The Secretary of State's blog reports the following news:

New Census projections show that we’re on the move in Washington — people moving in from other states and folks having babies.  In the past decade, we’ve grown by 13 percent and are now the 13th largest state!  And it could be Lucky 13 if we wind up gaining a new congressional seat.

We’ve grown by nearly 100,000 during the last year and — drum roll please — our new statewide population number is nearly 6.7 million. It’s 6,664,195, up over 770,000 from the April, 2000, number of 5,894,143.

A decade ago, we were the 15th most populous state.

And then asks the following question:

Is our population growth enough to pick up a 10th congressional seat?

The answer is inconclusive and depends on the official 2010 census numbers. The latest study* from Data Election Services says this:

The states of Illinois and Ohio have lost or not gained as much population as earlier in the decade, and now have lost a congressional seat in the new study.  The two seats shift to South Carolina and Washington (both states gain the seats by roughly 25,000 people to spare).

I was curious where our recent population growth is strongest. Here are the latest numbers from the Office of Financial Managment, which tracks population. King County added the most people in the last year, 25,000, not the largest percentage increase (1.3 percent), but not far off.

*Apologies, I initially posted the 2008 study which did not have Washington state gaining a seat.