How is Whatcom’s economy performing? It ranks high, but new study warns of these problems
Getting high marks for attracting high-tech industries, the Bellingham metro area continues to stay on a list of best-performing small U.S. cities.
The Milken Institute has released its 2021 report on Best Performing U.S. cities, which focuses on jobs, wages and high-tech growth as well as housing affordability and household broadband access.
In ranking 12th among small U.S. cities and being placed in the first tier, the Bellingham metro area (which includes all of Whatcom County) posted strong scores in high-tech growth and broadband access, but scored poorly in housing affordability. Bellingham finished just ahead of Bend, Oregon.
In fact, the report warned that the housing affordability issue could damage the local economy in the long run. The report also expects petroleum and aerospace industries will likely suffer from lower global demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the longer-term, Bellingham will need to invest in greater housing production, especially subsidized affordable units. Wage growth has also been consistently slower than housing cost growth, resulting in an attractive city with few options for average incomes,” according to the report.
The median price for homes sold in Whatcom County rose 10.5% in a year to $442,000 in 2020. In Bellingham, the median price for homes sold was $523,500 last year.
The report identified seven different high-tech industries in Whatcom County, which ranked this area second-highest among small cities. The Bellingham metro area ranked 187th for housing affordability, near the bottom of 201 cities studied.
Bellingham has regularly landed on this top-performing cities list; last year it ranked 10th among small cities. The 2021 report also noted that Bellingham has a strong base of manufacturing jobs, particularly with two refineries in the area.
The top-performing small cities according to the report were Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Logan, Utah. The Provo, Utah, metro area was ranked first among large areas.
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
