Ellensburg is a medium-sized city located in the state of Washington. With a population of 18,694 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Ellensburg is the 62nd largest community in Washington.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Ellensburg is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Ellensburg is a city of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Ellensburg who work in food service (14.17%), teaching (10.48%), and office and administrative support (10.19%). Also of interest is that Ellensburg has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.74% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Ellensburg is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Ellensburg area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Ellensburg maintain a good economy. Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 18.23 minutes getting to work every day.Ellensburg is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 45.30% of adults in Ellensburg have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher. The per capita income in Ellensburg in 2022 was $30,474, which is lower middle income relative to Washington, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $121,896 for a family of four. However, Ellensburg contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Ellensburg is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Ellensburg home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ellensburg residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Ellensburg also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.01% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Ellensburg include German, Irish, English, European, and Norwegian. The most common language spoken in Ellensburg is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Pacific Island languages.
