Official Federal Data
King County, Washington
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Population 2,287,171
9 Sources
Updated September 10, 2026
$124,746 up from the baseline named below
Median Income (nominal) vs 2019
$80,734 national
4.5% up from the baseline named below
Unemployment vs 2024
4.3% national
$477.2B up from the baseline named below
GDP (nominal) real change vs 2023
56.7% up from the baseline named below
Bachelor's+ vs 2019
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household (nominal)
$124,746 up from 2019 vs 2019
Per Capita
$74,100 up from 2019 vs 2019
Mean Household
$176,799 up from 2019 vs 2019
Poverty Rate
8.6% down from 2019 vs 2019
Median Income Comparison
King County$124,746
Washington$98,141
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003
CohortsShare of total population
Under 18 · 19.5%
18-34 · 26.4%
35-54 · 28.9%
55-64 · 11.3%
65+ · 14%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
93.8%
High School+
National: 89.6%
up from national +4.2 pts vs national
56.7%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
up from national +21.0 pts vs national
24.2%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
up from national +10.1 pts vs national
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
2,287,171
Population
1,320,458
Labor Force
Employed
1,256,602
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
4.5% up from 2024 +0.3 pts vs 2024
Mean Commute 1 min above national avg
27.6 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
29.2%
Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 21.0 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
$477.2B up from 2023 +5.8% vs 2023
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
+5.8% real (inflation-adjusted)
·
+7.9% nominal
· 2023 to 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · level and nominal change from CAGDP2 (current dollars); real change from CAGDP9 (chained 2017 dollars), both all-industry total. The two series agree in 2017, the chain reference year, and diverge by the amount of price change since.
Key Takeaways
- Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 166,929 workers (16.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $80,207. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 180,980 and is counted separately.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $477.2B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Information averages $368,730 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $42,729, a 8.6x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
11 sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5
Largest grouping among them is Information Cluster at 40.8% of the employment across all of them, which signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
266,517
Employment in the sub-sectors listed
8.04x
Peak sub-sector LQ
Sub-Sector Detail, Highest 10 By LQ
Publishing Industries and Telecommunications
8.04x 67,761
Web Search Portals, Libraries, and Archives
6.97x 11,596
Fishing, Hunting and Trapping
6.27x 441
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
4.68x 14,996
Computing Infrastructure Providers and Data Processing
4.34x 19,792
Management of Companies and Enterprises
3.54x 87,047
Water Transportation
3.24x 2,093
Air Transportation
3.20x 17,273
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
2.57x 42,060
Private Households
1.79x 3,458
+ 1 more sub-sector at LQ ≥ 1.5, holding a further 13,419 jobs not counted in the total above. See the spider chart for the broader picture.
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, screened against local siting constraints. Source: BLS QCEW
0.08x
Animal Production and Aquaculture
209 employed
0.09x
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
91 employed
0.10x
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
348 employed
0.11x
Textile Mills
81 employed
0.14x
Mining (except Oil and Gas)
246 employed
0.16x
Wood Product Manufacturing
591 employed
0.16x
Primary Metal Manufacturing
536 employed
Screened on industrial power cost, rail-truck intermodal access, land base.
Industrial electricity in Washington costs 6.88¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025).
Washington has 16 rail-truck intermodal terminals, the nearest 20 miles from the county.
Land area 2116 sq mi, larger than 92% of US counties.
Sources: EIA, BTS NTAD, Census Gazetteer.
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Publishing Industries and Telecommunications concentrates at 8.04x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 11 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 40.8% of the employment across them, the largest being information and technology. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.
- Attraction whitespace: 7 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 with at least 50 employed, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064, B25004
$859,900 up from the baseline named below
Median Home Value vs 2019
$2,092 up from the baseline named below
Rent/Mo vs 2019
55.4% down from the baseline named below
Owner-Occ vs 2019
6.2% up from the baseline named below
Vacancy vs 2019
2.8% available
for rent or sale
for rent or sale
6.9x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Stretched
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
HUD publishes these by FMR area, which may cover more than one county · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070
Studio
$2,074/mo
1 Bedroom
$2,146/mo
2 Bedroom
$2,501/mo
3 Bedroom
$3,272/mo
4 Bedroom
$3,847/mo
30% of monthly median renter household income (~$2,139/mo, from a renter median of $85,547) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Measured: 45.2% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 21.5% pay 50% or more.
Key Takeaways
- Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 6.9x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 1 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $85,547 can pay without cost burden (~$2,139/mo), and 45.2% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23001, B23025, B08303, B08301
1,520,678 up from the baseline named below
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 1 min above national avg
27.6 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
29.2%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
84.5%
of prime-age population
Prime-age rate numerator is civilian employed (B23001); the denominator is total population aged 25-54 (B01001), which also includes armed forces.
of population age 16 and over (1,891,563)
unchanged from 2019 vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
56.7% up from 2019 vs 2019
HS Diploma+
93.8% up from 2019 vs 2019
Institutions in King County
Largest 6 of 29 by credentials awarded, in King County
Credentials awarded in King County
25,789/yr
15,671/yr
2,496/yr
2,387/yr
2,103/yr
1,768/yr
1,364/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
16.9%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Same cohort is 11.3% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
58.5%
Service
12.7%
Sales & Office
15.4%
Construction / Maint.
4.9%
Production / Transport
8.5%
Bars are drawn on a 0% to 60% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 1,256,602 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Healthy participation: 69.9% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
- Talent pipeline: the 6 largest of 29 institutions in King County award 25,789 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 9 federal data sources.
Sample AI Insight
King County shows strong potential for publishing industries and telecommunications attraction, with a 8.04x concentration and 67,761 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The concentrated base spans publishing industries and telecommunications, web search portals, libraries, and archives, and fishing, hunting and trapping, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 40.8% of the employment across them, the largest being information and technology. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
American Community Survey figures on this page are 2020-2024 five-year averages rather than single-year counts. A five-year estimate pools 60 months of survey responses, so each value describes the period as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for King County, Washington, from federal data sources.
What is the population of King County, Washington?
2,287,171 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in King County, Washington?
$124,746 in nominal dollars (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in King County, Washington?
4.5% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of King County, Washington?
$477.2B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP2).
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