About Spokane County
Spokane County is the economic engine of the Inland Northwest. Spokane boasts a skilled workforce and a well-established and robust regional education system. With a population that is growing faster than the national average, Spokane is on the map.
The city of Spokane is a vibrant urban center and is the second largest city in Washington State. It is a transportation hub that is well connected by air, rail, and highways, and is also the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis. Spokane’s University District, located in the heart of downtown, is home to five major universities, two medical school programs, and top-notch community colleges.
Total Population
2024 | OFM estimate
Average Annual Wage
2025Q1 | Lightcast
Total Labor Force
March 2025 | ESD preliminary estimate
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Industry Insight Snapshots
Updated: September 8th, 2025
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Targeted Industries
The Spokane Workforce Council carefully analyzes changes and trends within the regional labor market and economy to determine its targeted industries.
We choose targeted industries based upon livable wages at middle skills, strength of the industry in our local economy, and career opportunities available in the industry.
View the entire Washington State Occupational Demand/Decline list
Finance & Insurance
Spokane’s Finance and Insurance sector offers the highest average annual wages of the five Targeted Industries.
The sector’s recovery from the recession has been led by job growth in the Insurance Agencies and Brokerages, Credit Unions, and Medical Insurance Carriers subsectors.
As the regulatory environment continues to evolve in health insurance and financial activities, more jobs are expected to be created in order to manage the changing landscape. The increased property sales volume throughout the Spokane region, in both commercial and residential real estate, is also driving job growth within the Mortgage Loan subsector.
2024 Industry Jobs in Spokane County
9,791
Total Chance Over the Last Five Years
-394
Five Year Change
-4%
Average Annual Wages in Industry
$105,870
Source: Lightcast 2025.1 for Spokane County
Healthcare
The Healthcare and Social Assistance sector is by far the fastest growing industry in Spokane County.
In just the past five years, nearly 4,000 healthcare and social assistance related jobs have been created locally, and strong continued new job growth is forecast for the sector. Spokane is the regional hub for health care in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, with a diverse cluster of hospitals, research facilities, labs, education, and clinics.
Spokane is now home to two separate medical schools, the Washington State University medical school on the Riverpoint campus, and a University of Washington and Gonzaga University joint venture on the Gonzaga campus. As the Baby Boom generation increases demand for medical services and the area’s population continues to expand, Spokane’s healthcare industry is expected to experience further growth.
2024 Industry Jobs in Spokane County
48,313
Total Chance Over the Last Five Years
+4,218
Five Year Change
10%
Average Annual Wages in Industry
$64,512
Source: Lightcast 2025.1 for Spokane County
Manufacturing
The Manufacturing industry in Spokane County has rebounded over the last decade with steady year-over-year job growth.
The rebound has been led in part by the Aerospace Manufacturing subsector, which now has more than 120 manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and related organizations located throughout the Spokane region. Spokane has a unique mix of factors giving it a competitive advantage in the Manufacturing sector – Low cost for utilities, low cost for land, a well-established school-to-work talent pipeline, and an easily accessible multi-modal transportation network of air, rail, and road. The Spokane region is also strong in the manufacturing of medical equipment, wood and paper products, and metals.
The manufacturing industry faces numerous challenges in creating new job growth, from technology and automation reducing the number of workers needed, to international demand and low cost competition. On the other hand, many of the workers employed in manufacturing are nearing retirement age, and developing a pool of talented workers to fulfill the expected replacement demand will be vital in keeping the industry strong.
2024 Industry Jobs in Spokane County
16,793
Total Chance Over the Last Five Years
-14
Five Year Change
0%
Average Annual Wages in Industry
$71,632
Source: Lightcast 2025.1 for Spokane County
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
The Business and Professional Services sector and its Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services subsector is another vital and growing component of the Spokane area economy.
This sector contains many of the knowledge industries and offers good career opportunities with living wage jobs to young people and other graduates of the Spokane region’s educational institutions.
As the global economy continues to become more digital and technologically based, many jobs within this sector are projected to have steady demand, especially those requiring computer programming and software development skills. Expanding this sector will be vital to retaining more of the region’s recent college graduates and younger talent, as larger metro areas like Seattle and Portland, with more robust Information Technology sectors, tend to draw workers away from the Spokane area.
2024 Industry Jobs in Spokane County
14,249
Total Chance Over the Last Five Years
+1,741
Five Year Change
14%
Average Annual Wages in Industry
$89,623
Source: Lightcast 2025.1 for Spokane County
Transportation & Warehousing
The Transportation and Warehousing sector is an increasingly important element of economic growth for the Spokane region.
Spokane is the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul and has traditionally served as a major link for air, rail, and road transport. The Spokane International Airport (GEG) is conveniently located just minutes from downtown Spokane, and the Interstate 90 Freeway bisects the city, which makes virtually all parts of Spokane easily accessible by trucks and freight.
The City of Spokane and Spokane County created a Public Development Authority (PDA) at the Spokane International Airport to help incentivize economic development in the West Plains. Amazon opened a distribution center within the PDA in 2020, and further economic development is expected for that area, as a transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing cluster is developed. The North Spokane Corridor is now fully funded and being built out, which will create new opportunities for transportation and warehousing businesses to locate along a new major highway system in Spokane.
2024 Industry Jobs in Spokane County
10,997
Total Chance Over the Last Five Years
+4,096
Five Year Change
59%
Average Annual Wages in Industry
$57,110
Source: Lightcast 2025.1 for Spokane County