Fast Growing Tri-Cities Ranks Where in Washington Population?

You’ve heard it time and time again…”The Tri-Cities is the fastest growing area in Washington State”.  But is it really?  It’s easy to forget two simple words like “one of”…meaning “one of the fastest growing areas”.  Thing is, the Tri-Cities isn’t “one of” the fastest growing areas…it IS the fastest growing area.

The reality is the tri-Cities has been the fastest growing area in the State for two decades.  What’s even more amazing is that for the duration of that 20 year run, the population growth of the Tri-Cities has outpaced the growth of Washington State every single year.

The following graph from Benton-Franklin Trends shows the rate of growth for the Tri-Cities area, and to the larger picture Benton and Franklin Counties,

The most recent numbers, according to TRIDEC, has the Tri-Cities metropolitan statistical area just under 317,000 people.  The total population of just the three cities themselves is 231,070 with Kennewick the largest (86,470), followed closely by Pasco (81,280), then Richland (63,320).

Those numbers make the TC the second largest community in the State of Washington and the largest in Eastern Washington.  Alone, the three cities are 15th, 16th, and 21st respectively, combined they have surpassed Spokane for the largest community in Eastern Washington.

The three cities, at the confluence of three rivers, have each taken turns with population booms.  In 2022 Pasco was listed as the 8th fastest growing city in the United States for the period between 2016-2021.  As a resident for nearly a quarter century, it doesn’t surprise me.

Roughly 300 days of sunshine is a stark difference from rain soaked Seattle and the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima Rivers provide everything a water enthusiast can ask.  Projections have the area hitting the 350,000 population mark by 2030.  Let the ascent continue.