Demographic report of Tacoma

Tacoma is a city which has been of mid-size but a modern city within the port areas. In addition, it is known to be the seat of the county in Pierce, Washington, USA. Tacoma is located towards the seat on the southwest, which is approximated to be 51km away while it is about 50km away from the capitalist state; Olympia on the northeast direction. On the north-west direction, the city is about 93km away towards the National Park which is Rainier Mount, (Tacoma, 2016). 

In the sound area of the Puget, Tacoma is among the second largest city, but ranked number three in the entire USA. The city has an important role to play, especially for the sound area of the south region where it serves as the Centre of the business district even though the population size of the south sound region is more than that of Tacoma; 1m>198,397. 

The name Tacoma was derived from Mount Rainier, which was the nearest mountain which was commonly known as Tahoma. Locally, the city is dominated by the name City of Destiney since it was meant to be attracting people from Western Countries. Many developments have been witnessed in the Tacoma city, including the University of Washington Tacoma which was developed by 1990s. furthermore, the first and fastest light rail ever witnessed in the states was from Tacoma. Therefore, Tacoma city has been considered in the US as one of the most livable and walkable city, (Brown, Knopp, & Morrill, 2005). 

The main economic activities in the city are the lumber industry. This is also from the economic activities that are derived from over 50 parks that act as a source of cultural amenities. In fact, it is also seen as the most sexually healthy cities in the USA. Despite all these socio-economic gains, still, the city is struggling with high levels of poverty where at least 26% of the population are living below the poverty index. One of the challenges is the homelessness in the city and more so the increased number of chronic diseases among the homeless population. Cases of unemployment are also rampant in the city, especially among the black, (Eitzen, & Johnston, 2015). 

In a Tacoma city, the total number of households and families that are residing in the city are 78,541 and 45,716 respectively. This is according to the year 2010 census. A total of 1,492/km2 is calculated to be the total inhabitants per every square mile out of a total population of 3,864.9. 

Socioeconomic characteristics 

According to the 2010 census, Tacoma had a population of 198,397 people. In terms of race, the main races are the white population, which constituted about 64.9% while the African American population was 12.2%. The Asian population also accounted for 8.2% whereas 1.8% were for the Native American. In addition, Pacific Islander and Hispanic or Latino accounted for 1.2% and 11.3% respectively. At least 8.1% were from either two or more races. These results are shown in Table 1. 

Table 1 : Race 

Type of race	Total, n	Percentage, %
White	128,760	64.9
African American	24,204	12.2
Asia	16,269	8.2
Native American	3,571	1.8
Pacific Islander	2,381	1.2
Latino	22,419	11.3
Two or more races	16,070	8.1

On the age differences, 35.1 years is the median age and that those who are less than 18 years accounted for 23%. Moreover, 18-24 years accounted for 10.9% whereas 29.6% accounted for the population aging between 25-44 years. Those who were between 45-64 and above 65 years accounted for 25.3% and 11.3% respectively. The results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 : Age categories 

Age categories	Total, n	Percentage, %
<18 years	45,631	23
18-24 years	21,625	10.9
25-44 years	58,726	29.6
45-64 years	50,194	25.3
65 and above years	22,419	11.3

Approximately, the ration of gender is 1:1 at 49.4% and 50.6% for males and females respectively as shown in Table 3. Children under the age of 18 years occupy 31% of the total number of households with the married couples being at 38%. The average household size and the family size in Tacoma city is 2.44 and 3.10 respectively. 

Table 3 : Gender 

Gender	Total, n	Percentage, %
Males	98,008	49.4
Females	100,389	50.6

On education; the Tacoma Public Schools is the main public district school with at least 36 elementary schools, eleven middle schools, and 10 high schools, including 3 non-traditional high schools and 2 alternative high schools. The results are presented in Table 4. 

Table 4 : Number of learning institutions 

Learning institutions	Total, n
Elementary schools	36
Middle schools	11
High schools	10
Universities	2

The Tacoma’s income is having a median income of $37,879 and $45,567 for the household and the family respectively. Moreover, males’ median income is $35,820 while for the females’, the median income is $27,697. The city’s per capita income is $19,130. The findings are shown in Table 5.

Table 5 : Median income 

Median Income	Total
Household	$37,879.00
Family	$45,567.00
Male	$35,820.00
Female	$27,697.00

Social stratification and social inequality

Since most of the race is from White at 64.9% while African American population only accounts for 12.2%. this indicates that people living in the Tacoma city are the whites. In addition, they are in one way or the other likely to dominate most of the employment opportunities in the city. Further, the results may in the way or the other shows that migration is not rampant in the city or it is just by default that the majority of the city inhabitants are the whites. Additionally, other races like Pacific Islander and Native American are the lowest and most probably they are the population who are either occupying the city of Tacoma due to employment or educational opportunities.

In terms of age differences, most of the Tacoma’s population is between 25-44 years at 29.6%. this is followed by 45-64 years at 25.3%. less than 18 years and more than 65 years accounted for 23% and 11.3%. This is an indication that dependency rates are high in Tacoma city at 34.3% while productive population remains at 63.7%, (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014). Female populations within the city are high; 50.6% compared to the male population at 49.4%. in other words, more females are seen at birth compared to males. This shows gender inequality given the fact that most of the population employed is also males.

The number of elementary schools at 36 shows that the Tacoma city has even distribution of the learning institutions thus enhances the education sector in the city. However, the number of universities are still a few meanings that higher educational opportunities are not adequate. Even though the female population outweighs that of their male counterparts, it is unfortunate that the male income median is at $35,820 compared to female income median which is at $27,697. This means that females are not having adequate sources of income as males do, (Tiger, 2017).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Tacoma city needs to do more on the generation of income to increase the general per capita income for both females and males. There is a need to generate equal employment opportunities for the general population irrespective of the gender. The unproductive population needs to be reduced through family planning to reduce high dependency ratios. There is also a need for creation of more educational centers like universities to increase educational opportunities for the city inhabitants.

References 

Brown, M., Knopp, L., & Morrill, R. (2005). The culture wars and urban electoral politics: Sexuality, race, and class in Tacoma, Washington.  Political Geography ,  24 (3), 267-291. 

Eitzen, D. S., & Johnston, J. E. (2015).  Inequality: Social class and its consequences . Routledge. 

Ortman, J. M., Velkoff, V. A., & Hogan, H. (2014).  An aging nation: the older population in the United States  (pp. 25-1140). United States Census Bureau, Economics and Statistics Administration, US Department of Commerce. 

TACOMA, C. O. (2016). Community Needs Assessment. 

Tiger, L. (2017).  Men in groups . Routledge.