Benton-Franklin Trends Newsletter – March 2022

Trending News

200 Years of U.S. Immigration to the U.S.

Visualization demonstrates the changing status of U.S. immigration

It is not often we can share two data interactives in the same article, in fact, this is the first time. Both are products of the U.S. Census Bureau, and both show data from the Small Area Health Insurance...

Washington Campaign Finance

Interactive and detailed contributions to Washington politicians

Infrastructure – not a unique concept or term, but something all Americans seem to agree on. Currently, it appears a national infrastructure bill will become law. The final total is likely the only remaining...

Electric Vehicles in Washington State

DOL data details registered electric and hybrid vehicles

A new dataset compiled by Washington state’s data portal Data.WA.gov provides information on all electric and hybrid vehicles registered through the Washington State Department of Licensing...

Total Population & Annual Growth Rate

Tri-Cities surpass state and national growth rates

Economists typically purport that moderate increases in population are positively associated with economic growth, primarily through a larger workforce and increased consumption benefits. However, a burgeoning population can also lead to concerns over...

Housing affordability declines for first-time buyers

By the end of last year, housing in the greater Tri Cities crossed a threshold: the median price homes for resale breached the $400,000 mark. To be precise, the quarterly price landed at $407,600. Should we celebrate? If you’re an existing homeowner...

Data shows substantial increases in sales despite the pandemic

Have the greater Tri Cities been visited by a downturn over the past two years? From the perspective of taxable retail sales, hardly. Recent year-over-year increases tracked by the Trends indicator taxable retail sales may surprise a few readers. Recently released data for the third quarter...