Seattle, Washington had 784,777 residents as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025), ranking #19 nationally and #1 in Washington. cost of living runs 11% above the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $175,049/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
Population grew 6.5% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 737,103 → 2025: 784,777 (+6.5%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
737,103
April 1, 2020
2020
740,675
July 1, 2020
2021
733,750
July 1, 2021
2022
749,545
July 1, 2022
2023
759,395
July 1, 2023
2024
773,205
July 1, 2024
2025
784,777
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 23.8% from 2010 to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
2010 base: 608,661 → 2019: 753,675 (+23.4%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2010 base
608,661
April 1, 2010
2010
610,630
July 1, 2010
2011
622,694
July 1, 2011
2012
635,928
July 1, 2012
2013
653,588
July 1, 2013
2014
670,109
July 1, 2014
2015
687,386
July 1, 2015
2016
709,631
July 1, 2016
2017
728,661
July 1, 2017
2018
742,235
July 1, 2018
2019
753,675
July 1, 2019
What's the median income in Seattle?
Median household income is 59% above the U.S. median ($123,860 vs $77,719); 9.9% live in poverty — 2.6 points below the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Income and poverty estimates for Seattle from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
123,860+59.4% vs US
±2,244
Per capita income
86,095+98.9% vs US
±1,158
Population in poverty
9.9%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 209% above the U.S. median ($938,600 vs $303,400); median rent is 51% above ($2,030 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio is 7.6×, making it 1.9× as cost-burdened as the typical U.S. city (3.9×).
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Seattle. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
3.8%
Seattle (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
511,669
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
34.8%+148.3% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — Seattle sits in King County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
King County
8.8%
$121,984
4.1%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Seattle's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
164,374
$1,490 / wk
#2
Professional and technical services (54)
150,811
$3,333 / wk
#3
Information (51)
128,749
$6,735 / wk
#4
Accommodation and food services (72)
109,111
$783 / wk
#5
Retail trade (44-45)
103,571
$1,117 / wk
What workers earn in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). See methodology §25.
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
53,140
$46,690
$22.45
Fast Food and Counter Workers
51,590
$38,310
$18.42
Business Operations Specialists, All Other
34,600
$101,420
$48.76
Customer Service Representatives
30,370
$51,090
$24.56
Cashiers
30,030
$39,370
$18.93
Stockers and Order Fillers
29,750
$44,410
$21.35
Software Developers · benchmark
72,730
$169,340
$81.42
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
48,310
$39,180
$18.84
Registered Nurses · benchmark
37,250
$118,570
$57.00
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
30,890
$141,280
$67.93
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
21,220
$69,290
$33.31
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 11.1% above the U.S. average (RPP 111.1); rents run 51.3% above (RPP 151.3) — the metro's housing premium is the main driver.
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 111.1
+11.1% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$2,501/mo
FY2026 · Seattle-Bellevue, WA HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
0%
no state income tax · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$14,587/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$7,315/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in Washington · no modeled local income tax
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
20.2% foreign-born (U.S. median 14%); Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese) is the most-spoken language at home other than English (5.0% of residents 5+).
Where Seattle's residents come from and what they speak at home, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. Foreign-born is the share of residents born outside the U.S. (any citizenship status); language-at-home is reported only for residents 5 and older.
Measure
Value
± margin / note
Foreign-born share
20.2%+43.9% vs US
share of residents born outside the U.S. · U.S. median: 14% · ACS B05002
Speak only English at home
76.3%
share of population 5+ · ACS C16001 line 2
Top non-English language at home
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)5.0%
most-spoken language other than English among residents 5+ · ACS C16001 collapsed buckets
Hottest month: August (77°F avg high). Coldest: December (36°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 38.0 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Seattle from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Composite risk score: 99.7/100 — Very High nationally; top hazard: Earthquake (99.9).
Natural-hazard exposure for Seattle from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI March 2023). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
King County
99.7
Very High
Earthquake · score 99.9 · Very High
Riverine Flooding · score 99.5 · Very High
Avalanche · score 99.3 · Very High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI March 2023 · methodology →
Internet & broadband.
21 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 95% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Seattle from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
21 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
18
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
95.5%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
95.5%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
397,537
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
Seattle sits at state rank #1 among 281 cities in Washington. Nearby in the state ranking:
Seattle is ranked #19 of 19,483 U.S. cities by 2025 population.
Just above in the profiled set: Louisville, KY · #18 · 795,222 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Nashville, TN · #20 · 745,904 residents.
Quick travel facts for Seattle
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
King County International Airport - Boeing Field(BFI) ·
7 mi 11 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Jun, Jul, Sep · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Sources · provenance
Every listed dataset is used on this page.
The GEOID for Seattle is 5363000. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page.
