Washington ranked 15th in population in the US (up from 18th in 1990) with an estimated total of 6,068,996 in 2002, an increase of 3% since 2000. Between 1990 and 2000, Washington's population grew from 4,866,692 to 5,894,121, an increase of 21.1%, making it one of the nation's 10 fastestgrowing states. The population is projected to reach 6,258,000 by 2005 and 7.8 million by 2025. The population density in 2000 was 88.6 persons per sq mi.
In 2000 the median age was 35.3. Persons under 18 years old accounted for 25.7% of the population while 11.2% were age 65 or older.
Most Washingtonians live in the Western Corridor, a broad strip in western Washington running north–south between the Coast and Cascade ranges. The leading city in the Western Corridor is Seattle, with an estimated 2002 population of 570,426. Other leading cities with their 2002 population estimates are Tacoma, 197,553; Spokane, 196,305; Vancouver, 149,811; and Bellevue, 112,894. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton metropolitan area had an estimated 1999 population of 3,465,760.