Did you know there are over 150 different community indicators on Grant County Trends - each updated throughout the year? But which ones, and when?
This issue of the Grant County Trends Blog lists the most recently updated indicators on the Grant County Trends website.
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Recent Updates
In PEOPLE:
Share of Registered Voters Voting in November Elections
A mark of an engaged community is the voter turn-out rate. Turn-out is defined as the number of registered voters who vote, here in November elections. The indicator tracks three types of elections: those in even but nonpresidential years, those in odd years and those in presidential election years.
For the November elections of last year, turn-out in Grant County was 73%. This tied the average state turn-out, for the first time since 2008. However, this represented the lowest turn-out since at least 1996.
To simplify the graph, simply click on the component in the legend you would like to remove.
In AGRICULTURE:
Average Cash Rent per Acre of Irrigated Cropland
Irrigation has transformed Grant County agriculture over the decades. A reflection of the market for irrigated land can be found in this indicator. In 2024, the market registered a big jump from prior years, with the average at $546 per acre. That was over $100 more than in 2023 more than $160 per acre in 2017. Rents for irrigated land in Grant County have largely been higher than the state average for this type of land.
In ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Quarterly Taxable Retail Sales
Taxable retail sales give a good idea on the state of the local economy. Quarterly taxable retail sales offer one of the few “near real-time” measures of the economy. (The data are released with about a 6-month delay.)
After outperforming the state average in 2022 and 2023, County retail sales in the first half of 2024 underperformed. They came in 1% below sales over the same period in 2023. Start of a trend?
To simplify the graph, simply click on the component in the legend you would like to remove.
Total and Share of K-12 Students Eligible for USDA Free & Reduced-Price Lunch Program
This indicator serves as a proxy measure for the prevalence of public-school students living in low income families or in families with income close to the federal poverty thresholds. Traditionally in Washington, if a student’s family’s income falls in the range of 0-130% or 131%-185% of the threshold, they qualify for free or reduced priced lunch, respectively. Relatively new legislation has mandated that any elementary school with 30% of its students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch must offer two meals per day to all its students.
In school year 2023-24, over 17,000 county students qualified. This represents 85% of all enrolled public-school student, a far higher share than that of the state (52%).
In EDUCATION:
For over a decade the Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) have been given to state public school students of various grade levels. The goal is to take a spring snapshot of their knowledge in English language arts (ELA), math and science, comparing each student’s results to a baseline of standards. This measure tracks the number and rate of county public school students who meet or exceed the standard in ELA.
In a word the pandemic has not been kind to student academic performance, here and state-wide. For the 2023-2024 school year, one third of all 4th-graders and 48% of all 10th -graders met the ELA standard. These shares were down from the pre-pandemic year 2018-2019 of 38% and 52% respectively. The Grant County average of students meeting ELA standards have consistently lagged the state average.
In ENVIRONMENT & LAND USE:
Total Water Production in the City of Moses Lake and Percent Lost from System Leakage
Water is increasingly seen here and elsewhere as a precious resource. It is useful, then, to know the trend in total water “produced” (pumped) in the largest municipality in the county. And to know the efficiency of the system of delivering City of Moses Lake water to homes.
In 2023, the City pumped 3.1 billion gallons. In a reversal of prior trends, nearly one-sixth of this water was lost to leaks in the system. The amount pumped in 2023 was 97% of the amount a decade prior (2014). During that decade, the city’s population increased by 21%.
In HEALTH:
Share of Adults Who Are Physically Inactive
Physical inactivity can easily lead to a host of chronic conditions: obesity, ambulatory difficulties and diabetes. This measure, from the Centers for Disease Control, tracks the share of adults who report exercising moderately less than 150 minutes per week.
In 2022, the most recent year of data, an estimated 28% of county adults fell into this category. This share is slightly lower than a decade ago, but 11 percentage points higher than the Washington state average. Compared to the state, the county’s share of these adults has consistently been much higher.
Total Number of Licensed Physicians (MDs & DOs) and Rate per 1,000 Residents
Good health depends on many factors. Among those is an adequate number of providers. This indicator tracks a key member of provider teams, doctors. (Data on another key member type, active nurses, are very difficult to obtain.)
For 2023, the Washington Office of Financial Management counted an average of 175 physicians in Grant County. This is considerably lower than the 199 enumerated in 2021, although most preceding years.
Expressed as a rate to county population, the relative “abundance” of physicians was about 1.7 per 1,000 residents in 2023. This was slightly higher than the average since 2016 of 1.6 per 1,000 residents. However, the rate here was much lower than the state rate of 4.4 in 2023, a gap that has existed for many years.
In HOUSING:
Number of Listings Available for Sale
The number of listings of residential homes for sale gives an idea of the size of supply local market. In the third quarter of last year, the average daily number was 339. This is the highest number in eight years (Q3 2016) and more than double than in pandemic year 2020, 3rd quarter.
In RECREATION & TOURISM:
Steamboat Rock State Park Annual Number of Visitors
Tourism is alive and well in Grant County, with its natural beauty, festivals and outdoor recreation. Grant County Trends tracks visitor counts on the Coulee Corridor and to two state parks. This indicator focuses on the larger of the two parks, by visitors.
In 2023, the number of visitors to Steamboat Rock State Park exceeded one half a million (544 thousand). This placed the year as the third-highest in the past two decades for visitors to this park.
updated 02.18.25
New Intern Features
Alanna Mesecher
Hometown: Valley, WA
Major: Accounting
Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2025
Post-graduation plans: Start looking for a career with a CPA firm, or a non-profit organization.
After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
I enjoy collecting data and learning new information. Collecting and providing data that helps community leaders make important decisions is very rewarding, and I’m thankful to be a part of it.
Jimena Ramos
Hometown: Royal City, Washington
Major: Data Analytics
Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2025
Post-graduation plans: Find a job in Spokane or Tri-Cities
After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
My favorite thing is the opportunity to see the impact of our work and how it influences strategic decisions. It’s been interesting diving deep into data analysis and learning new skills. I’ve enjoyed collaborating with Dr. Jones, Dr. Cullen, and the other interns as they’re a great team!