Port Orchard is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 17,089 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, Port Orchard is the 71st largest community in Washington. Port Orchard has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in Port Orchard, where the median household income is $82,650.00.
6.18% of the workforce is employed in the armed forces, making the military a huge focus of life in Port Orchard. Even though it is a military town, the civilian sector still plays an important role in the local economy. The Healthcare and Manufacturing industries respectively employ 17.34% and 16.26% of the civilian workforce.
A relatively large number of people in Port Orchard telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 8.72% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.
One of the nice things about Port Orchard is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
Even though Port Orchard is a smaller city, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly a ferryboat for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.
In terms of college education, Port Orchard is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 31.69% of adults in Port Orchard have a college degree.
The per capita income in Port Orchard in 2022 was $38,364, which is middle income relative to Washington, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $153,456 for a family of four. However, Port Orchard contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Port Orchard is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Port Orchard home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Port Orchard residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Port Orchard also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.24% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Port Orchard include German, English, Irish, European, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Port Orchard is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.