Sammamish Housing Units Jump by 36 Percent From 2000, Newly-released Census Data Show

The number of houses, condominiums and apartments in Sammamish jumped to 15,736 last year, an increase of 4,137 or nearly 36 percent since 2000, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday evening in newly-released data.

That growth rate kept pace with the city's population, which grew to 45,780 residents in 2010, or a 34 percent rise from a decade earlier, according to Census statistics released in February.

Housing plays a large economic role in Sammamish. Its residents work at high-tech companies, including Microsoft, as well as at startups and larger businesses, such as Boeing and Starbucks. The city has some retail businesses, as well as many home-based companies.

The two years - 2010 and 2000 - saw a relatively steady housing picture with 96 percent of units occupied. In 2010, 13,329 of the housing units were owner occupied - or 88 percent of all occupied homes, condominiums and apartments.

In comparison, there were 10,029 owner-occupied units in the city in 2000. That accounted for 90 percent of 11,131 occupied housing units.

The average household and family size stayed relatively the same in 2010 and 2000. Last year, the city had 3.01 people in a household and 3.28 people in a family, respectively. A decade earlier, the city's average household number was 3.06 people and its average family size was 3.29 people. 

The city last year saw its median age, as compared to 2000, grow to 37.7 years - but only a slight rise from 2000. A decade earlier, a year after the city incorporated, Sammamish had a median age of 35.3.

Last year, the city had 22,921 males, or 50.1 percent of the population, and 22,859 females, or 49.9 percent. In 2000, the percentages were roughly the same - 50.4 percent for males and 49.6 percent for females.

But the numbers were smaller, given that the population was only 34,104 people: There were 17,192 males and 16,912 females in the city back then.  

The Census data show that Sammamish had 15,649 residents last year who were in the newborn to 19-year-old category. That is 34.2 percent of the total population.

In 2000, the same age category was 35 percent of the total population of 34,104 residents. But the number of youths in that group was 12,086.

The city saw a population boost of 3,563 residents in the newborn to 19-year-old category, marking a nearly 29.5 percent increase. That percentage is roughly in the same range as overall population growth and additional housing between 2000 and 2010.

In comparative terms, the number of males in the city rose by 33 percent in the 10-year-period. The number of females soared by 35 percent in the same 10-year-period.

In other words, the city's housing supply from 2000 to 2010, and on a percentage basis, kept pace with growth in total population, number of males and females and the amount of residents in the newborn to 19-year-old category.

Racially, the number of Asian Indians in Sammamish jumped to 3,237 residents, or 7.1 percent of the total population in 2010. In 2000, Asian Indians only accounted for 1.3 percent of the population. The Census only counted 448 Asian Indians in Sammamish.

The number of Chinese also grew from 1,125 in 2000, or 3.3 percent of the population, to 3,389 in 2010, or 7.4 percent of the population. After whites, who numbered 34,207 - or 74.7 percent of 45,780 residents - Asian Indians and Chinese were the two largest group populations. 

There were 1,804 residents in Sammamish who identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino in 2010. That was 3.9 percent of the population. Ten years earlier, there were 853 people in the city, or 2.5 percent of the population, who said they were Hispanic or Latino.

In Washington state, the population became a bit older over the past 10 years, with women continuing to live longer than men, according to new Census data.

Statewide households stayed about the same size or shrank slightly, but Washington had a smaller proportion of children in the homes and a larger proportion of other relatives living with us. Racial makeup changed as well, with the Indian and Mexican populations growing significantly statewide.

Here’s a look at the numbers:

• In Washington state, the median age was 37.3 in 2010, up from 35.3 in 2000.
• The percentage of males to females was the same, 49.8 percent to 50.2 percent.
• The median age for males was 36.2 and 38.3 for females last year, up from 34.4 for males and 36.3 for females in 2000.
• The average household size was 2.51 people, nearly flat from 2.53 in 2000.
• The average family size was 3.06, about the same as 3.07 in 2000.
  But looking at households, families made up 64.4 percent in 2010, down from 66 percent 10 years ago.

And of those family households, those with their own children under 18 dropped from 32.7 percent to 29.1 percent.

At the same time, the proportion of other relatives living in households jumped considerably. In 2000, the Census counted 236,631 "other relatives" living in all households, or 4 percent of the population. Ten years later, that grew to 349,380, or 5.2 percent -- a 30 percent jump in the proportion.

Age groups have shifted, too. Children made up smaller percentages of the population in all age groups for the state.

Those 85 and older rose 39 percent, from 84,085 in 2000 to 117,271 last year.

The Census also looked at people’s racial and ethnic backgrounds. Of people who considered themselves one race and Asian, the proportion of people of Indian descent grew the greatest, more than doubling from 23,992, or 0.4 percent of the population, in 2000 to 61,124, or 0.9 percent, last year.

Other Asian groups grew more slowly, with the population of Japanese descent actually shrinking, from 35,985, or 0.6 percent, in 2000 to 35,008, or 0.5 percent, in 2010.

Among people who identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino, those of Mexican descent grew the most, nearly doubling from 329,934, or 5.6 percent of the population, in 2000 to 601,768, or 8.9 percent, last year.

Other data released Wednesday:

• King County:
• Median age: 37.1 (2000: 35.7)
• Males 49.8 percent, females 50.2 (2000: unchanged)
• Median age by gender: Males 36.3, females 37.9 (2000: males 34.9, females 36.6)
• Average household size: 2.40 (2000: 2.39)
• Average family size: 3.05 (2000: 3.03)