State and federal agencies have found slowing growth in Pacific County in recent years, and new state figures released late last month now suggest the local population has stagnated altogether.

The Washington State Office of Financial Management pegged the county’s population at 23,950 as of April 1, unchanged from the agency’s 2024 estimate. It’s the first time Pacific County has not seen year-over-year population growth in at least a dozen years, according to OFM data.

The state’s findings differ somewhat from the U.S. Census Bureau, which also releases annual population estimates for all counties across the country. The census bureau’s latest projections, released in March, had the county’s population at 24,245 as of July 2024 — about 300 more people than the state’s estimates for the past two years.

According to OFM, its population estimates are developed using both state and local government data. The figures are based on the most recent federal census counts — the last census occurring in 2020 — with annual change added by monitoring changes in births, deaths, housing supply, school enrollment, voter registrations, motor vehicle registrations and employment.

But overall, both the state and federal agencies have found that local growth has slowed significantly post-pandemic, after Pacific County experienced somewhat of a population boom beginning in the early 2010s. Over the ten-year period from 2013-22, the county actually had the highest rate of population growth in the state, seeing its population rise by 18%.

Since 2020, however, Pacific County’s population has grown by only 2.5%. That mark ranks just 32nd out of Washington’s 39 counties. Neighboring Grays Harbor and Wahkiakum counties have seen slightly higher growth, at 2.8% and 2.9%, respectively, while Lewis County has grown by 4.1%, which ranks 18th in the state.

The OFM population estimates are used for the distribution of roughly $220 million in state funding to local governments each year. They also help to target the delivery of health care services and monitor the spread of disease, as well as assist in planning for housing and environmental protection.

Looking at OFM’s statewide figures, Washington’s population has grown by 5.3% since 2020 and stood at 8,115,100 as of April 1. Southwest Washington’s own Clark County has posted the highest population growth in that span, increasing 7.5%, while tiny Columbia County, in the southeast part of the state, is the only county to experience a decline in population this decade — a loss of two people.

All of Pacific County’s population growth since 2020 has been due to migration into the county, rather than through natural change. There have been 1,189 more deaths than births in the county over the past five years, but 1,724 more people have moved into the county than have moved out of it over that same span.

Housing grows, modestly

While the county’s population remained flat year-over-year, there continued to be modest growth in new housing. There are an estimated 16,682 housing units in Pacific County in 2025, according to OFM, which is up 0.65% from the 16,575 units it clocked the year prior.

New housing in the county has outpaced population growth in the 2020s by a decent margin. Since the 2020 Census, the county has added 648 additional housing units, a 4% increase compared to the 2.5% increase in population over that same period.

Most of the new housing growth has been single-family housing, which makes up about 68% of all housing units in Pacific County. OFM estimates that there have been 67 new multi-family houses built in the county since 2020, bringing that total to 1,202 units — about 7% of all housing in the county. The remaining 25% of housing types in the county are mobile homes or other uncategorized units.

Washington as a whole added 47,900 new housing units from 2024 to 2025, according to OFM. Of all new housing built statewide over the past year, 68% were multi-family units. King County, as expected, led the way with 20,200 new units — representing 42% of the state’s total year-over-year housing growth.

Since 2020, the state has seen its housing stock grow by 7.5%, almost double the rate of growth that has been seen in Pacific County.