Recent data from the Washington state Department of Licensing show out-of-state drivers’ license surrenders have increased here again this year, an indication that new residents are still moving to Spokane County and the state as a whole. 

Although the number of out-of-state licenses surrendered in the county fell by 11 percent last month, to 703 compared with 788 in November 2015, overall out-of-state licenses surrendered in the county are up nearly 9 percent for the year. 

Through the first 11 months of the year, drivers from out of state surrendered a total of 11,360 licenses in Spokane County, an increase of 916 from 10,444 reported for the same period in 2015. The average number of licenses surrendered in the county per month this year was 1,032. Drivers new to Washington typically surrender their licenses and obtain Washington licenses when establishing residency. 

“For our region here, drivers’ licenses surrenders are an indicator of in-migration,” says Grant Forsyth, chief economist for Spokane-based Avista Corp. 

 “In-migration is a significant factor in our population growth,” he says.  “Without it, our current population growth would be half of what it is now, which is right around 1 percent for Spokane County.” 

Meanwhile, Forsyth says Kootenai County’s population growth is a bit closer to 2 percent, again with a significant portion of that growth—about 80 percent—being due to in-migration. 

He says some of the factors that might be causing increased in-migration include recovery of the housing and labor markets, and employment growth. 

“With an improved housing market nationally, people are better able to sell their homes and migrate,” says Forsyth. “For those not retired who move here and need a job, the labor market here has also improved.” 

He says Spokane’s employment growth is over 2 percent, and the Pacific Northwest as a whole shows employment growth of close to 3 percent.

“Nationally, employment growth is closer to 1.5 percent. The Pacific Northwest is definitely a bit stronger than the U.S. as a whole, and we’re feeling that strength here in Spokane and Kootenai counties,” he says. 

For Washington state overall, the Department of Licensing report says that during the month of November, a total of 12,204 out-of-state drivers obtained a Washington driver license, nearly 10 percent fewer than last year’s November total of 13,497. 

For the 12 months ending November 2016, 199,888 out-of-state drivers obtained a Washington driver license, an increase of about 5 percent over the year-earlier period.