• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • The Basics
    • Demographics
    • Economy/Employment
    • Environment
    • Social
  • Topics
    • Demographics
    • Economy
    • Social
    • Environment
    • Employment
  • 30/30
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Who is The Indexer?
    • Notes on Data Sources
Puget Sound Indexer

Puget Sound Indexer

Doing the Numbers

Featured

Indexer Taking A Nap

Michael Luis

The Puget Sound Indexer was active from April 2020 to April 2021. Although it is not being updated regularly, there is still quite a bit of good content about the Puget Sound region that you may find useful. The editor may emerge from his other activities to pick up where he left off.

[read more] Indexer Taking A Nap

latest features

Housing: It’s More Than Apartments!

Most Americans don’t live in multi-family housing and the supply of single family houses is not keeping up with demand. Yet housing policy solutions always seem to steer back to…

Continue Reading Housing: It’s More Than Apartments!

You Bought a Car. Who Gets The Sales Tax?

Dealers in Fife recorded over a half a billion dollars in vehicle sales in 2019, and the city collected over $1,000 per household in taxes on those sales. In contrast,…

Continue Reading You Bought a Car. Who Gets The Sales Tax?

The High Price of Low Rent

We are starting to see an equalization of rents across the region, with rents falling in expensive areas and rising in less expensive areas. This equalization will be brutal for…

Continue Reading The High Price of Low Rent

Housing Booming All Over—But Not In Washington

All of the subregions of the country, including the slow-growing Northeast, saw an increase in single family permits in 2020 over 2019. But, somehow Washington State missed the memo.

Continue Reading Housing Booming All Over—But Not In Washington

How America Stays Warm

In the quest to wean the nation off of fossil fuels, one imperative will remain non-negotiable: people want to stay warm in the winter. Central heat is one of civilization’s…

Continue Reading How America Stays Warm

Sorry, But We’re Not Number One

Irresistible click-bait hit screens across Washington last week, as US News and World Report declared that Washington is the Best State in America. And, woe to Louisiana, the Worst State…

Continue Reading Sorry, But We’re Not Number One

Seattle Stampede?

The Superstar Cities—the Gated Cities of the Coast—are in full-throated panic over signs that the jig is up: they cannot keep luring high priced talent to work in tech firms…

Continue Reading Seattle Stampede?

short takes

Manufacturing Rebounds in a Hurry

In January and February of this year, manufacturing indices were just about where they were in early 2020, when adjusted for inflation.

Continue Reading Manufacturing Rebounds in a Hurry

2020 State GDP–We’re Number Two!

While not a single state had real GDP growth in 2020, Washington experienced the second smallest decline. And in nominal terms, without adjusting for inflation, the state’s economy actually grew…

Continue Reading 2020 State GDP–We’re Number Two!

Sales Taxes: Who Got Hammered In 2020 And Who Didn’t

Countywide (including unincorporated areas) sales tax collections were down about 9 percent for the year. But quite a number of cities had either very small losses or actual gains. The…

Continue Reading Sales Taxes: Who Got Hammered In 2020 And Who Didn’t

Yep, We Saved It All

Congress threw a stimulus party an nobody came: we didn’t spend the money. In the same month that Congress showered us with $138.4 billion, in the form of $600 checks,…

Continue Reading Yep, We Saved It All

Transit At Year End: Flat But Not Broke

If work-from-home becomes more of the norm, there will be less traffic congestion and likely lower parking costs, taking away transit’s two main competitive advantages. Tax revenues will recover, so…

Continue Reading Transit At Year End: Flat But Not Broke

Retail in 2020: The Big Shift

Total retail sales in 2020 were down about 2 percent from what we might have expected in the absence of the pandemic. Within the overall retailing category, however, there were…

Continue Reading Retail in 2020: The Big Shift

Covid: Recovering From The Holidays

The downward trend in the summer began to reverse itself as people went back indoors, and health authorities feared the impact of holiday travel and gatherings later in the fall.

Continue Reading Covid: Recovering From The Holidays

School Enrollments: Where the Kids Are

Just as overall population growth is unevenly distributed around the region, so is growth in school enrollments. And the two are not as closely related as you might think.

Continue Reading School Enrollments: Where the Kids Are

recent features

Impact of $15 Minimum Wage: Depends Where You Are

Economists have performed a huge number of studies on the minimum wage and the results are all over the place. Some results show a drop in labor demand and others…

Continue Reading Impact of $15 Minimum Wage: Depends Where You Are

Pedestrian Safety and the Nirvana Fallacy

Looked at this way, we might see our traffic system not as a failure, but as a remarkable success. Cars and pedestrians share spaces millions of times each day and…

Continue Reading Pedestrian Safety and the Nirvana Fallacy

Strike Out. The Decline of Work Stoppage

The most powerful tool in the arsenal of organized labor has always been work stoppage, or strikes. But this tool has declined precipitously in American life.

Continue Reading Strike Out. The Decline of Work Stoppage

Primary Sidebar

Copyright © 2023 · Indexer Media LLC