Camas, Washington

Mill history

Pittock's LaCamas Colony bought 2,600 acres in 1883, forming the Columbia River Paper Company the following year to begin production in 1885, before merging with Oregon City's Crown Paper Company to form Crown Columbia Paper in 1905. After converting from steam to electricity in 1913, Crown merged with Willamette Paper in 1914 and then with Zellerbach Paper in 1928. Crown Zellerbach became the largest paper manufacturer on the west coast and the Camas mill the largest of its type in the world.

During World War II, the Camas mill temporarily manufactured parts and components for US Naval vessels produced at the nearby Kaiser Shipyards. In 1950, the Camas mill was the first factory to produce folded paper napkins.^[12] "Crown Z" was the area's biggest employer in 1971, with 2,643 of approximately 3,700 Clark County paper mill workers. In 1986, Crown Zellerbach was absorbed by James River Corporation; after further mergers with the Fort Howard Paper Company in 1997 and Georgia-Pacific in 2000, Koch Industries acquired Georgia-Pacific and the Camas mill in 2005. In 2018, Koch announced plans to lay off approximately 200–300 workers, shutting down all equipment related to communications paper, fine paper conversion and pulping operations.^[13]

Historically, the commercial base of the city was almost entirely the paper mill; In recent years, however, the diversity of industries in and near Camas has been enhanced considerably by the influx of several high-tech, white-collar companies. These include Hewlett-Packard, Linear Technology, WaferTech and Underwriters Laboratories.

As of 2026, plans to demolish the mill have proceeded, and work is expected to finish by 2027. The area is expected to become a waterfront on the Camas Slough (Small offshoot of the Columbia River) and will be an expansion to the already existing Downtown District.

Employment

As of 2024^[update], Camas had an unemployment rate of 4.5%; the top employers were:^[17]

More information Rank, Employer ...

Rank	Employer	Employees in 2024	Employees in 2015	2024 Share	2015 Share
1	Fisher Investment	1,771	975	19.6%	13.0%
2	Camas School District	1,011	811	11.2%	10.9%
3	TSMC Washington (Wafertech)	1,000	1,050	11.1%	14.1%
4	Analog Devices (Linear Technology)	349	292	3.9%	3.9%
5	nLight Technology	273	189	3.0%	2.5%
6	City of Camas	268	-	3.0%	-
7	Sigma Design	261	450	2.9%	6.0%
8	Plexsys	174	-	1.9%	-
9	Georgia Pacific	150	-	1.7%	-
10	Fuel Medical	111	-	1.2%	-

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Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Camas had a population of 26,065 and the median age was 39.3 years.^[20] 28.8% of residents were under the age of 18, 12.5% were 65 years of age or older, for every 100 females there were 97.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.0 males.^[20]

The population density was 1,851.9 people per square mile.^[5] 98.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.7% lived in rural areas.^[21]

There were 8,834 households in Camas, of which 45.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 66.7% were married-couple households, 10.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 17.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present.^[20] About 15.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[20]

There were 9,234 housing units, of which 4.3% were vacant; the homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.9%.^[20]

2010 census

As of the 2010 census,^[22] there were 19,355 people, 6,619 households, and 5,241 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,434.8 inhabitants per square mile (554.0/km²). There were 7,072 housing units at an average density of 524.2 per square mile (202.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.4% White, 1.0% African American, 0.6% Native American, 6.0% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 3.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.1% of the population.

There were 6,619 households, of which 46.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 20.8% were non-families. 16.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.27.

The median age in the city was 36.9 years. 31.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.1% were from 25 to 44; 26.8% were from 45 to 64; and 8.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.6% male and 50.4% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 12,534 people, 4,480 households, and 3,422 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,149.3 inhabitants per square mile (443.7/km²). There were 4,736 housing units at an average density of 434.3 per square mile (167.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.01% White, 0.69% African American, 0.69% Native American, 3.41% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.80% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.86% of the population. 18.8% were of German, 11.3% English, 9.6% American, 8.2% Irish and 5.6% Norwegian ancestry.

There were 4,480 households, out of which 42.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.6% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 31.2% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $60,187, and the median income for a family was $64,885. Males had a median income of $51,470 versus $31,985 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,267. About 4.4% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.