Washington State University’s extended remote online learning protocols during the pandemic has made Whitman County the fastest growing county in the nation.,
The U.S. Census Bureau has released its county population estimates for 2022. Whitman County’s population locally in Washington grew by 10% between July of 2021 and 2022. WSU students were still attending classes online during the 2020-2021 academic year before returning to the classroom in the fall of 2021. Whitman County’s population grew from about 43,000 people to nearly 48,000 people between those times.
Locally in Idaho Latah County’s population grew by about 1.5% from 2021 to 2022. There are about 41,000 people living in Latah County. The University of Idaho had students in the classroom during the 2020-2021 academic year.