Trending News

Gender Pay Gap: 2021

Washington Has One of the Largest Pay Gaps in the County

Most Americans are aware of the Decennial Census conducted every 10 years by the US Census Bureau. This survey helps provide an official count of the population and determines congressional representation. The American Community Survey (ACS) on the other hand, is conducted every year and is sent out to a large sample of addresses. This survey is more involved, as it asks...

Debt in America: An Interactive Map

How Debt Affects Different Communities

The Urban Institute recently updated the data tool, Debt in America: An Interactive Map, which uses credit bureau data as well as summary tables from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). The interactive map shows how different types of debt affect different communities. It specifically looks at...

Business Formation Statistics by State

Percent Change in Business Applications

The formation of new businesses is an indicator of economic growth and prosperity within in a region. New firms have the potential to bring additional tax revenue as well as employment opportunities to the local economy. An Interactive Gallery published by the U.S. Census Bureau, titled Business Formation Statistics by State, shows the...

Alternate Modes of Commuter Transportation

The Pandemic Has Changed Commute to Work Patterns Here

Have Chelan and Douglas Counties become the new home for hundreds of big city refugees since the pandemic? Judging from the Trends’ Net Migration indicator, possibly. 2020 was the third-highest flow on record, at an estimated 1,677 new residents due to moving in. The three years since then have all shown in-flows considerably higher than the average of the five years preceding the pandemic...

2023 Will Likely be a Difficult Year for Taxable Retail Sales Here

One year a trend does not make. But two quarters give us a good idea how a year will end. For taxable retail sales in the two counties, 2023 is not shaping up as a stellar one. As Trends indicator Quarterly Taxable Retail Sales reveals, year-over-year growth for quarters one and two of this year has been negative: -4.8% and -1.8%, respectively. We won’t know the results for the third quarter for another 6 weeks...

Strong Travel & Tourism Boosts Accommodations Employment

Regional economies are often characterized by the types of work residents engage in, with the types of jobs reflecting the nature of revenue streams and wages that the community can expect. But local economies can transform themselves. In the combined counties of Chelan and Douglas, where the greatest employment has long been in agriculture, there are signs that declining ag employment is being...

Angelica Cortes

Hometown: Zillah, WA

Major: Data Analytics

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2024

Post-graduation Plans:
I hope to find a job as a Data Analyst somewhere in the PNW.

After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far: Handling the data and learning more about the counties that make up Washington State.

Chelan Douglas Trends Newsletter – December 2023