Editing Lewis County, Washington (section)

==Economy==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right;
|+ Top employers in Lewis County (2024)<ref>{{cite book |title=Moving Forward Together - 2024 Annual Directory & Visitor Information |date=2024 |publisher=The Silver Agency |page=29 |url=https://ccdirectories.com/#flipbook-cc-chamber-directory-2024/29/ |access-date=June 27, 2024}}</ref>
|-
! Rank
! Employer
! Type of business
! Number of<br />employees
|-
|1
| [[Providence Health & Services|Providence Centralia Hospital]]
| Health care
| 900
|-
|2
| [[United Natural Foods]]
| Food Wholesale/Distribution
| 750
|-
|3
| [[Walmart]]
| Retail
| 653
|-
|4
| Lewis County
| Government
| 624 (2021)
|-
|5
| [[Centralia School District]]
| Education
| 530
|-
|6
| [[Centralia College]]
| Education
| 472
|-
|7
| [[Chehalis School District]]
| Education
| 420
|-
|8
| [[Michaels]]
| Distribution/Warehouse
| 310 (2021)
|-
|9
| Hamptons Lumber Mills
| Timber
| 305
|-
|10
| Braun Northwest, Inc.
| Manufacturing
| 275
|}

Lumber production is a staple of the economy in Lewis County. The county annually produces {{convert|600,000|ST|t}} of dried timber while hosting 10 pulpwood production plants. Due to the region's biomass production capabilities, the county was the first in the state to receive a Bioeconomy Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone rating of AA by the BDO Zone Initiative.<ref>{{Cite news |last=The Chronicle staff |date=January 29, 2024 |title=Lewis County receives 'AA' rating for woody biomass |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/lewis-county-receives-aa-rating-for-woody-biomass,333429 |access-date=February 7, 2024 |work=The Chronicle}}</ref> Lewis County is a leading producer of [[Christmas tree cultivation|Christmas trees]] in the United States, with a yield of over 548,000 trees in 2022, which ranked sixth in the country.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Reynolds |first1=Ash |title=Christmas tree farms face new perils |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/christmas-tree-farms-face-new-perils-rcna184769 |access-date=December 30, 2024 |work=[[NBC News]] |date=December 25, 2024}}</ref>

A leading economic producer for the county is farming,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Saldanha |first=Alison |date=January 27, 2024 |title=Building an oasis in a rural WA 'food desert' |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/building-an-oasis-in-a-washington-rural-food-desert/ |access-date=February 7, 2024 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> with the region also holding large numbers for employment in mining, production, and warehousing.<ref name="LCPES"/> 

Tourism is a large part of the Lewis County economy. In 2023, over 5.6&nbsp;million people visited the county, an increase of 5.8% over the prior year. Over 45% of visitors came from outside the state and the most visited areas include Mt. Rainier and the shopping districts in the [[twin cities]] of Centralia and Chehalis. In collaboration with Discover Lewis County, a county-created tourism initiative, and the Economic Alliance of Lewis County, the county has focused on merchandise and online marketing, specifically promoting each town and city within its borders.<ref>{{cite news |author1=The Chronicle staff |title=Lewis County reports more than 5.6 million visitors in 2023 |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/lewis-county-reports-more-than-56-million-visitors-in-2023,340258 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |work=The Chronicle |date=May 13, 2024}}</ref>

Reports from 2019-2020 list wages and incomes to be less than the state averages, with the median annual wages to be over $48,000 and a total household income of under $59,000. Unemployment is perennially moderately higher than the state average, though [[Business cycle|boom years]] in large Lewis County economic sectors can influence the employment levels.<ref name="LCPES" /> {{As of|2020}}, women held 48.6% of jobs in the county primarily in finance, health care, and education, where men held majority employment in such industries as construction, manufacturing, and utility jobs.<ref name="LCPES">{{Cite web |title=Lewis County profile |url=https://esd.wa.gov/labormarketinfo/county-profiles/lewis |access-date=February 7, 2024 |publisher=WA State Employment Security Department}}</ref>