About Seattle
Data Informs Decisions
Our data team gathers information and studies trends to help guide City policies, plans, and investments. This includes looking at population and employment growth, demographics, housing, socioeconomic conditions, land use, and more.
We bring together data from many sources and share it on our website and on the Seattle GeoData Portal. We aim to make this information easy to find so the City and our community partners can use it to advance equity and create great places.
Tracking Our Progress
We also track indicators related to equitable development, affordability, and livability. This helps us tell whether Seattle is growing in the ways our plans envision. We will monitor progress toward the growth targets in the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan. We’re also developing a broader program to monitor how well Seattle is doing in advancing the Plan’s goals. This work will build on the 2020 Equitable Development Community Indicators Report available on our Archived Projects page.
Neighborhood and Council District Snapshots
Snapshots provide commonly requested information about the population and demographic characteristics in each of these areas. We have captured Neighborhood Snapshots for each of Seattle’s 53 Community Reporting Areas, along with Council District Snapshots for each of the City’s seven districts.
Supporting Equity
We also create resources to help City staff, decisionmakers, and community organizations consider and advance equity. These resources include our Racial and Social Equity Index and tools for understanding and preventing displacement.
Seattle Statistics
April 1, 2025 estimates from the WA State Office of Financial Management:
- Population: 816,600
- Households: 393,135
- Total housing units: 426,090
- Occupied housing units: 393,135
2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates:
- Population under 18 years of age: 14.0%
- Population age 65 and over: 12.7%
- Average household size: 1.97
- Average family size: 2.83
- Persons of color: 43.1%
- Foreign born: 19.8%
- Population (age 5 or older) speaking language other than English at home: 24.3%
- Population (25 years and older) with a bachelor's degree or higher: 70.1%
- Household median income: $118,745
- Family median income: $196,839
- Poverty rate: 9.4%
Race and Ethnicity:
- American Indian & Alaska Native – 0.3%
- Asian - 17.8%
- Black or African American – 6.7%
- Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander – 0.3%
- White – 56.9%
- Another race – 0.5%
- Two or more races – 8.4%
- Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (of any race) – 9.1%
Tenure for occupied housing units:
- 41.9% owner-occupied
- 58.1% renter-occupied
Average household size:
- 2.40 people in owner-occupied units
- 1.66 people in renter-occupied housing units
2024 Covered Employment Estimate (Puget Sound Regional Council)
632,813 jobs in Seattle. Covered employment refers to jobs covered under the state's Unemployment Insurance Program, estimated at about 85-90% of total employment.
Seattle Area and Population Density
- Area: 84.4 square miles
- Population density: 9,675 people per square mile
Key Data Sources
The U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau provides a wide variety of data on population and demographics at the city and neighborhood level from two major programs:
- The decennial Census is done every 10 years to provide counts and basic information about population, households, and housing units.
- The American Community Survey (ACS) is a continuous survey that produces estimates on a broad set of population, social, economic, and housing characteristics.
The Census Bureau's data storymap is the main portal for obtaining data from these programs. You can view ACS data about Seattle's residents and households as well.
The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program provides estimates for the U.S., states, metropolitan statistical areas, counties, and cities.
Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM)
- April 1 official population estimates: The OFM annually determines the April 1 populations of all cities and towns of the state.
- Growth Management Act county projections: County level population projections once every five years.
Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC)
The PSRC provides estimates and analysis to support planning in the central Puget Sound region. View their Puget Sound Trends.
Seattle GeoData
Seattle GeoData provides direct access to geographic information, including data about the characteristics of places and neighborhoods, that is frequently requested by the public.
- Seattle GeoData Storymap provides direct access to geographic information, including data about the characteristics of places and neighborhoods, that is frequently requested by the public.
- These Planning Datasets provide the underlying demographics, planning, and building permit data that our data team publishes in maps, dashboards, and other data products.
Neighborhoods
Seattle is home to more than 800,000 inhabitants and covers about 84 square miles of land within King County, with neighborhoods of diverse character and strong identities. The City, our departments, other governmental entities, and the public define neighborhoods differently based on many factors. Some neighborhoods may be referred to by different names by community members.
The information on this page describes the places and neighborhoods for which we report and monitor data. Boundaries for these areas are available in the Planning section of Seattle GeoData, the City’s Open Data portal for geographic data.
Following the descriptions of these geographies, we highlight several tools that we provide for accessing demographic and planning data for Seattle’s neighborhoods. We also provide technical notes on data sources and the methodology we use for allocating census estimates to neighborhood areas.
Neighborhoods and Small Area Geographies
Place Types in the City's Comprehensive Plan
The Growth Strategy in the Comprehensive Plan categorizes areas of the city into various place types according to the role they are envisioned to play in accommodating growth.
- Regional Centers: Regional hubs for high-density housing, jobs, commercial activity, and more with strong connections to the regional transit system.
- Urban Centers: Places with a wide range of housing, and high concentrations of jobs, shops, and services located near light rail and frequent transit corridors.
- Neighborhood Centers: Places with a variety of housing centered around a local commercial district and/or access to frequent transit.
- Manufacturing and Industrial Center: Areas where industrial activity is concentrated and where other uses are generally limited to serving industrial businesses and workers.
- Urban Neighborhood: As areas outside centers, urban neighborhoods are mostly residential development.
Seattle GeoData includes a map with boundaries for all of the centers.
Census-Based Geographies
The Census Bureau provides estimates for a variety of small area and neighborhood geographies. The Bureau explains how these areas nest into larger geographies and provides Guidance for Geography Users.
Census Tracts, Block Groups, and Blocks
Census tracts are areas that the Bureau delineates to facilitate reporting of census data for relatively small areas within counties. When drawing tract boundaries, the Bureau aims for each tract to have about 4,000 residents, although the size of tracts can vary greatly.
The Bureau reviews tract boundaries every 10 years before each decennial census. While tract boundaries are generally kept the same from one decade to the next, tracts that have had a large amount of population growth may need to be split. Because of population growth many Seattle tracts needed to be split for the 2020 Census. As of the 2020 Census, Seattle includes 174 census tracts in their entirety plus a few partial tracts along the city’s southern boundary.
The Bureau divides census tracts into block groups, and block groups into blocks. Block groups are the smallest geography for which the Bureau publishes American Community Survey (ACS) data tables while blocks are the smallest geographic for which the Bureau publishes decennial census data.
Seattle GeoData provides 2020 census boundaries for:
The reference table provided for census blocks shows which blocks are assigned to various Seattle neighborhood and district geographies.
Community Reporting Areas (CRAs)
An interdepartmental group at the City created CRAs to make it easier to summarize census data at a neighborhood level. There are 53 CRAs in Seattle, with each CRA made up of a combination of census tracts. Basing CRAs on combinations of tracts lets us leverage the broad variety of demographic data available for tracts and allows us to take advantage of tracts’ relative stability over time.
While we use CRAs for summarizing census data, CRAs are not official neighborhood, political, or administrative geographies. We also acknowledge that that CRAs may not correspond with the ways communities define their own neighborhoods.
Boundaries for CRAs and related information can be found on Seattle GeoData. This includes the considerations that went into developing the CRAs and a reference table identifying the census tracts and neighborhoods in each CRA.
Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs)
PUMAs are areas that have at least 100,000 residents and that nest into states. While the Census Bureau designed PUMAs mainly for releasing Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data, the Bureau also includes PUMAs among the geographies for which it releases pre-aggregated tables with American Community Survey and decennial census data. For Seattle and many other cities, PUMAs are the smallest sub-city geography for which the Bureau releases ACS 1 year data.
PUMAs are typically built of adjoining census tracts (or counties in rural areas). In heavily populated areas, PUMAS commonly nest into counties and, in some cases, cities. Seven 2020 PUMAs are located entirely or nearly entirely in Seattle:
- 23312 Seatle City (West Seattle-Industrial)
- 23313 Seattle City (Southeast)
- 23314 Seattle City (Central)
- 23315 Seattle City (Lake Union-Downtown)
- 23316 Seattle City (Northwest)
- 23317 Seattle City (Northeast)
- 23318 Seattle City (North)
Maps of PUMAs in Washington are available from the Census Bureau’s website.
Zip Code Tabulation Areas
Because they’re so familiar, ZIP Codes are commonly used in location data for administering programs and engaging stakeholders. Given this, it’s often valuable to match census-based data with ZIP Codes. While Zip Codes don’t match perfectly with any Census geography, there are tools available to help with making rough matches.
The Census Bureau provides data for ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) that approximate ZIP Codes; the Bureau also provides ZCTA geographic relationship files that can help with analysis. HUD’s USPS ZIP Code Crosswalks are another resource; for example, the HUD ZIP→tract crosswalk provides allocation weights for distributing ZIP Code data to census tracts.
City Council Districts
The Seattle City Council consists of nine members, with seven of these members elected by district and two elected citywide. The City Charter requires that City council districts be redrawn every ten years. The current district boundaries were adopted in 2022.
The City Clerk provides the Find Your Council District map that shows the boundaries of each Council District and enables people to find out what Council District and Councilmember represent any Seattle location.
The final districting plan adopted by the Redistricting Commission in 2022 lists the census tracts, block groups, and blocks that make up each Council district and provides a narrative description of each district’s boundaries.
Boundaries for City Council Districts are on Seattle GeoData.
Featured Products and Resources
The list below provides links and descriptions for a sampling of the products we offer with demographic and planning data for neighborhoods in Seattle.
As we develop the Comprehensive Plan Monitoring Program, we will be publishing additional resources. We will build on the previous analysis in our Equitable Development Community Indicators Report (2020) and use mapping to assess how well Seattle is doing in creating more complete, connected neighborhoods. We’ll also look at how well the place types in the Comprehensive Plan are playing their roles.
- The Residential Permitting Trends Dashboard provides quarterly updates on numbers of new housing units that developers have applied to build, that have been issued permits, and that have been completed. Charts can be filtered for different housing types, zones, and types of growth areas (called “place types” in the Comprehensive Plan).
- Our Exploring the Patterns of People Mapping App shows how a wide variety of characteristics (for example age, household size, homeownership rates, incomes, and commuting mode) vary across census tracts in Seattle and surrounding areas. This app is powered by American Community Survey (ACS) data.
- We produce Neighborhood Snapshots for each of Seattle’s 53 Community Reporting Areas along with Council District Snapshots for each of the City’s seven districts. The Snapshots show how much growth has happened and estimates for frequently requested demographic characteristics. A unique feature of the Snapshots is the detail provided on languages spoken in and around each area based on a blend of ACS and Seattle Public Schools data.
- The Neighborhood Profile Builder serves up an array ACS estimates of demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics. Users can create a neighborhood profile for a census tract, Community Reporting Area, or combination of areas. The profile builder also provides data for the city as a whole and for King County.
- We have created Seattle City Council District Profiles with a wide variety of demographic, socioeconomic, and housing characteristics for combinations of block groups that roughly approximate Council Districts. The characteristics in the Council District Profiles are like those in the Neighborhood Profile Builder described above with data also coming from the ACS.
- We offer several neighborhood-level data tools tailored for integrating equity considerations into place-based planning and decision-making. These include our Racial and Social Equity (RSE) Index, Displacement Risk Index, Displacement Risk Indicators Dashboard, and our Neighborhood Change webpage.
- The Seattle GeoData portal's planning category has the underlying demographic and planning data that OPCD’s data team curates and publishes in maps, dashboards, and other data products. This includes residential permit data and housing types, American Community Survey and decennial data, and indicators in the Racial and Social Equity Index.
Key Data Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau Data
- Decennial Census by Decade
- American Community Survey
- Washington State Office of Financial Management
A Technical Note on Neighborhood Geographies
Boundaries of neighborhoods and planning study areas often do not align with boundaries the Census Bureau uses for grouping census data. For U.S. Census data, the City uses combinations of census tracts, block groups, and blocks to best approximate the various neighborhoods and sub-areas of Seattle. If a neighborhood boundary splits a block group or tract, we typically include that block group or tract if 50% or more of its population lives within the neighborhood boundary.