veteran Disability Rate
64.7%
Labor Force Participation
61.3%
Employment Rate
5%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
86.10%
Native Born
13.90%
Foreign Born
7.14%
Non Citizen
6.75%
Naturalized
86.10% of Vancouver residents were born in the United States, with 30.93% having been born in Washington. 7.14% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.
Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 187,615 | 1,576 | 0.85% |
2020 | 186,039 | 1,576 | 0.85% |
2019 | 184,463 | 1,576 | 0.86% |
2018 | 182,887 | 2,527 | 1.40% |
2017 | 180,360 | 1,739 | 0.97% |
2016 | 178,621 | 2,212 | 1.25% |
2015 | 176,409 | 3,003 | 1.73% |
2014 | 173,406 | 1,841 | 1.07% |
2013 | 171,565 | 1,530 | 0.90% |
2012 | 170,035 | 989 | 0.59% |
2011 | 169,046 | 1,451 | 0.87% |
2010 | 167,595 | 24,035 | 1.56% |
2000 | 143,560 | 97,180 | 11.96% |
1990 | 46,380 | 3,546 | 0.80% |
1980 | 42,834 | 975 | 0.23% |
1970 | 41,859 | 9,395 | 2.57% |
1960 | 32,464 | -9,200 | -2.46% |
1950 | 41,664 | 22,876 | 8.29% |
1940 | 18,788 | 3,022 | 1.77% |
1930 | 15,766 | 3,129 | 2.24% |
1920 | 12,637 | 3,337 | 3.11% |
1910 | 9,300 | 6,174 | 11.52% |
1900 | 3,126 | -419 | -1.25% |
1890 | 3,545 | 0.00% |