Top 10 Fastest-Growing Cities In Washington: See The List

OLYMPIA, WA — Seattle added over 128,000 residents between 2010 and 2020, making it the Washington city with the largest population growth over the past decade, according to newly released 2020 census data.

That's probably not a big surprise to Puget Sound residents, who have been feeling the weight of the city's population boom, which has caused rent spikes and increased housing shortages across the region. But what's more interesting is that Seattle didn't see the largest population growth by percentage — not even close.

Seattle's 128,355 new residents represent a 21.09 percent increase in the Rain City's population. Compare that to Qui-nai-elt Village in Grays Harbor, which grew from a population of just 54 in 2010 to 320 people in 2020, a growth of 492.59 percent. In comparison, Seattle's change almost seems quaint.

Even compared to other Puget Sound cities, Seattle's percentage growth fell short. Kirkland, for example, swelled 88.93 percent to a population of 92,175. Kent also grew significantly, adding 47.8 percent more residents for a total population of 136,588.

That's all according to new statistics from the 2020 Census that illustrate population changes for the nation, states and communities down to the block level. The data, which shows an increase in the population of the nation’s metro areas compared to a decade ago, also shows population changes in smaller cities.

The data represents where people were living as of April 1, 2020.

These are the top 10 fastest growing cities by number of residents added, according to the census data:

1. Seattle: Population 737,015 (+128,355)
2. Kent: Population 136,588 (+44,177)
3. Kirkland : Population 92,175 (+43,388)
4. Bellevue: Population 151,854 (+29,491)
5. Vancouver: Population 190,915 (+29,124)
6. Sammamish: Population 67,455 (+21,675)
7. Tacoma: Population 219,346 (+20,949)
8. Spokane: Population 228,989 (+20,073)
9. Redmond: Population 73,256 (+19,112)
10. Burien: Population 52,066 (+18,753)

The top 10 by percentage growth are:

1. Qui-nai-elt Village: Population 320 (+492.59 Percent)
2. Kendall: Population 769 (+302.62 Percent)
3. Laurier: Population 4 (+300 Percent)
4. Rochester: Population 6,064 (+153.94 Percent)
5. Hat Island: Population 91 (+121.95 Percent)
6. North Fort Lewis: Population 5,978 (+121.49 Percent)
7. Ridgefield: Population 10,319 (+116.65 Percent)
8. Summitview: Population 2,066 (+113.65 Percent)
9. Lake McMurray: Population 382 (+98.96 Percent)
10. Lake Stickney: Population 15,413 (+98.19 Percent)

Washington grew by 980,741 people (14.6 percent) between the 2010 and 2020 census, making it the seventh-fastest growing state in the country. The only states who grew more were Colorado, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas, Idaho and Utah, which took the top slot with 18.4 percent growth. The U.S. on the whole saw a 7.4 percent population growth.

Since the 2010 census, the population of U.S. metro areas has grown by 9 percent. Eighty-six percent of the country’s population was living in metro areas in 2020, compared to 85 percent in 2010.

Metro areas in the south and western United States saw the most growth, according to Marc Perry, a senior demographer at the Census Bureau.

“However, as we’ve been seeing in our annual population estimates, our nation is growing slower than it used to,” Perry said in a news release. “This decline is evident at the local level, where around 52 percent of the counties in the United States saw their 2020 census populations decrease from their 2010 census populations.”

Plenty of cities in Washington also lost people in the decade between 2010 and 2020. Here are the 10 cities that saw the biggest decrease in population, listed from highest to lowest percentage:

1. West Pasco: Population 1747 (-53.28 Percent)
2. Ravensdale: Population 555 (-49.59 Percent)
3. Disautel : Population 47 (-39.74 Percent)
4. Amanda Park: Population 162 (-35.71 Percent)
5. Orient: Population 75 (-34.78 Percent)
6. Vantage: Population 54 (-27.03 Percent)
7. Cusick: Population 153 (-26.09 Percent)
8. Mattawa: Population 3,335 (-24.84 Percent)
9. Kahlotus: Population 147 (-23.83 Percent)
10. Nespelem: Population 180 (-23.73 Percent)

Here are some other interesting findings from the data:

• The largest city in the United States in 2020 remains New York, with 8.8 million people.
• The largest county in the United States in 2020 remains Los Angeles County, with over 10 million people.
• The fastest-growing U.S. metro area between the 2010 and 2020 censuses was The Villages, FL, which grew 39 percent, from about 93,000 people to about 130,000.
  • However, as a state Florida grew just slightly less overall than Washington, with 15.56 percent growth.
• The U.S. metro areas with the largest declines in population were Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Danville, Illinois, losing 12.5 percent and 9.1 percent of their populations, respectively.

Read more about the 2020 U.S. Census results.