Things to give thanks for while you’re stalled in the daily traffic tie-up:
The United States’ other 301,442,484 people don’t live on the North Olympic Peninsula, at least not as of the homebound rush hour Thursday.
Clallam County’s estimated population did, however, jump more than 900 persons between 2005 and 2006, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The number has climbed by nearly 5,000 people so far in this decade.
That’s a current estimated population of 70,400, up from 69,487 in 2005 and 65,525 in 2000 – a nearly 7 percent increase in six years.
In Jefferson County, the estimated number of residents climbed to 29,279.
Jefferson’s estimated 2005 population was 28,676, and its 2000 figure was 25,953.
That means Jefferson grew by nearly 11.4 percent.
Both counties’ growth rates seem minor compared to the Kennewick/Richland/Pasco metropolitan area, which soared to 226,033 people, a jump of 17.8 percent.
It’s healthier, however, than the 2.2 percent drop in Pullman, which slipped to 39,838 people – 902 fewer than in 2005.
