WallaWallaTrends.org – Measuring Community – Walla Walla Trends Newsletter

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Business Applications in Washington State

Leading the Country in Applications

The US has shown a marked increase in the number of business applications filed following the pandemic, but that trend has seemed to falter between 2024 and 2025. Numbers were stable after a spike in 2021, but they appear to have fallen into...

Life Expectancy Around the World

How Long are People Living?

In the past hundred years, life expectancy has undergone an incredible transformation. The average global life expectancy as recently as 1900 was barely over 30 years, and over the past century into the present it's gone up to 73 years (2023). While progress has been uneven, it has been universal; Every...

Upward Mobility in Walla Walla County

Walla Walla Equity in Action

The Urban Institute's Upward Mobility Initiative is a national effort that gives local communities tools to boost long term economic well-being, racial equality, and opportunity through a foundation of clear, accurate data. Their work is done across the United States and can...

The share of small businesses in Walla Walla County is now the same as in the state.

Measured by the number of firms, most local economies are characterized by a large number that are very small. Trends indicator 1.2.6 shows this clearly for Walla Walla County. It tracks the number of very small businesses, those with 1-9 employees. Strictly speaking, the count refers to...

Area Renters Facing a Growing Gap Between Their Incomes & Rents.

As the largest component in a typical household’s budget, housing gets lots of attention from federal data collectors, like the U.S. Census and the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). This relatively new measure looks at collective experience of renters. It juxtaposes median income of renters to...

Thousands of Walla Walla residents find employment outside the county!

Thousands of Walla Walla residents find employment outside the county! Thanks to improvements in transportation and communication networks, more than 8,400 county residents are employed outside the county, bringing important disposable income to the local economy. Geographically, it makes sense that many county residents would find employment in...

Mason Moore

Hometown: Wenatchee, Washington
Major: Information Systems & Business Analytics, Finance
Expected Graduation Date: Fall 2025
Post-graduations plans: Attend graduate school and get a good job!
After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
I really enjoy the process of troubleshooting and working through the puzzles that come with data analysis, no two indicators are ever the same, and that keeps things interesting and engaging. I’ve also really appreciated the opportunity to work with such a thoughtful and collaborative team. The people I get to work with make the experience even more rewarding.

Matthew Sandell

Hometown: Bremerton, WA
Major: Double-majoring in Economics and Data Analytics
Post-graduation plans: Get a job involved with economic development and/or public policy, either local or international.
After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
There are so many different puzzles to solve. My favorite part of the Trends project is rebuilding or creating new datasets. Often, we have to make judgement calls on what data is important and how to present that data. Fundamentally, we're here to tell a story, and I love finding the most efficient way to achieve that through thoughtful and creative data organization.