Ellensburg is a medium-sized city located in the state of Washington. With a population of 18,703 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Ellensburg is the 62nd largest community in Washington.
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 with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Ellensburg to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy.
Ellensburg, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Ellensburg spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.23 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
The citizens of Ellensburg are among the most well-educated in the nation: 45.30% of adults in Ellensburg have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.
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.