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https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/new-king-county-milestone-one-quarter-of-residents-born-outside-u-s/

New King County milestone: One-quarter of residents born outside U.S.

Dec. 11, 2023 at 6:00 am Updated Dec. 11, 2023 at 6:00 am
Hundreds of people gather on a rainy day for the Redmond Raja Ganesh
Festival Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at Downtown Park in Redmond. The
festival is a three day day celebration in which people can experience
the Satyanarayana Puja, cultural dancers, music, traditional cuisine, a
15-foot Ganesha idol and more. (Luke Johnson / The Seattle Times)

By Gene Balk / FYI Guy
Seattle Times columnist
Over the last decade, King County’s population grew by about 320,000,
the third-largest increase of any U.S. county. Half of that growth —
160,000 people — was from international immigration.

People moving to King County from other countries remain the primary
driver of growth in the current decade. Since 2018, King County has been
losing population to other U.S. counties, while still gaining new
residents from other nations.

In 2022, the county hit a milestone for its foreign-born population,
according to new census data: For the first time, foreign-born residents
made up more than one-quarter of the county’s total population.

Last year, there were about 580,000 foreign-born people living in King
County, representing nearly 26% of the population.

Among the more than 800 counties included in the data, King was one of
just 40 where immigrants made up at least 25% of the total population.
Only one county — Miami-Dade in Florida — was majority foreign-born, at
54%. Queens County in New York ranked second at 47.5% and Hudson County
in New Jersey was third at 42%.

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The tech industry is one of the main reasons for the growth of the
foreign-born population in King County. In a previous column, I wrote
that around 40% of tech workers in the Seattle metro area were born in
another country in 2016 — and among those, more than half came from
India or China. Census data for 2022 shows more than 90,000 foreign-born
residents employed in computer-related occupations in the Seattle metro
area, making up roughly 45% of tech workers.

But it’s not just tech. Immigrants to King County work in every field,
with particularly high numbers in health care and service-sector
occupations. For example, census data shows more than 13,000
foreign-born registered nurses worked in the Seattle metro area in 2022,
and more than 12,000 chefs and cooks.

Many people also come from abroad for academic opportunities. In the
University of Washington system, around 14% of students in the 2023
incoming class were international.

From 2010 to 2022, King County’s foreign-born population grew by
186,000, a remarkable 47% increase. At the same time, the number of
county residents born in Washington only grew by 8%, and the number who
were born elsewhere in the U.S. increased by 11%.

Among all U.S. counties, King had the second-largest numeric growth in
foreign-born residents. Harris County, Texas, where Houston is located,
had the largest increase, gaining 226,000 residents from other countries
between 2010 and 2022.

In King County, India ranked as the No. 1 country of birth for
immigrants. There were around 83,000 county residents born in India,
making up 14% of the county’s foreign-born population. China ranked
second at around 80,000, followed by Mexico at 55,000.
Vietnam 38,
Phillipines 32,
S. Korea 24
Canada 19
Ethiopia 14,
Taiwan 12,
Ukraine 12,

Ethiopia was the top African country, the birthplace of nearly 15,000
King County residents. Ukraine ranked first among European countries, at
around 12,000. Brazil was No. 1 among South American countries, at
nearly 9,000.

While immigrants made up slightly more than a quarter of residents
countywide, the percentage in some cities was significantly higher.

Among King County cities with at least 60,000 residents, Redmond had the
highest share of the population which was born in another country, at
45%. Bellevue ranked second at 43%, and Sammamish was third at 34%.

Seattle had the lowest percentage, with foreign-born people making up
around 20% of the population.

Of the nearly 500 census tracts in King County, there were 11 where
immigrants made up the majority of the population. The western half of
the Crossroads neighborhood in Bellevue had the highest concentration of
immigrants, at 64%. The lowest percentage was in the eastern part of
East Renton Highlands, at 3%.

Seattle’s top neighborhood for immigrants was the Chinatown
International District/Yessler Terrace area, where 52% were born in a
foreign country. The city’s lowest percentage was in the North
Admiral/Genesee section of West Seattle, where immigrants made up just
4% of the population.

Gene Balk / FYI Guy: gbalk@seattletimes.com; o