Moving to a brand new community can be a little scary, especially if you're making the transition alone. You'll be leaving all your friends and family behind. You won't know what the best place is to buy organic diapers or who your new neighbors will be. If you want to make the transition as easy as possible, it can help you to know a little about the community you're moving into. Other pages on this site will focus on jobs or entertainment or the history of your new city. This one will focus on its people. To get a better idea of who they are, we've compiled some relevant statistics on Tacoma, Washington.
In 1852 the city of Tacoma had just one person. Though there are no real statistics for the years that followed, only guesswork, by 1870 we know that the city had a population of 73 people. It would be another ten years until the city grew enough to support the occasional cash for jewelry pawn shop or factory. Between 1880 and 1890 was the city's largest population boom, shooting up from 1,000 to 36,000 seemingly in the blink of an eye. Afterward, during the Yukon gold rush, it grew steadily into the size it is now: around 196,000 people.
The census in 2000 gives us the best data on the community, and since the population has only increased by about 3,000 since then it can still be considered an accurate measure. The census takes us on a tour of Tacoma's 176,000 households, from the downtrodden part time retailers of women's pants who struggle to support four children on their own to the rich family with the mansion perched on the cliff and the brand new Mercedes parked in the driveway. These 176,000 people are spread across a city that spans 50 square miles, which means Tacoma has a population density of about 3900 people per square mile: an average figure for an American city.
Of these 176,000 people, about 60% were white. The largest minority groups were African American at 12%, Asian at 8%, Hispanic at 7% and Native American at 2%. The presence of so many different ethnic groups means that it's possible to find a car dealer supply that can communicate with you in your own language. Though nearly 84% of the city speaks English, there are also pockets of Spanish, Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and German speakers. For those looking for a date in Tacoma, only about 41% of the adult population are married. The average size of a family is 3 people.
The median age for the city is 34 and there is approximately the same number of males as females. 25% of the population is under 18 while about 60% is of working age, between 19 and 65. Senior citizens made up about 12% of the population. Income wise, the average household earns about $38,000 per year. That's enough to support a family living in a reasonable sized house. Nearly 16% of the population is below the poverty line, while about 6,000 people were earning over $100,000 per year. That's enough for parties with an event planner, Toronto second home, and boat.
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