Tacoma Facts - "The City of Destiny"
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city. It is the second-largest city in the Puget Sound area and the third-largest in the state. Tacoma is located on a peninsula on the southern end of Washington state's Puget Sound, and is the seat of government of Pierce County.
In 1873 Tacoma was selected as the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, giving rise to it's monicker "City of Destiny." The name, Tacoma, has two possible origins. It has been attributed to the Puyallup Indian word "Tahoma" for Mount Rainier or perhaps the word "Tacobet" meaning Mother of the Waters. In either event, the name was given to this area by General Morton Matthew McCarver. Tacoma was officially incorporated in 1875.
The University of Washington established a branch campus in Tacoma in 1990, the same year the historic Union Station was restored. Tacoma is also the site of the Washington State History Museum (1996), the Museum of Glass (2002)and the Tacoma Art Museum (2003). In Tacoma's continued revitalization of the downtown core, the Tacoma Convention and Trade Center opened in 2004.
Tacoma Demographics
- City population as of 2007: 201,700 with a density of 3,984.2/sq mi
- City proper land area is 62.6 sq mi, 50.1 square miles is land and 12.5 square miles is water
- The median income for a household in the city was $37,879, and the median income for a family was $45,567
- 20.6% of those under the age of 18 and 10.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
- The median resident age is 33.9 years compared to 35.3 years for the Washington state median age.
| Race Distribution in Tacoma | |
|---|---|
| White Non-Hispanic | 66.5% |
| Black | 11.2% |
| Hispanic | 6.9% |
| Two or more races | 6.3% |
| American Indian | 3.6% |
| Other race | 2.9% |
| Other Asian | 2.2% |
| Vietnamese | 1.9% |
| Korean | 1.4% |
| Filipino | 1.0% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.9% |
| Japanese | 0.5% |
NOTE: Total can be greater than 100% as Hispanics may have been counted in other races.
Tacoma Students
- The Tacoma Public Schools district contains 36 elementary schools, eleven middle schools, five high schools, one alternative high school, and one school of the arts (SOTA).
- Tacoma private schools include the Annie Wright School and Bellarmine Preparatory School (Tacoma)
- Institutions of higher learning include: the University of Washington Tacoma, the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma Community College, Bates Technical College, and Pacific Lutheran University
Pierce County Facts
Pierce County Demographics
- Pierce County population as of April 2006: 773,500, a 16.28% increase from April 1996
- Pierce County population projected for 2012: 883,857, a 9.0% projected increase
- Employment projections 2,000 new jobs per year 2007-2012 Entry requirements for these jobs 60% up to an associates and 40% bachelor's or higher
- Pierce County may not be able to meet the demand for employment in health care occupations.
Pierce County Students
- Fall 2004 Pierce County enrollments headcount 25,590 FTE 34,124 reported as home county for student.
- Statewide 4 year public headcount 9,342
- Statewide 2 year public headcount 16,248
- Pierce County Students prefer local private 4 year colleges to the public university.
- However when UW Tacoma and UW Seattle enrollments are combined Pierce County students prefer UW system over private 4 year schools.
- Pierce County on time high school graduate rate 72%
- Pierce County high school drop out rate 5.5%
- Public 2 year community and technical colleges are already over capacity enrollment
- The greatest absorption of growth is at the research university branch campus
Links to Other Tacoma Facts
Please select from the following:
- Harbornet.com's Tacoma History
- Washington State History Museum
- Tacoma Past and Present at the Tacoma Public Library
Information and data used for this page were compiled from the following and other resources:
