The number of Spokane residents commuting to jobs in Kootenai County has surged in the past four years. Everyone agrees on that. A recent marketing survey of cross-border work patterns found that about 15, Spokane workers earn at least part of their salaries in Kootenai County. The same survey, conducted last fall, showed about 9, Kootenai County workers have jobs in Spokane County. Labor analysts and economists have varying reactions to those numbers.
Others contend the estimate may not be far off the mark. The 15, estimate is vastly different from the federal census, which found that just 2, Spokane County adults worked in Kootenai County. According to the census, four times as many Kootenai County residents β 8, working adults β held jobs in Spokane County.
The source of the new estimate is Belden Associates, a reputable Dallas-based firm that conducted a 1,person phone survey for Cowles Publishing Co. The company, which publishes The Spokesman-Review, uses Belden to track market data and consumer trends. Tacke said no one denies that North Idaho and Kootenai County have created far more jobs in recent years than Spokane.
From to , Spokane County added 4, jobs, while Kootenai County added about 6, He used to have a mile, round-trip daily commute. Now he drives 64 miles, he said. Despite the increase in Washington-to-Idaho commuters, Cortes said he still sees far more vehicles heading from Idaho to Spokane in the morning than vice versa. Other I drivers say they just have to look around during their commute to see where the heaviest traffic is coming from. That would be impossible for anyone going the opposite direction in the morning, he said.
But recent automatic traffic counts show the difference is smaller than anecdotal evidence suggests, said Miles, of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council. Last Sept. The same morning, 7, cars headed east into Idaho. The Sept. That test took place on a normal Tuesday workday, Miles added.
