Population estimates put Lacey's growth in spotlight

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published July 03, 2008

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Population estimates released Wednesday continue a familiar theme for Thurston County's two largest cities: steady but unremarkable growth in Olympia and steady increases for its neighbor, Lacey.

Lacey grew 6 percent for the year that ended April 1, its biggest annual jump since 2000, according to estimates from the state Office of Financial Management. It leapfrogged Marysville and Puyallup to become the state's 24th-most-populous city.

The capital added 340 residents, continuing its trend of small increments in population growth. Olympia's annual population gain has not surpassed 1.6 percent since the beginning of the decade, estimates show.

Since 2000, Lacey's population has grown 21.8 percent; Olympia's has increased 5.4 percent. Lacey now has 38,040 residents, and Olympia has 44,800. Thurston County's population is nearing a quarter-million, although growth statewide continues to slow as a result of the weakened economy, according to state demographers.

The state's population is 6,587,600, an addition of 99,600 people from the previous year, estimates show. The increase in the statewide population has slowed since 2006, when annual growth approached 120,000.

Theresa Lowe, the state's chief demographer, said the deceleration mostly is a result of fewer people moving into the state because of the upheaval in the housing market and poor economy. About 81,000 people moved to the state in 2006, compared with 59,000 this year, estimates show.

"Many job seekers are finding it difficult to sell their homes, or to relocate to accept employment at the price of paying two mortgages for an extended period," Lowe said.

"Thus, even those states faring better in terms of housing and job opportunities are not expecting the level of migration that would be expected under normal circumstances."

Residents have filled the hundreds of new homes that builders constructed in the past two years in Hawks Prairie and the southern part of Lacey during the housing boom. But home construction has slowed since last July, and the annual increase in Lacey's population is sure to follow the same trend.