And now for the wealth side...

Just exactly how much wealth is there in Whatcom County?  Here is one measure: the sum of all deposits of  the 17 FDIC insured institutions in Whatcom County is approximately $3.049 billion as of June 30, 2008 according to the FDIC.  Ranked by total deposits, we are MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) number 215 on the FDIC list of 380 -  just behind Olympia,WA and just ahead of Athens, GA. In the state of WA, we are number five out of 11 for total deposits among MSAs ranked by the FDIC. Many are much larger urban areas than Whatcom County.   To put this in perspective: $3.049 billion /192,289 total pop. =  $15,856 per person of total deposits for 2008 in Whatcom County.