• The four county District is a rural economy with a population of 70,450 living in an area comprised of over 4,300 square miles.

• The District has experienced a 12.4% increase in population between 1990 and 2007.

• There has been an increase in post-secondary education among the working age population. Well over 50% of that population group have graduated from college or taken college level courses.

• The Median Household Income is in the mid $30,000 to low $40,000 range.

• Asotin and Whitman counties experienced an increase in Per Capita Income since the year 2000.

• The civilian labor force within the District has experienced an 17.4% increase from 1990 to 2007.

• The service and government sectors are two of the prominent segments in terms of employment. This can be contribute, in part, to the strength of the educational systems, including higher education and the presence of city, county and federal agencies like the Corp of Engineers, US Forest Service and US Department of Agriculture.

• The impact of agriculture and natural resource industries reaches far into the economic fabric of the District. It is an important segment of our economy, which supports many of the government and service sector jobs in the region.

• Much of the District has access to telecommunication infrastructure.  However, the challenge is to provide high-speed connectivity through the Districts at affordable rates, and at the same time providing a cost-recovery scenario for the investor.

• The regional economy is served by four key transportation modes. Each of them provides benefits to the area:

• Our road system provides north-south connections via highways 195 and 95 to Interstate 90 in the north. Highway US 12 is the east-west connector with access to 395 and then I-84 to the west.

• The rail system services the area through short line connections to the two major carriers: the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

• Regional airports and air carriers as well as an international airport in Spokane provide air service to the region. Regional carriers include Horizon Air (Alaska Airlines) and Sky West (Delta Airlines) providing connections to Seattle and Salt Lake City hubs. Air express package services are also available throughout the region.

• The Columbia-Snake River system is an important factor in the movement of goods to and from the region. Barge traffic provides a cost-effective method of moving grain, wood products and container cargo to and from our area. This connection provides a route to the Pacific Ocean and worldwide destinations. This resource enables the Palouse area to have the most inland, ocean-connected ports on the west coast.

Recreation and tourism are additional attributes the river system brings to the area’s economy. Boating, fishing, rafting and jet boat excursions are a few of the activities that contribute to the economic diversity of the region.

Rev. 4-08

Quality workforce, technology expansion, agriculture and 
recreation are 
just some of the
reasons the Palouse economy is great.