The 47 Index: Spring Briefing
Our quarterly read on whether Washington is becoming an easier place to build, create, and live. This quarter: permitting speeds up, the grid tightens, and a quiet win on apprenticeships.
Vince Graham
Founding Editor
June 11, 2026
9 min read
Founding preview. This is an illustrative demonstration essay published while Ever47 is being built — it is not reported journalism, and any scenes or figures are for illustration. Reported, sourced pieces will replace these at launch.
In brief
The spring 47 Index finds Washington getting easier to build in on net: median residential permit time fell to 94 days (the first sustained drop in a decade), and advanced-manufacturing apprenticeships grew 18% — but clean-energy interconnection queues lengthened again, making the grid the state’s binding constraint.
Key takeaways
- Median residential permit time fell to 94 days, down from 121 a year ago.
- The decline is driven by a handful of cities adopting ministerial review.
- Interconnection queues for clean energy lengthened — the grid is now the limiting factor.
- Registered apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing grew 18% year over year.
- Progress in Washington is many small frictions removed, not one number moving.
The 47 Index tracks forty-seven indicators across six domains, each chosen to answer one question: is it getting easier, or harder, to build a life and a business in Washington? This is our spring read.
What moved
Median residential permitting time fell to 94 days statewide, down from 121 a year ago — the first sustained decline in a decade, driven almost entirely by a handful of cities adopting ministerial review. Meanwhile interconnection queues for new clean energy projects lengthened again, a reminder that the grid is now the binding constraint on the state’s industrial ambitions.
Progress in Washington is rarely a single number going up. It is a hundred small frictions, removed one counter at a time.
The quiet win this quarter came from workforce: registered apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing grew 18 percent year over year, concentrated in the Tri-Cities and around the new battery corridor. It is the kind of indicator that compounds — every apprentice today is a journeyman, and a trainer, a decade from now.
| Indicator | Latest | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Median residential permit time | 94 days | −27 days |
| Active registered apprenticeships | 31,500 | +18% |
| Avg. interconnection wait | 3.9 yrs | +0.3 yr |
| In-state clean electricity | 88% | +2 pts |
Key terms
- The 47 Index
- Ever47’s quarterly composite of 47 indicators across six domains, measuring whether it is getting easier to build a business and a life in Washington.
- Interconnection queue
- The backlog of energy projects waiting for the utility study that determines whether and how they can connect to the grid.
Frequently asked
- Is Washington getting easier or harder to build in?
- On net, easier this quarter: permitting sped up and apprenticeships grew, though grid interconnection got slower. The Index is designed to capture exactly this mixed, indicator-by-indicator picture.
- What is the biggest constraint right now?
- The electric grid. Interconnection wait times rose to ~3.9 years, making transmission and study throughput the binding constraint on new clean industry.
Sources & further reading
The week in Washington, made legible.
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