Whatcom’s population shows dip in latest Census estimates. Here’s where the decreases were

U.S. Census estimates show Whatcom County’s population over the past two years decreased by more than 400 people, and most of the decrease was seen among women.

2021 American Community Survey data released Thursday, Sept. 15, by the U.S. Census Bureau show an estimated 228,831 people called Whatcom County home in 2021. That was down 0.2% from the 229,247 people in the 2019 one-year estimates.

One-year estimates were not done for 2020 due to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before this year’s data release, Whatcom’s one-year population estimates increased by at least 3,500 people every year between 2014 and 2019 and at least 1,000 people every year since 2010.

Bellingham also saw a slight dip in its population estimates, as the data now shows 92,290 people living in the city, which was down 37 from 2019 estimates.

Bellingham’s population accounted for 40.3% of Whatcom County’s total population estimate in 2021, which was identical to 2019 estimates.

Though women still outnumber men in Whatcom County, the number of males within the county actually grew by 318 over the past two years, while the number of women decreased by 734. There are now 98 men for every 100 women living in Whatcom County, which is up from 97.1 in 2019.

Bellingham saw an even wider gender gap, as the number of women dropped by 897 from 2019, while the men increased by 860. Bellingham’s gender ratio is now 92.8 men for every 100 women, up from 89.4 in 2019.

Though Whatcom County’s median age remained about the same at 38.8, it saw a 2.7% decrease (1,185 people) in the number of residents under the age of 18. Meanwhile, the number of residents 65 and older increased by 568 (1.4%) over the past two years.

The estimated number of people identifying as only white dropped by 4.5% (8,393 people), though with 179,795 people identifying as white alone, that still makes up 78.6% of Whatcom County’s total population.

The number of people identifying as Black increased 15.2% to 2,204 people, while the number of people identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native increased 1.4% to 5,279 people, according to the estimates. The number of people identifying as Asian also jumped 17.2% to 10,283.

The largest increase was seen among people identifying as two or more races, as that estimate jumped 56.1% to 21,345 Whatcom County residents, the data showed.

Whatcom County’s Hispanic or Latino population also increased 4.5% over 2019 estimates to 23,492, according to Census data.

Population estimates for Whatcom County’s smaller cities have not yet been released, as the Census Bureau will release additional 2021 American Community Survey data in the coming months.

Census estimates are different from the 2020 decennial data released earlier this year, which attempts to count every person.