King County is hurtling toward a major demographic milestone. According to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau, we are just a hair’s breadth from crossing the threshold.

As of July 1, 2025, non-Hispanic white residents made up exactly 50.1% of King County’s population, putting the county on the verge of having no single racial or ethnic majority group for the first time.

It’s a remarkable shift over a relatively short period. In 2020, the county was more than 55% white. That figure has dropped by more than 1 percentage point on average each year since. If current trends hold, King County will officially have no racial/ethnic majority in next year’s census data release.

Thirty-eight of Washington’s 39 counties had a single racial/ethnic majority in 2025. Nearly all were majority non-Hispanic white, but three — Adams, Franklin and Yakima — were majority Hispanic.

And only one — Grant County in Central Washington, where Moses Lake is located — already had no racial/ethnic majority group. In this largely agricultural county, non-Hispanic white people made up around 48% of the population, and Hispanic people 46%. All other groups made up only around 6%.

In King County, rapid diversification has come from two concurrent trends: The non-Hispanic white population has been shrinking, while the other major racial/ethnic groups have grown.

From 2020 to 2025, King County’s population increased by nearly 71,000, bringing the total to over 2.34 million. But that net gain obscures a striking fact: The county’s non-Hispanic white population fell by about 85,000 residents over the same period, ending in 2025 at around 1.18 million.

All other groups increased, meaning 100% of our recent net population growth has come from people of color. White people still made up the largest share of county residents.

The county’s Asian population has seen particularly strong growth. Since 2020, King County has gained more than 102,000 Asian residents — a 22% increase. Last year, the Asian population stood at roughly 558,000, accounting for nearly 24% of the county’s total population. The tech sector’s continued demand for global talent is a key component in this increase.

Other groups saw solid gains as well. The Hispanic population grew by more than 30,000 since 2020, reaching over 274,000. The Black population grew by roughly 10,000, reaching an estimated 160,000. The multiracial population increased by more than 11,000, hitting 143,000.

Why is the white population shrinking while these other groups grow? It largely comes down to age and migration. Among our largest racial and ethnic groups, white residents have the highest median age. An older population inevitably means a higher death rate and a lower birthrate. Combine that natural decrease with domestic out-migration — more people leaving for other U.S. counties than arriving — and you get a shrinking white population. Populations of color, meanwhile, skew younger and are heavily supplemented by international immigration, which has been the primary driver of countywide growth in recent years.

It’s worth noting that the Trump administration’s stricter immigration policies are resulting in fewer migrants in King County. Census data released earlier this year showed the county added about 28,400 people through net international migration in 2025 — down sharply from more than 40,000 the year before.

While the county as a whole is only now approaching this milestone, a number of cities within its borders crossed the threshold years ago.

Much of South King County — Renton, Federal Way, Kent, Burien, Tukwila and SeaTac — has long been defined by its diversity, with no single racial majority. The same is true on the Eastside, in cities like Bellevue, Redmond and Newcastle.

The most notable holdout in this demographic transformation is Seattle itself. While diversifying, the Pacific Northwest’s largest city was around 59% non-Hispanic white in the most recent census data.