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Seattle, WA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Seattle profile


Living in Seattle



Seattle is a very large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 733,919 people and 184 constituent neighborhoods, Seattle is the largest community in Washington. Much of the housing stock in Seattle was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Seattle economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Seattle, where the median household income is $105,391.00.

Seattle home prices are not only among the most expensive in Washington, but Seattle real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Seattle has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Seattle is also a city of artists. Seattle has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Seattle’s character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 21.43% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One thing noticeable about Seattle, is that it has a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. That’s because Seattle is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Seattle a great place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun. In fact, Seattle is one of the top larger cities in America for educated single professionals to flock.

One of the nice things about Seattle is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

One of the benefits of being a big city like Seattle is having a public transportation system, but in Seattle the transit system is the mode of choice for lots of people getting to and from work every day. You will find many people using the bus for their daily commute, even though other transportation options exist. If you ask these commuters, many will tell you that not having to drive in the snarl of big city traffic is one of main reasons for leaving the car at home, or even not owning a car at all. With so many people taking the bus Seattle benefits from a reduction in air pollution and traffic.

If knowledge is power, Seattle is a pretty powerful place. 65.88% of the adults in Seattle have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Seattle in 2018 was $68,836, which is wealthy relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $275,344 for a family of four. However, Seattle contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Seattle is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Seattle home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Seattle residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Seattle include German, English, Irish, Italian, and European.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Seattle's cultural character, accounting for 19.30% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Seattle is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.