PACIFIC COUNTY Pacific Countys people are among the most experienced in Washington state. Nearly one-quarter of us were 65 or older at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census, according to detailed federal demographic reports issued last week.

The county ranks third among the states 39 counties in terms of the percentage of residents 65 and above, with 24.8 percent. The oldest county is Jefferson the middle slice of the Olympic Peninsula north of us on the coast with 26.3 percent. Wahkiakum County to our immediate east is second, with 25.4 percent. Clallam County the northern slice of the Olympic Peninsula and home to the retirement Mecca of Sequim is fourth with 24 percent.

Eleven years ago when the 2000 census was taken, Pacific County had the states highest percentage of 65-plus residents, 22.6 percent at the time. We have become somewhat older on average in the intervening years, while Jefferson and Wahkiakum added even more senior citizens during the decade.

In the state as a whole, 12.7 percent of residents were 65-plus in 2010 and the median age of the entire population was 37.3 years. In Pacific County, the median age was 50.8, meaning half of residents are older and half are younger than that number. This means that on average, we are 11 percent older than in 1990, when the countys median age was 45.8 years. 

Franklin County near the southeast corner of the state has the lowest number of seniors, just 7.3 percent.

Among our countys main towns, Ocean Park has the highest median age, 58.6, followed by Chinook at 54.2, Ilwaco 50.2 and Long Beach 50.1. Naselle is youngest, coming in at 39.2.

Between 2000 and 2010, the county experienced a 72 percent increase in the number of senior citizens living alone. There were 3,132 one-person households in the county in 2010, of whom 1,650 were women age 65 and older and 591 were men 65 and older. In comparison, in 2000 there were 2,680 one-person households 1,304 were 65-plus. 

 

Children

On the other end of the lifecycle, Pacific County is tied with Wahkiakum for third-lowest number of residents in the state between birth and 19 years old 20 percent. Jefferson had the lowest proportion of children, 16.5 percent, and the San Juan Islands were second, with 17.1 percent.

Statewide, the proportion of residents age 19 and younger was 26.3 percent in 2010. Adams County in the states southeast had the biggest proportion of kids, 38.1 percent.

Just under 21 percent of Pacific County households included children under age 18, compared to 26 percent that did in 2000.

 

Families

The number of families in the county declined to 5,707 in 2010 from 5,886 in 2000. Married couples totaled 4,525 in 2010, down from 4,832, and 1,087 of these families had children under age 18 at home. This is a large drop of nearly 26 percent in the number of traditional two-parent families here since 2000.

There has been a slight decline in the number of single moms in the county living with kids under 18 years of age from 445 in 2000 to 401 in 2010. 

On the other hand, there has been a big increase in the number of single fathers with minor children living with them. There were 234 such families here last year. In 2000, the Census Bureau lumped single-father families with those led by grandparents or other families members, and there were a total of 193.

 

Gender

Males slightly outnumbered females in the county 10,488 to 10,432. Among the 60-plus set, however, there were more women than men: 3,690 to 3,436. In 2000, the split was 10,402 males to 10,582 females.

Among teenagers 15 to 19 years old, in 2010 there were far more boys than girls 668 to 504, a ratio skewed by the disproportionate number of males incarcerated at Naselle Youth Camp. 

Among people in their 20s, there were 937 men to 856 women; among 30-somethings, the split was 932 men/879 women; 40-somethings 1,221 men/1,200 women; 50-somethings 1,754 men/1,854 women.

 

Households

The number of households in the county dwellings of any kind occupied by one or more people was 9,499 in 2010, up only about 4.5 percent from 2000s total of 9,096. This reflects the countys increase in housing units but loss of population during the decade, from 20,984 in 2000 to 20,920 in 2010.

Housing units totaled 15,547 in the county in 2010, up 11.1 percent from 2000, when there were 13,991. Of the 2010 total, 9,499 were occupied.

About 64 percent of the state housing units were owner-occupied, compared to 36.1 percent that were rented. In Pacific County, 72.9 percent are owner-occupied, versus 27.1 percent rented.

About one-third of the countys housing stock was for seasonal, recreational or occasional use 5,032 units. The number of vacation homes in Pacific County increased 34.5 percent between 2000 and 2010. Only San Juan County, another favorite place for second homes, had a higher percentage 35.7 percent compared to 32.4 percent here. The proportion of vacation housing in both counties is more than 10 times the state average. 

Considering Pacific Countys other owner-occupied dwellings averaged 2.17 people each, if the occupants of vacation homes were considered county residents, they might add about 10,919 to our population, bringing the total to around 32,000. Statewide, there were an average of 2.51 people per household in 2010. 

The vast majority of our countys vacation housing is on the Peninsula. For example, fully half of the 1,806 housing units in Ocean Park and Nahcotta are vacation and summerhouses. The percentage is 45.2 percent in Long Beach and 13.8 percent in Ilwaco. In contrast, in Raymond only 1 percent of housing is for vacation use and in South Bend 2.4 percent. It is 18.5 percent in Chinook and 29 percent in Bay Center.