Official Federal Data
King County, Washington
FIPS 53033 · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Population 2,287,171
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$124,746 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
4.5% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$477.2B ▲
GDP
56.7% ▲
Bachelor's+
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
$124,746 ▲
Per Capita
$74,100 ▲
Mean Household
$176,799 ▲
Poverty Rate
8.6% ▼
Median Income Comparison
King County$124,746
Washington$98,141
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
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%
▲ +4.2 pts
56.7%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +21.0 pts
24.2%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▲ +10.1 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
2,287,171
Population
1,322,767
Labor Force
Employed
1,256,602
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
4.5% ▲ +0.3 pts YoY
Mean Commute 1 min above national avg
27.6 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
29.2%
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
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 166,982 workers (16.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $80,161.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $477.2B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Information averages $368,607 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $42,719, 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
Dominant Cluster
Information Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
114,182
Cluster Employment
8.20x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Publishing Industries and Telecommunications
8.20x 67,791
Web Search Portals, Libraries, and Archives
7.12x 11,600
Fishing, Hunting and Trapping
6.44x 444
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
4.80x 14,990
Computing Infrastructure Providers and Data Processing
4.43x 19,801
Management of Companies and Enterprises
3.62x 87,048
Water Transportation
3.31x 2,095
Air Transportation
3.27x 17,274
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
2.62x 42,060
Private Households
1.85x 3,498
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.08x
Animal Production and Aquaculture
210 employed
0.09x
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
91 employed
0.10x
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
349 employed
0.11x
Textile Mills
81 employed
0.14x
Mining (except Oil and Gas)
245 employed
0.16x
Wood Product Manufacturing
591 employed
0.16x
Primary Metal Manufacturing
536 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Publishing Industries and Telecommunications concentrates at 8.20x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, 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
$859,900 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$2,092 ▲
Rent/Mo
55.4% ▼
Owner-Occ
6.2% ▲
Vacancy
6.9x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Stretched
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
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 household income (~$3,119/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
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: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$3,119/mo).
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, B23025, B08303, B08301
1,520,678 ▲
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
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
56.7% ▲
HS Diploma+
93.8% ▲
Local & Area Institutions (within ~40 mi)
Total credentials awarded
27,070/yr ▲
15,671/yr
2,496/yr
2,461/yr
2,387/yr
2,103/yr
1,952/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
16.9%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
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 scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 1,256,602 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Talent pipeline: 6 local institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 20,628 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
King County shows strong potential for publishing industries and telecommunications attraction, with a 8.20x concentration and 67,791 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across publishing industries and telecommunications, web search portals, libraries, and archives, and fishing, hunting and trapping creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
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
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
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 (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, CAGDP1).
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