On November 20, 2008, East Wenatchee was designated a principal city of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area by the Office of Management and Budget.
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,757 people, 2,295 households, and 1,569 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,474.4 people per square mile (954.0/km²). There were 2,429 housing units at an average density of 1,044.0/sq mi (402.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.09% White, 0.40% African American, 0.96% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 6.13% from other races, and 2.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.05% of the population.
There were 2,295 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,919, and the median income for a family was $41,518. Males had a median income of $37,629 versus $24,875 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,876. About 13.4% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.6% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.
The city is served by Pangborn Memorial Airport with flights to/from Seattle on Horizon Air.
East Wenatchee's rail access is located across the Columbia River in Wenatchee which is on the major railroad line of the Great Northern Railway (now BNSF Railway) to Seattle. It was once the eastern terminus of electric operations (1909-56) on its Cascade Tunnel route, which went all the way to Skykomish. Here, steam or diesel locomotives were changed or coupled to electric locomotives for this route. Today, Amtrak's Empire Builder serves the city.
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East Wenatchee is serviced by State Route 28, U.S. Route 97, and U.S. Route 2.