Clark County crowded with interesting people

How we compare with the state, nation and that city across the river:

White (not Hispanic)

U.S.: 65.4 percent

Washington: 75.3 percent

Clark County: 83.7 percent

Portland: 73.8 percent

Hispanic (any race)

U.S.: 15.4 percent

Washington: 9.8 percent

Clark County: 6.8 percent

Portland: 8.9 percent

Asian

U.S.: 4.4 percent

Washington: 6.5 percent

Clark County: 3.3 percent

Portland: 6.4 percent

Black

U.S.: 12.4 percent

Washington: 3.4 percent

Clark County: 2 percent

Portland: 6.4 percent

American Indian or Alaska native

U.S.: 0.8 percent

Washington: 1.4 percent

Clark County: 0.6 percent

Portland: 1 percent

Foreign-born

U.S.: 12.5 percent

Washington: 12.3 percent

Clark County: 10.3 percent

Portland: 13.1 percent

Adults, 25 and older, who are at least high school graduates

U.S.: 85 percent

Washington: 88.6 percent

Clark County: 90.5 percent

Portland: 90 percent

Adults, 25 and older, who have earned at least bachelor’s degrees

U.S.: 27.7 percent

Washington: 30.7 percent

Clark County: 25.7 percent

Portland: 42.3 percent

Owner-occupied homes

U.S.: 66.6 percent

Washington: 65.3 percent

Clark County: 68.2 percent

Portland: 58.7 percent

Married (ages 15+)

U.S.: 50 percent

Washington: 51.5 percent

Clark County: 53 percent

Portland: 42.9 percent

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov.

This year will be a big one for U.S. Census lovers, people who like to know all the details of demographics.

Data collected during last year’s head count will be released over the next two years, so the information in this story and accompanying chart is from older census data and 2009 statistics from the state’s Office of Financial Management.

As of April 1, 2009, Clark County was home to 431,500 people, according to the OFM.

The county is the fifth-largest in the state in terms of people.

In terms of land area, Clark County, at 628 square miles, ranks 35th of the state’s 39 counties.

We rank second in density behind King County.

Vancouver, the county seat, has 164,500 residents.

Battle Ground, with 17,150 residents, is the county’s second-largest city, followed closely by Camas (16,950) and Washougal (13,870). Ridgefield (4,215), La Center (2,545) and Yacolt (1,470) round out the incorporated cities. Eighty-five people who live in Woodland are Clark County residents; the rest of Woodland sits in Cowlitz County. According to the 2009 figures, 210,415 people live in unincorporated Clark County, which includes Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek and Felida.

From 2000 to ’09, there was a natural increase in population (more births than deaths) of 27,368, while there was a net migration of 58,594 people.

In terms of ancestry, Clark County is a mostly white melting pot. In the 2000 census, 78 percent of Clark County residents (at the time there were 345,238 of them), reported a classifiable ancestry.

Those included 69,984 people who identified their ancestry as German, 42,939 people who identified as English, 39,070 people who identified as Irish, 18,632 people who identified as Norwegian and 12,334 people who identified as Swedish.

Thanks to a historic flight in 1937, Clark County has the highest concentration of former Soviets in the Northwest. Vancouver is known in the former Soviet Union as the landing site of the first transpolar flight; there’s a monument to the Soviet aviators at Pearson Air Museum.

Valery Chkalov, co-pilot Georgy Baidukov and navigator Aleksandr Belyakov flew nonstop from Moscow over the North Pole, landing at Pearson Field on June 20, 1937.

As for foreign-born residents, the biggest populations as of the 2000 census were from Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Canada. When asked the primary language spoken in their homes, 11,369 people said Spanish, 6,115 said Russian and 2,091 said German.

When the 2010 census data are released, we’ll be able to tell a lot more about the community, including reported incomes.

According to 2000 census data, the median household income in Clark County was $48,376. That was higher than the state median household income, $45,776.

Felida had the highest median household income in Clark County, followed by Camas.

Yacolt showed the largest percentage change from 1990 to 2000, leaping more than 115 percent from $18,194 to $39,444.