Seattle metropolitan area | |
|---|---|
| Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA MSA | |
.jpg) Aerial view of DowntownSeattle, 2025 | |
 Map of the Seattle metropolitan statistical area (MSA), highlighted in teal; the Seattle Combined Statistical Area (CSA) is highlighted in gold | |
| Coordinates:47°29′N121°50′W / 47.49°N 121.83°W /47.49; -121.83 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Washington |
| Counties (MSA) | King,Pierce,Snohomish |
| Largest city | Seattle (762,500) |
| Other cities | |
| Government | |
| • Congressional districts | 1st,2nd,6th,7th,8th,9th,10th |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,308.67 sq mi (16,339.4 km2) |
| • Land | 5,869.72 sq mi (15,202.5 km2) |
| • Water | 438.95 sq mi (1,136.9 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 14,409 ft (4,392 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 4,018,762 |
• Estimate (2024)[3] | 4,145,494 |
| • Rank | 15th in the U.S. |
| • Density | 685/sq mi (264/km2) |
| GDP | |
| • MSA | $604.065 billion (2024) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| ZIP Code prefixes[5] | 980, 981, 982, 983, 984 |
| Area codes | 206,253,360,425,564 |
| FIPS code[6] | 53-42660 |
TheSeattle metropolitan area is anurban conglomeration in theU.S. state ofWashington that comprisesSeattle, its surroundingsatellites and suburbs. TheUnited States Census Bureau defines theSeattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area as the three most populouscounties in the state:King,Pierce, andSnohomish. Seattle has the 15th largestmetropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States with a population of 4,018,762 as of the2020 census, over half of Washington's total population.
The area is considered part of the greaterPuget Sound region, which largely overlaps with the SeattleCombined Statistical Area (CSA). The Seattle metropolitan area is home to a large tech industry and is the headquarters of several major companies, includingMicrosoft andAmazon. The area's geography is varied and includes the lowlands aroundPuget Sound and theCascade Mountains; the highest peak in the metropolitan area isMount Rainier, which has a summit elevation of 14,411 feet (4,392 m) and is one of the tallest mountains in the United States.
As defined by theU.S. Census Bureau and theOffice of Management and Budget, the Seattle metropolitan area is officially the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WAmetropolitan statistical area (MSA) and consists of:[7][8]
Based on commuting patterns, the adjacent metropolitan areas ofOlympia,Bremerton, andMount Vernon, along with a few smaller satellite urban areas, are grouped together in a wider labor market region known as theSeattle–Tacomacombined statistical area (CSA), which encompasses most of thePuget Sound region.[8][9] The population of this wider region was 4,953,389 at the 2020 census and estimated to be 5,105,721 in 2024;[3] the Puget Sound region is home to two-thirds of Washington's population.[10] The Seattle CSA is the 14th largest in the United States and the13th largest primary census statistical area in the country.[3] The additional metropolitan andmicropolitan areas included are:[8]
The Census Bureau adopted metropolitan districts in the1910 census to create a standard definition for urban areas with industrial activity around a central city.[11] At the time, Seattle had the 22nd largest metropolitan district population at 239,269 people, a 195.8 percent increase from the population of the equivalent area in the1900 census.[12] The Seattle metropolitan district was expanded to encompass the entirety ofLake Washington in the1930 census and also includedEdmonds in Snohomish County,Des Moines in southern King County, and portions of easternBainbridge Island in Kitsap County.[13] The district covered 209.9 square miles (544 km2), of which two-thirds was outside of Seattle proper, and counted a population of 420,663.[14]
The Seattle metropolitan area, successor to the metropolitan district, was expanded in 1949 to encompass all of King County but lose its portions in Kitsap and Snohomish counties. The localchamber of commerce and other leaders had lobbied for a definition that also included all of Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in a manner similar to thePortland metropolitan area, which had been expanded to cover four counties in Oregon and southwestern Washington.[15][16] The Bureau of the Budget (now Office of Management and Budget) added Snohomish County to its definition of the Seattle metropolitan area in 1959. The definition had previously only encompassed King County; local leaders had sought to also include Pierce and Kitsap counties in a "Puget Sound metropolitan area".[17] Snohomish County had protested its inclusion and had sought a separate metropolitan area designation centered onEverett, which did not meet the population threshold of 50,000 residents.[18][19]
In the 1950 census, a separate metropolitan area for Tacoma was defined that encompassed all of Pierce County.[20][21] Kitsap County remained part of no metropolitan area despite its connections to both Seattle and Tacoma.[22] The Office of Management and Budget included the area in the Seattle–Tacoma standard consolidated statistical area in 1981;[23] it was replaced in 1983 by the Seattle–Tacoma consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA).[24] The CMSA was expanded to include Bremerton and Olympia after the1990 census and was the 12th largest in the country at the time.[25][26] The Office of Management and Budget restructured its classification system in 2003 and created the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area to cover the tri-county region. A new Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area (CSA) replaced the CMSA and expanded to cover Island and Mason counties.[27][28] The Mount Vernon–Anacortes metropolitan area was created in 2003 to encompass Skagit County and added to the Seattle CSA in 2006;[29][30] the CSA was extended further south to Lewis County through the addition of the Centralia micropolitan area in 2013.[31]
The Seattle metropolitan area covers 6,309 square miles (16,340 km2) of land and water inWestern Washington divided between the three counties;[1] King County is the largest county at over 2,115 square miles (5,480 km2), followed by Snohomish and Pierce counties.[32] The region includes portions of theCascade Range and two active volcanoes,Mount Rainier andGlacier Peak, which can generatelahars that could potentially reach populated areas.[33][34] The summit of Mount Rainier is the tallest point in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m) abovemean sea level;[32] it has 26 glaciers that are visible from much of the region's lowlands.[33][35] To the west of the metropolitan area isPuget Sound, which forms the second-largest saltwater estuary in the United States and is part of theSalish Sea.[36]
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The Seattle metropolitan area is home to ninefederally recognized tribes that belong to the indigenousCoast Salish peoples:[38]
The tribes have sovereign governments that have authority over their enrolled members and theIndian reservations that were established in the region.[38] The reservations were created through treaties with the federal government that were not consistently honored and often combined several tribes together;[39] they were also open to settlement by non-Indians.[40]
As of 2023[update], the Puget Sound region had nearly 105,000U.S. Department of Defense andWashington National Guard personnel, including active duty, guard and reserve members of the military, and civilian workers atUnited States Armed Forces bases.[41][42] Major facilities in the area includeJoint Base Lewis–McChord in Pierce County, the largest military base on the West Coast with over 25,000 active duty soldiers;[43]Naval Station Everett in Snohomish County; andNaval Air Station Whidbey Island in Island County.[41][44] The Kitsap Peninsula—part of the Seattle CSA—is home toNaval Base Kitsap, which includes thePuget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton andNaval Submarine Base Bangor,[44] site of the third-largest arsenal ofnuclear weapons in the world with more than 1,100 warheads for submarines.[45] The U.S. Coast Guard is under military command in time of war, and it routinely supports Defense Department missions, including escorting ballistic missile submarines to and from Bangor.[46]U.S. Coast Guard Northwest District (formerly District 13) headquarters are on the Seattle waterfront, and it is home to all U.S. icebreakers. As of 2025[update], the base was being expanded to include three newPolar Security Cutters.[47]
The region also has several major companies that serve asdefense contractors for the U.S. military, comprising most of Washington's $6.9 billion awarded infiscal year 2022. The largest contractors in the Seattle area include Boeing,PacMed, and Microsoft.[41][48] TheVeterans Health Administration has 110,000 enrolled patients in the Puget Sound region, which includes a large population of retirees.[49]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 4,128 | — | |
| 1880 | 11,616 | 181.4% | |
| 1890 | 123,443 | 962.7% | |
| 1900 | 189,518 | 53.5% | |
| 1910 | 464,659 | 145.2% | |
| 1920 | 601,090 | 29.4% | |
| 1930 | 706,220 | 17.5% | |
| 1940 | 775,815 | 9.9% | |
| 1950 | 1,120,448 | 44.4% | |
| 1960 | 1,428,803 | 27.5% | |
| 1970 | 1,832,896 | 28.3% | |
| 1980 | 2,093,112 | 14.2% | |
| 1990 | 2,559,164 | 22.3% | |
| 2000 | 3,043,878 | 18.9% | |
| 2010 | 3,439,809 | 13.0% | |
| 2020 | 4,018,762 | 16.8% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 4,145,494 | 3.2% | |
| Calculated from county totals;[50] U.S. Census estimates[3] | |||
As of the2020 census, there were 4,018,762 people in the three counties that form the Seattle metropolitan area, which comprises 52 percent ofWashington's population.[2][51] It is the 15th largestmetropolitan statistical area in the United States and among the fastest-growing in the country.[52] The overallpopulation density was 685 inhabitants per square mile (264.5/km2). The population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female with a median age of 37.2 years old.[2]
Theracial makeup of the metropolitan area was 60.1%White, 15.4%Asian, 6.1%Black, 1.1%Native American orAlaska Native, 1.1%Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander, 11.0% from two or more races, and 5.3% from other races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 11.2% of the population.[2] From 2010 to 2020, the non-Hispanic White population of the Seattle metropolitan area declined from 68 percent to 58 percent—the largest decline in the U.S.[53] The region also has a large Asian American population that was among the fastest-growing in the country between 2010 and 2020.[53][54]
There were 1,564,432 total households in the metropolitan area at the time of the 2020 census, of which 47.8% included a married couple, 8.1% included an unmarriedcohabiting couple, 19.7% had a single male with no spouse or partner, and 24.4% single female with no spouse or partner. Out of all households, 29.8% had people under the age of 18 and 25.3% had people 65 years or older.[2] Approximately 18.3% of household residents were opposite-sex spouses, while 0.3% were same-sex spouses.[2]
According to a 2022 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 17 percent of adult residents in the Seattle metropolitan area identified asLGBTQ.[55] The region has one of the highest percentages of same-sex couples in the United States at 1.3 percent of households in the metropolitan area as of 2022[update];[56] in 2023, Seattle itself had 3.2 percent of households with same-sex couples—the highest percentage in the United States.[57]
King County is the largest of the three counties in the metropolitan area with 2,269,675 people in 2020, or 56 percent of the population of the Seattle area.[58]
| County | 2020 census[58] | 2010 census[58] | Change | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King County | 2,269,675 | 1,931,249 | +17.52% | 2,115.56 sq mi (5,479.3 km2) | 1,035/sq mi (399/km2) |
| Pierce County | 921,130 | 795,225 | +15.83% | 1,669.51 sq mi (4,324.0 km2) | 552/sq mi (213/km2) |
| Snohomish County | 827,957 | 713,335 | +16.07% | 2,087.27 sq mi (5,406.0 km2) | 397/sq mi (153/km2) |
| Total | 4,018,762 | 3,439,809 | +16.83% | 5,869.72 sq mi (15,202.5 km2) | 685/sq mi (264/km2) |
| Religious composition | 2024[59] | 2014[60] |
|---|---|---|
| Christian | 44% | 52% |
| —Evangelical Protestant | 21% | 23% |
| —Mainline Protestant | 9% | 10% |
| —Black Protestant | 1% | 1% |
| —Catholic | 11% | 15% |
| Non-Christian faiths | 11% | 10% |
| —Jewish | 1% | 1% |
| —Muslim | 2% | < 1% |
| —Buddhist | 4% | 2% |
| —Hindu | 1% | 2% |
| Unaffiliated | 44% | 37% |
| —Atheist | 9% | 10% |
| —Agnostic | 14% | 6% |
| —Nothing in particular | 21% | 22% |
| Don't know | 1% | 1% |
The Seattle metropolitan area has one of the largest populations of people in the United States who identify as nonreligious.[61] A 2024 Household Pulse Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 64 percent of adults in the area do not attend religious services more than once a year, the highest percentage among large U.S. metropolitan areas.[62] According to thePew Research Center's 2023–24 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, the Seattle area was tied withPortland for the highest share of people without a religious affiliation at 44 percent. The share of non-religious people in the area had increased since the 2014 edition of the Pew study, while the share of people who identified as Christian declined from 52 percent to 44 percent.[63]
Thecost of living in the Seattle area ranks among the highest in the United States among urban areas, particularly for housing, services, and retail goods.[64] In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that median household income for residents of the Seattle metropolitan area was $101,700, an 8.2 percent increase from 2019. It is the fourth-highest figure for any metropolitan area in the United States, behindSan Jose,San Francisco, andWashington, D.C.[65] TheBureau of Economic Analysis estimated that the per-capita income of a Seattle metropolitan area resident was $92,113 in 2022;[66] the previous year, the region ranked tenth in the U.S. for per-capita income.[67]
The area is home to several of thewealthiest people in the United States and the world by net worth. Microsoft co-founderBill Gates and Amazon founderJeff Bezos both held the title ofworld's richest person, as determined byForbes, while living in the Eastside city ofMedina.[68][69] Another Eastside suburb,Sammamish, has a median household income of $201,370—the second-highest among cities in the United States.[70]
The Seattle area has ahousing shortage that has contributed to affordability issues in the early 21st century, particularly due to demand outpacing construction of new units.[71] The metropolitan area had the seventh highest number of new units built among large cities in 2016, of which 63 percent were inmultifamily buildings.[72] The state legislature passed a new housing law in 2023 that allows formedium-density units in areas of all cities that supersede local zoning regulations; the new law could allow for 75,000 to 150,000 new units in the region, but exempts certain pre-existinghomeowner associations and other contract-based communities.[73][74] As of April 2023[update], the median price for asingle-family home was $722,000 and the median rent for a one-bedroom unit is $1,505 across the metropolitan area.[75][76] In King County, an estimated 309,000 new units are needed by 2044 to handle anticipated growth.[77] As of the 2020 census, the Seattle metropolitan area had 1,650,246 total housing units, of which 94.8% were occupied. Of the 85,814 vacant units, 41.1% were for rent, 4.4% were rented but not occupied, 10.1% were for sale, 5.1% had been sold but not yet occupied, and 16.9% were designated for seasonal or recreational use.[2]
King County has the third largest population ofhomeless or unsheltered people in the United States according to theU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).[78] The agency's January 2023 report, based on thepoint-in-time count system, estimates 14,149 people in the county have experienced homelessness;[79] theKing County Regional Homelessness Authority adopted a different methodology based on the number of people seeking services and estimated that 53,532 people in the county had been homeless at some point in 2022.[78][80] According to a survey collected by service providers for the county government, 68.5 percent of respondents said they last had stable housing in King County and 10.8 percent had lived elsewhere in the state.[81] Approximately 57 percent of the homeless population counted by HUD in King County was classified as unsheltered, either living in vehicles, encampments in public spaces, or other places.[82] The number of unsheltered individuals increased significantly in the late 2010s, leading to clearing of encampments and other structures by local governments.[83][84]
The county has 5,115 emergencyshelter beds andtiny house villages, of which 67 percent are in the city of Seattle.[85] Additional shelters, parking lots, and encampment sites are operated by charity organizations and churches in the area;[86] during severe weather events such as heat waves and cold snaps, local governments open additional shelter spaces, but these often reach capacity.[87] In 2021, a total of $123 million was spent on homelessness services by local governments in King County, including cities and the regional authority.[85] The regional authority's five-year plan, released in 2023, estimates that $8 billion in capital costs would be required to build and staff 18,205 new units of temporary and transitional housing to address the homelessness crisis.[88]
The January 2023 point-in-time survey conducted in Pierce County identified 2,148 people who were experiencing homelessness, of whom 59 percent were in shelters and 21 percent were unsheltered—either outdoors or in vehicles.[89][90] The city of Tacoma has 1,225 shelter beds and 137 permanent housing units as of 2022[update]; the city government plans to temporarily increase shelter capacity while transitioning to more permanent and long-term housing for homeless people.[91] In Snohomish County, 1,285 homeless individuals in 1,028 households were identified in the January 2023 survey; of them, 594 were in shelters and 691 were unsheltered.[92] Approximately 1,500 students in theEverett School District, the county's largest school system, were identified as homeless in 2022.[93] The county has 683 year-round shelter beds and increases capacity during inclement weather; the county government purchased two formermotels in 2022 to provide an additional 130 rooms.[94]
The region had agross domestic product (GDP) of $566.74 billion in 2023, thetenth-highest in the United States and fastest-growing among large cities.[4][95] The Seattle area also had a GDP per capita of $128,316 in 2022, thethird-highest figure among large metropolitan areas in the United States, behind San Jose and San Francisco.[96] As of October 2024[update], the largest employment sector is professional and business services, with approximately 388,700 employees, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities (361,100), education and health services (317,200), and government (279,300). A total of 2.13 million jobs are available in non-farm sectors in the Seattle metropolitan area; theunemployment rate was 4.4% in October 2024 and 4.2% in October 2023.[97] The average weekly wage was $2,188 across the metropolitan area in early 2024, compared to $1,527 nationally.[97] The region has some of the highest hourlyminimum wages in the United States that exceed the state's minimum of $16.66; as of 2025[update], the minimum wage is $20.24 in Everett for large employers, $20.76 in Seattle, and $21.10 in Tukwila.[98][99]
Seattle is noted for itstechnology industry, which developed in the late 20th century and grew significantly with the development ofMicrosoft andAmazon.[100] The industry has 290,000 workers based in the Seattle area, ranking second nationally behind theSan Francisco Bay Area, and comprises 13 percent of the regional workforce;[101][102] from 2005 to 2017, Seattle was one of five metropolitan areas that had 90 percent of the new technology jobs created in the United States.[103] Amazon is the largest private employer in the region, having grown from fewer than 5,000 local employees in 2009 to approximately 60,000 in 2020;[104] Microsoft, the second-largest tech employer in the region with 57,000 employees as of 2021[update],[105] has several subsidiaryvideo game studios in the region. The Eastside is also home to game developers and distributorsValve,Bungie, andNintendo of America.[106] Since the late 2000s, the area has also become home to satellite offices forSilicon Valley companies such asGoogle,Meta, andSalesforce.[107][108] Seattle has historically had fewventure capital firms to invest instartups until the 2010s with the advent of new companies founded by alumni of older tech companies in the area;[109] in the early 2020s, several Seattle-area startups were labeledunicorns with a valuation of at least $1 billion.[110]
The region also has a largeaerospace industry that is dominated byBoeing, historically the largest employer in Washington state with 60,244 workers as of 2022[update].[111] The company has major commercial jetliner assembly plants in Everett and Renton alongside testing facilities in Seattle and smaller component manufacturers in other areas.[112][113] TheBoeing Everett Factory is the world'slargest building by volume and is the assembly site of the747,767 and777 programs, including their variants, alongside most787s.[114] The company was headquartered in Seattle until its move toChicago in 2001; in subsequent years, widebody production of the 787 was moved toCharleston, South Carolina.[113] The Seattle region is also home to several startupelectric aircraft and component manufacturers, includingEviation andMagniX, who emerged in the 2010s.[115] The decade also saw the establishment of severalspace technology companies in the area, including Kent-basedBlue Origin,Vulcan Aerospace,Kuiper Systems, and satellite offices forSpaceX;[116][117] the industry has 13,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region as of 2022[update], a two-fold increase since 2018.[117][118]
The region is a major hub for international trade and handles most of Washington's exports, which totaled $78 billion in 2018, through three majorseaports onPuget Sound.[119] TheNorthwest Seaport Alliance was formed in 2015 to enable cooperation between thePort of Seattle andPort of Tacoma, rival public ports situated 32 miles (51 km) apart.[120] The two ports combine to form the seventh-largestcontainer port in the United States and has the second-largest concentration of warehouse space on the West Coast.[121][122] The independentPort of Everett is a smaller port but handles exports of a similar value to Seattle and Tacoma due to its proximity to the Boeing Everett Factory.[123] Other maritime industries in the area includeshipbuilding andcommercial fishing,[32] particularly boat fleets based in Seattle that travel annually to the northern Pacific Ocean andBering Sea nearAlaska.[124][125]
The city has a majorcoffee retail industry that developed in the 1970s and 1980s and spawned several chains that remain headquartered in Seattle, includingStarbucks andTully's Coffee.[126] Seattle had the third-most coffee shops per capita in 2019 among U.S. cities, including independent shops and other roasters.[127] The city proper serves as the headquarters for other major companies in various industries, including online travel agencyExpedia and wood producerWeyerhaeuser. National retailersREI andNordstrom were also founded in Seattle and remain headquartered in the area.[119][128] Bellevue is home to the head offices of truck manufacturerPaccar, telecom networkT-Mobile US, and clothing retailerEddie Bauer.[129] Warehouse retailerCostco is headquartered inIssaquah and has more than a dozen locations in the Seattle area.[130] The region has several largeshopping centers that range from traditionalenclosed malls likeAlderwood Mall andWestfield Southcenter to newer outdoor designs such asUniversity Village andRedmond Town Center.[131][132] While suburban areas have had few retail vacancies since theCOVID-19 pandemic, Downtown Seattle has had a slower recovery with a vacancy rate of nearly 14 percent as of late 2023.[133][134] In the retail grocery sector, the most popularsupermarket chains in the region are owned byKroger (Fred Meyer andQFC) and theAlbertsons Companies (Albertsons,Safeway), alongside warehouse retailers like Costco.[135]
The Seattle area is atourist destination, especially during the summer months, for domestic and international visitors. The metropolitan area's tourism industry employed 209,000 residents in early 2020, later reduced to 181,000 by 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[136] In 2022, an estimated 33.9 million visitors in Seattle and King County spent $7.4 billion;[137] the region had reached a peak of 41.9 million visitors in 2019.[138]Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle, a largepublic market with more than 220 shops and restaurants,[139] draws 10 million annual visitors and is among the most-visited tourist attractions in the world.[140] Other major attractions in Seattle include theSpace Needle, theSeattle Center Monorail,Seattle Great Wheel, theAmazon Spheres, theSeattle Underground Tour, and the historicPioneer Square neighborhood.[136][138] The city is also home to threecruise ship terminals operated by the Port of Seattle that serve excursions through theInside Passage to Alaska.[141] An estimated 1.8 million passengers visited Seattle on 291 departures during the 2023 summer season with an estimated economic impact of $900 million.[142][143]
The region has severalconvention centers that are able to host large events, such astrade shows,fan conventions, corporate meetings, and conferences. The first portion of theSeattle Convention Center (formerly the Washington State Convention Center) was built over Interstate 5 and opened in 1988;[144] it expanded to a second building in 2023 to meet growing demand for event space in Downtown Seattle.[145] The convention center can hold simultaneous events and has over 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m2) of exhibition and meeting space.[146] Its largest annual events includePAX West (formerly the Penny Arcade Expo),Emerald City Comic Con,Sakura-Con, and theNorthwest Flower and Garden Show, which each attract over 10,000 attendees.[147] Smaller convention centers in the area include theMeydenbauer Center in Bellevue, theLynnwood Event Center, and theGreater Tacoma Convention Center.[148][149]
The areas outside of Seattle proper attract fewer tourists and draw largely from local and regional visitors. In Snohomish County, a majority of visitors in 2019 were from Western Washington and included a large number from within the metropolitan area.[150] Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the county's largest tourist attraction was theFuture of Flight Aviation Center adjacent to Paine Field, which offered tours of the nearby Boeing Everett Factory and drew 300,000 annual visitors.[151] Pierce County had 8.8 million visitors in 2021 and estimated that they spent a total of $1.4 billion.[152]Mount Rainier National Park, located mostly in the county, had 2.3 million visitors in 2022—primarily between July and September.[153]
The Seattle MSA comprises three counties, ninefederally recognized tribes, and 77 municipalities classified ascities or towns, each with their own governments.[154] These include 39 municipalities in King County, 23 in Pierce County, and 20 in Snohomish County; several cities also extend beyond the borders of a single county.[155] Approximately 71 percent of Puget Sound region residents live in an incorporated city or town; the rest are inunincorporated areas under the direct jurisdiction of counties, which act as the local government.[156][157] These developed unincorporated areas generally lie within theurban growth areas for existing cities that couldannex them or in county-designated areas that would allow communities to vote forincorporation.[158][159] The incorporated city and town governments vary betweenmayor–council andcouncil–manager systems, the latter using a council-appointedcity manager to handle administration.[160]
All three counties have ahome rule charter and are led by an electedcounty executive and acounty council with members representing geographic districts.[161][162] The elections for the county executive and council, along with other major offices, are held in even-numbered years for Pierce County and odd-numbered years in King and Snohomish counties.[163][164] The county governments are responsible for various duties for all residents that are generally delegated to other elected and appointed officials, including the assessor, clerk, coroner and medical examiner, prosecuting attorney, and treasurer.[165] These duties include organization of elections and voter registration, enforcement of land use regulations, management of vital records, property assessment, tax collection, public health, and building inspections.[157][166] The counties also manage the criminal justice system, including the superior and district courts,public defenders, and jails.[167]
ThePuget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), the designatedmetropolitan planning organization for the Seattle MSA and Kitsap County, has voluntary membership from 82 municipalities, four tribes, four public ports, and sixpublic transit operators.[156][168] It maintains along-range plan for population growth, economic development, and regional transportation that is overseen by an executive board and general assembly of all members.[154][156] The organization also distributes state and federal funding for projects within the four-county area.[169] Other inter-county organizations includespecial districts and regional authorities for conservation, transit, libraries, andfirefighting; as of 2007[update], there are over 220 special purpose districts in the Seattle metropolitan area.[155] Tax rates are set by local governments and can vary due to contributions to special districts; the combinedsales tax ranges from 8.1% in parts of Pierce County to 10.6% in several Snohomish County cities, the highest rate in the state.[170][171]
The Seattle MSA is part of sevencongressional districts (the1st,2nd,6th,7th,8th,9th, and10th) that each elect a member of theUnited States House of Representatives.[172] The boundaries are redrawn every 10 years by the state's independentredistricting commission based on the results of the decennial census.[173] The8th district is the only one to span all three counties, taking the rural eastern portions and including areas east of the Cascade Mountains.[174] According to the 2022Cook Partisan Voting Index, six of the congressional districts lean towards Democratic candidates while the 8th district is even between both major parties.[175] In thestate legislature, the metropolitan area is part of 28 districts that each elect twoHouse members to a two-year term and onesenator to a four-year term.[176][177] By the 2021 session, almost all legislative districts in the region were represented solely by Democrats in the Senate and House, with the exception of exurban districts.[178] According to a 2022 marketing survey byNielsen, the Seattle metropolitan area is tied for the eighth highest percentage of adults who favored the Democratic Party, at nearly 55 percent—an 11-point increase from a similar survey conducted in 2004.[179] The area also decides most statewide elections due to their large population, which has contributed to an unbroken line of Democratic governors since 1984.[180]
PublicK–12 education is managed by localschool districts that are governed by elected boards and overseen by two of the state's nine regionaleducational service districts.[181] The Puget Sound Educational Service District covers 35 school districts and 416,000 students in King and Pierce counties, along withBainbridge Island in Kitsap County, and includes 40 percent of the state's student population.[182] The Northwest Educational Service District encompasses 35 school districts in northwestern Washington, including all 14 in Snohomish County.[183][184] The public school districts are primarily funded by allocations from the state government and localproperty tax levies that are approved by voters.[181]
The largest school district in the metropolitan area isSeattle Public Schools, which had 51,000 students enrolled for the 2023–24 school year, a 9 percent decrease from its 2019 peak of 56,000 students.[185] The district has 106 schools and over 6,000 staff members;[186][187] most students attend their closest neighborhood schools, whileoption schools are able to enroll students from across the city.[187] Other large districts with more than 20,000 enrolled students includeLake Washington,Tacoma,Kent,Northshore,Puyallup, andFederal Way.[188] According to theU.S. News & World Report, the top high schools in the metropolitan area are primarily in the Eastside region, along with specialized industry and technical schools in Tukwila and Lakewood; the highest-ranked school in Washington is theTesla STEM High School in the Lake Washington School District.[189] The smallest school district in the Seattle area is theIndex School District, which has 19 students and no high school.[190]
The Seattle area has hundreds of registeredprivate schools that serve over 50,000 students and offer alternative curriculums or religious education.[191][192][193] The largest private schools in the area areCedar Park Christian School andKing's Schools, both Christian programs.[194] Since a state referendum in 2012,charter schools have been approved to operate in the area using public funding while remaining privately-run.[195] These non-district schools are also overseen by the educational service district of their respective region;[196] they are also allowed to participate in the same athletics competitions as public schools under the management of theWashington Interscholastic Activities Association.[191]
The Seattle area has several universities and colleges that provide post-secondary education and are run by public or private institutions.[197] According to theNational Center for Education Statistics, approximately 45 percent of people in the Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area in 2019 had abachelor's degree or higher—the tenth-highest rate in the United States.[198] This includes a high number of out-of-state adults who reside in the metropolitan area; according to a 2015Brookings Institution study, 48% of out-of-state adults had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to 35% of in-state adults.[199]
The oldest and largestpublic university in the state isUniversity of Washington (UW), which was founded in 1861 and has over 60,000 total students in nearly 500 programs at its three campuses.[200] The 342-acre (138 ha)main campus in Seattle was established in 1895 after moving fromDowntown Seattle;[201] it was joined in 1990 by branch institutions inBothell andTacoma that later built permanent campuses in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[202][203] UW is also a majorresearch university with an annual budget of $10.4 billion and one of the largest employers in the metropolitan area.[200][204] The state's second-largest institution,Washington State University, has anEverett branch campus that was established in 2011 after plans for a UW branch campus were shelved amid theGreat Recession.[205]
The area has 17community colleges andtechnical colleges that offer two-year degrees and other programs, including transfers to local four-year universities.[206][207] Each college is assigned a specific district that also conforms to county boundaries.[206][208] As of 2023[update], the largest community college in the state wasBellevue College, which has nearly 9,000 full-time students; other colleges with more than 5,000 enrolled students includePierce College,Green River College, andHighline College.[209] The three community colleges in Seattle proper form theSeattle Colleges District, which has over 12,000 total students as of 2021[update].[210] The area also has severalprivate four-year and two-year institutions that focus on religious orliberal arts programs. These includeSeattle University,Seattle Pacific University,Pacific Lutheran University, andUniversity of Puget Sound.[211]
The Seattle–TacomaDesignated Market Area, as defined byNielsen Media Research, includes most of Western Washington and theWenatchee metropolitan area.[212] As of 2021[update], it is the 12th largesttelevision market[213] and 11th largestradio market in the United States by population.[214] King County has the majority of the region's television and radioantenna towers, which are concentrated on Seattle's hills or onCougar Mountain andTiger Mountain in theIssaquah Alps.[215][216][217] In addition toover-the-air television, the region is also served bycable andsatellite providers, the largest of which isComcast Xfinity andWave Broadband.[218]
All major national television networks haveaffiliates in the region who also produce local news broadcasts and other programming;[219] these includeKOMO 4 (ABC),KING 5 (NBC),KIRO 7 (CBS), andKCPQ 13 (Fox).[220][221] The Seattle area has two non-profit stations that are members ofPBS, the U.S. nationalpublic broadcaster:KCTS in Seattle andKBTC in Tacoma.[222] The region's largest Spanish-language television station,KUNS, lost itsUnivision affiliation in 2023 and was replaced byBellingham-basedKVOS, which did not produce local news content.[223] National news television networkMSNBC was launched jointly by Microsoft and NBC in 1996; its online news operations were based in Redmond until 2012.[224]
The largest radio stations in the Seattle area by listenership are primarilymusic stations, including several owned by national networkiHeartRadio, andtalk stations with local ownership.[225][226] The first radio broadcasters in Seattle emerged in 1922, including the still-operatingKJR, and grew through the decade; several radio broadcasters later established their own television stations following the first local broadcast in Seattle by KING predecessor KRSC-TV in 1948.[227][228] Among the most popular modern stations isKEXP-FM, a non-profit music station that has a worldwide following due to its early use of internet broadcasting.[229] The Seattle area has twoNPR-affiliated public radio stations:KUOW-FM, founded at the University of Washington in 1952;[227] andKNKX-FM, founded atPacific Lutheran University in Tacoma as KPLU. An attempted takeover of KPLU by KUOW in 2016 resulted in public outcry and the establishment of KNKX under independent ownership.[230]
The region has three major newspapers based in the largest cities of each county:The Seattle Times, the most-circulated newspaper in the Pacific Northwest, is a daily newspaper based in Seattle and had over 75,000 subscribers in 2022;[231]The News Tribune in Tacoma has approximately 54,000 subscribers and switched to a three-day publication schedule in 2024;[232] andThe Daily Herald in Everett has 33,500 subscribers as of 2022[update] and prints six editions a week.[233][234] Seattle's oldest daily newspaper, theSeattle Post-Intelligencer, ceased print publication in 2009 and became an online-only outlet.[235][236] The Seattle area also has weekly newspapers in smaller cities, including several owned bySound Publishing or independent companies;[237][238] other hyperlocal publications, primarily in Seattle neighborhoods, have largely ceased publication in the early 21st century.[239]
Other newspapers include free weekliesThe Stranger andSeattle Weekly, which both ceased regular print publication by 2020;[237][240] trade and industry publicationsPuget Sound Business Journal andSeattle Daily Journal of Commerce;[236][241] and student newspaperThe Daily of the University of Washington.[236] The region also has publications in English and other languages for ethnic communities. These include Asian-American publicationsInternational Examiner,Northwest Asian Weekly, and theSeattle Chinese Post;[242] and theSeattle Medium andThe Facts, both catered towards the Black community.[243]Real Change, a weeklystreet newspaper, has been published since 1994 and is sold by homeless and low-income vendors with an estimated annual circulation of 550,000 copies.[244] Several digital-only publications emerged in the 2000s and 2010s to provide local news, includingCrosscut.com, tech industry publicationGeekWire, and hyperlocal outletsCapitol Hill Seattle Blog andWest Seattle Blog.[245][246]
The Seattle metropolitan area has several localpublic library systems that are funded primarily byproperty taxes that are set by voter-approved levies within a designated library district.[247] These include library districts that cover most of a county—either through direct annexation or contracted by local governments—or a department of the city government.[248][249] Some cities have opted out of having library systems after voters rejected the proposed property tax to fund services.[249] The earliest public libraries in the region were established in the late 19th century by private organizations that were later absorbed into city governments; the first was inSteilacoom in 1858 and was followed by a Seattle organization in 1868.[250] Severalcity libraries and local branches were constructed across the metropolitan area with grants from industrialistAndrew Carnegie beginning in 1901.[251] In addition to public libraries, the region also has informalpublic bookcases (part of theLittle Free Library movement) and neighborhoodtool libraries that lend tools and materials.[252][253]
TheKing County Library System is the largest library in the region, with 50 branches and a total circulation of nearly 18.9 million physical and digital items as of 2022[update].[254][255] It was established as a rural library district in 1943 and absorbed most of the city-operated systems in King County, with the exception of theSeattle Public Library, by 2012.[256] The independent Seattle system has 27 locations, including itsCentral Library in Downtown Seattle, and had a 2022 circulation of 11 million items.[255][257] TheSno-Isle Libraries system serves most of Snohomish and Island counties and has 23 locations that circulated 7.4 million items in 2022;[255] Sno-Isle does not serve the city of Everett, which operates the two locations of theEverett Public Library.[258] Pierce County has acounty library system with 20 locations that circulated 4.8 million items in 2022 and separate, city-run libraries inTacoma with eight locations andPuyallup with one location.[255] In 2016, the King County, Sno-Isle, and Seattle systems were among the three largest libraries in the United States by circulation.[259] The King County and Seattle systems were also among the heaviest users of digital lending platformOverDrive by circulation worldwide in 2023, each with more than 5 million checkouts.[260]
Seattle is home to four current professional major league franchise in men's sports and several defunct teams.[261] TheSeattle Seahawks of theNational Football League andSeattle Sounders FC ofMajor League Soccer shareLumen Field, an outdoor stadium near Downtown Seattle with a capacity of 69,000 spectators. The stadium will also host several matches in the2026 FIFA World Cup.[262] TheSeattle Mariners ofMajor League Baseball play at the adjacentT-Mobile Park, which has a retractable roof and 48,000 seats.[263] TheSeattle Kraken of theNational Hockey League have played atClimate Pledge Arena on theSeattle Center grounds since it reopened in 2021.[261] Seattle is the only U.S. city to have teams in three professional women's leagues.[264] TheSeattle Storm of theWomen's National Basketball Association andSeattle Torrent of theProfessional Women's Hockey League both share Climate Pledge Arena with the Kraken;[264]Seattle Reign FC of theNational Women's Soccer League play at Lumen Field.[265]
The first major-league sports team from the area was theSeattle Metropolitans, who played in thePacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924 and won the1917 Stanley Cup.[266] They were followed by theSeattle SuperSonics of theNational Basketball Association, who entered as an expansion team in 1967 and won the1979 NBA Finals. The team wasrelocated to become theOklahoma City Thunder in 2008.[261] TheSeattle Pilots were the first Major League Baseball team to play in the city, but moved after their lone season in 1969 and were renamed theMilwaukee Brewers.[267] The 1976 opening of theKingdome, an indoor multi-purpose stadium funded by the King County government, provided a suitable home for several new professional teams. The originalSeattle Sounders of theNorth American Soccer League were the first to play at the Kingdome, followed by the new Seahawks in 1976 and Mariners in 1977.[261][268] Fans of these teams became known for their loud and passionate support, which carried over into the new venues that replaced the Kingdome: T-Mobile Park in 1999 and Lumen Field in 2002.[268][267] The Seahawks won their firstSuper Bowl in 2014, while the Sounders re-entered the major leagues in 2009 and won several honors, including theMLS Cup in 2016 and 2019 and theCONCACAF Champions League in 2022.[267][269] The Storm were established in 2000 as a sister team to the SuperSonics and have won fourWNBA Finals.[270]
In addition to major league sports, the Seattle area is home to several collegiate athletic programs and minor league teams. TheUniversity of Washington'sHuskies andSeattle University'sRedhawks both haveNCAA Division I sanctioning in various men's and women's sports.[271] TheSeattle Seawolves are members ofMajor League Rugby and have played atStarfire Sports inTukwila since their debut in 2018; therugby union team have won two league championships and played in two more finals.[272] TheMinor League Baseball system includes two teams in the region, theTacoma Rainiers (Triple-A) andEverett AquaSox (High-A), that play in suburban ballparks and are affiliated with the Mariners.[273] TheEverett Silvertips andSeattle Thunderbirds are minor league teams that play in the U.S. Division of theWestern Hockey League, a primarily Canadianjunior ice hockey league.[274] TheTacoma Stars of theMajor Arena Soccer League, anindoor soccer league, share theaccesso ShoWare Center inKent with the Thunderbirds.[275] The Sounders have a minor league reserve team, theTacoma Defiance, who play at Starfire Sports in Tukwila.[276] Another men's minor league,USL League Two, has six teams based in the Seattle metropolitan area:Ballard FC,Bigfoot FC,Midlakes United,Snohomish United, the Tacoma Stars, andWest Seattle Junction FC.[277][278]
The metropolitan area has 23 hospitals that provide emergency or specialized medical care and are operated by public authorities or private organizations.[279][280] Non-profit Catholic organizationProvidence Health & Services and its subsidiarySwedish Health Services[281] are the largest operator of regional hospitals with seven facilities and over 2,100 combined licensed beds in King and Snohomish counties.[282][283] TheUW Medicine system, managed by the University of Washington, comprises several of the largest hospitals in Seattle and a regional network of clinics.[284][285] Among them isHarborview Medical Center onFirst Hill, a 413-bed public hospital and the only Level Itrauma center in the state.[286][287] Other major healthcare systems in the Seattle area includeEvergreenHealth,MultiCare,Overlake Hospital Medical Center, andVirginia Mason Franciscan Health.[282][288]
The Seattle area also has specialized medical facilities that serve the Pacific Northwest or wider regions of the United States.Seattle Children's Hospital is a major pediatric hospital that serves Washington and four other states;[289] the area has several hospitals for military members and veterans in the area, including theMadigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis–McChord and theDepartment of Veterans Affairs' Puget Sound Health Care System.[290][291] The largestpsychiatric hospital in the region isWestern State Hospital in Lakewood, which has a capacity of 800 residents; the three-county region has a total of 64 beds at government facilities and is also home to several private behavioral health centers run byUniversal Health Services.[292][293]
TheBureau of Labor Statistics estimates that about 5.7 percent of annual spending for residents in the Seattle metropolitan area was on healthcare.[294] According to a 2022 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, approximately 5.3 percent of people in the Seattle metropolitan area lackhealth insurance.[295] As of 2021[update], the largest insurer in the region is Mountlake Terrace-basedPremera Blue Cross, followed byCambia Health Solutions andKaiser Permanente.[296] Nearly 900,000 people in the tri-county region are enrolled inWashington Apple Health, a no-cost health insurance program managed by the state government under the federalMedicaid system.[297] An additional 533,000 people in the area were enrolled inMedicare in 2018.[298]
The region has several localhealth departments that set and enforce public health regulations and perform other duties to prevent the spread of disease:[299]Public Health – Seattle & King County, theSnohomish County Health Department, andTacoma–Pierce County Health Department are dedicated departments within their respective county governments.[300] In January 2020, the Seattle area detected the first known case ofCOVID-19 in the United States and within two months had the first deaths from the pandemic in the country; the region's relatively low death rate was credited to actions taken by public health authorities and the use of extensive testing and widespreadremote work policies before the rest of the country adopted them.[301][302] Seattle is also home to several major health research institutions, including theCenter for Global Infectious Disease Research,Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center,Gates Foundation,PATH, and theInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.[303][304]
The Seattle area has several parks systems managed by different public entities to preserve land and water for conservation and recreational purposes. The largest park system in the region is Seattle's489 municipal parks, among the largest municipal systems in the United States.[305] The Seattle park system also includes several popularbeaches on Puget Sound and Lake Washington as well ascommunity centers with an indoor gymnasiums.[306][307] There are 19 parks and historic sites in the metropolitan area that are maintained byWashington State Parks;[308]Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah recorded 2.1 million visits in 2023—the second most in the state park system.[309] A 450-mile (720 km) network of regionalshared trails for bicycles and pedestrians, named Leafline, was developed beginning in the late 20th century by local and county governments. They were primarilyrail trails that repurposed unused railroad rights-of-way.[310] The Seattle area also has a variety of public and privategolf courses, including four municipal facilities in Seattle and several that have hostedPGA Tour events, such asChambers Bay inUniversity Place (host of the2015 U.S. Open) andSahalee Country Club inSammamish.[311][312]
The federalNational Park Service (NPS) andUnited States Forest Service (USFS) also maintain conservation and recreation areas around the Seattle region.Mount Rainier National Park, located in southern Pierce County, was established in 1899 to protect the area around its namesake volcano and has over 1.6 million annual visitors.[313][314] Washington's two othernational parks—Olympic to the west andNorth Cacades to the north—are within 150 miles (240 km) of the Seattle area.[315][316] A unit of theKlondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is located in Seattle'sPioneer Square and contains exhibits and displays related to the city's role in theKlondike Gold Rush.[317] TheMount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest, maintained by the USFS, spans the western slopes of the Cascades from the Canadian border to Mount Rainier and includes hiking areas, campgrounds, and trails.[318] More than 40 percent of the national forest is also designated as part of nine federalwilderness areas.[319]
Several cities in the metropolitan area, including Seattle and Bellevue, have the highest rate of adults who regularly engage in physical activity according to 2021 data from theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention.[320] The region has a variety of outdoor activities due to its proximity to the mountains and water, including hiking, kayaking, skiing, backpacking, and camping.[321][322] Local hiking surged in popularity in the 2010s and during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 36 percent of surveyed adults in the Seattle area reporting in 2022 that they had recently hiked.[323] The Seattle area has three publicski areas, all in the Cascades, and is near other skiing and snowboarding areas. The largest isCrystal Mountain near Mount Rainier in Pierce County, which has 2,600 acres (1,100 ha); it is followed byThe Summit at Snoqualmie, located east of Seattle on Interstate 90, andStevens Pass in Snohomish County.[324] Public and private facilities also offer forms of indoor recreation, including climbing, swimming, racquet or paddle sports, and ice skating.[325]Pickleball, a racquet or paddle sport, was invented on nearbyBainbridge Island in 1965 and was played by approximately 8 percent of adults in the Seattle area according to a 2024 survey.[326]
The largest airport in the region isSeattle–Tacoma International Airport inSeaTac, a majorinternational airport that serves as a commercial hub forAlaska Airlines andDelta Air Lines.[327] It is operated by thePort of Seattle and lies between Seattle and Tacoma; both cities contributed financially to its construction, which was completed in 1944 for military use and later expanded for commercial aviation.[328] Sea-Tac served 46 million passengers in 2023 and was the 11th busiest airport in the United States and 28th busiest in the world by passenger volume.[329] As of 2023[update], the airport has 91 domestic destinations and 28 international destinations in North America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.[330][331]
The area's other conventional passenger airport isPaine Field in Everett, 30 miles (48 km) north of Downtown Seattle. The airport is owned by the Snohomish County government and primarily used for general aviation and various industries, including the nearbyBoeing Everett Factory. The passenger terminal, operated by a private company, opened in 2019 and serves domestic destinations, primarily in the Western United States.[332] As of 2023[update], Alaska Airlines is the sole airline at Paine Field and serves up to eleven destinations during peak seasons.[330]
Proposals to build a reliever airport for Sea-Tac were investigated in the 1990s prior to the decision to build a third runway at the airport to handle increased traffic.[333] The state legislature convened a new commission in 2019 to search for a suitable site for a reliever airport, which could include expansion of Paine Field or construction of an outlying airport by 2040.[334] The commission identified four sites in the southern Puget Sound region but was dissolved before a final recommendation due to public opposition to a new airport.[335]
Limited passenger service is also available fromBoeing Field in Seattle, which primarily serves cargo and charter traffic.[331][336]Kenmore Air, a passengerfloatplane operator, serves two airports in the area: theKenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base onLake Union in Seattle andKenmore Air Harbor onLake Washington inKenmore.[337] The metropolitan area's other general-use airports includeArlington Municipal Airport in northern Snohomish County;[338]Bremerton National Airport in Kitsap County;[339] the privately ownedHarvey Airfield inSnohomish;[340] andRenton Municipal Airport, adjacent to Lake Washington and theBoeing Renton Factory.[341]
The Seattle area has agrid-based road system that originates at designated points in each of the three counties; streets and roads arenumbered from this origin point with cardinal directions as prefixes or suffixes.[342] The origin for the King County grid is1st Avenue and Main Street inDowntown Seattle; from there, numbers increase outward until they reach the county border and reset.[342][343] The northernmost street in King County is Northeast 205th Street, which runs along the county line and is known as 244th Street Southwest in Snohomish County.[344][345] Cities are permitted to have separate numbering and naming systems for streets,[342] including retaining older names prior to the harmonization of street numbers following the adoption of a countywide911 system in the late 20th century.[346][347]
In addition to streets and roads under the jurisdiction of the local and county governments, the state legislature designates a network ofstate highways that are maintained by theWashington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).[348][349] These highways are primarily funded by the state government through afuel tax and annual fees onvehicle registration that are collected by other departments.[350][351] Several highways connect beyond the Puget Sound region, including crossings of the Cascade Mountains throughmountain passes—of which three have winter access during normal weather.[352] Some city streets in the state highway system, such as Aurora Avenue North onState Route 99 (SR 99), have shared jurisdiction or ownership between WSDOT and local governments.[353][354]
The state highway system comprises undivided highways as well ascontrolled-access freeways,[355] which include several routes on the nationalInterstate Highway System that cover a total of 182 miles (293 km) in the Seattle metropolitan area.[356][357] These freeways were built by the state government in the 20th century to conform withstandards set by theFederal Highway Administration and are numbered as part of a national scheme.[358][359] The mainWest Coast freeway,Interstate 5 (I-5), travels through the region and serves the cities of Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett; its busiest section in Downtown Seattle carried 274,000 vehicles on an average day in 2016, while approximately 2.6 billion person miles were traveled on the corridor betweenFederal Way and Everett in 2017.[360][361] The only east–west Interstate in the area isI-90, which connects Seattle to Bellevue, Issaquah, and Eastern Washington viaSnoqualmie Pass.[352] I-5 has twoauxiliary routes in the region:I-405, which serves the Eastside and functions as abypass of Seattle;[362] andI-705, a short spur into Downtown Tacoma that opened in 1990.[363]
Other major freeways in the area includeSR 16 from Tacoma to the Kitsap Peninsula;SR 18 from Federal Way to Snoqualmie;SR 167 from Puyallup to Renton;SR 509 from SeaTac to Seattle;SR 520 from Seattle to Redmond;SR 522 from Bothell to Monroe; andU.S. Route 2 (US 2) from Everett to Snohomish.[355][356] Plans for a larger network of freeways and expressways were drawn up in the 1950s and 1960s, but were later cancelled or downsized due topublic outcry and budget issues. Among the cancelled projects were theR.H. Thomson Expressway in eastern Seattle, theBay Freeway in Seattle'sSouth Lake Union neighborhood, and an outer bypass of the Eastside unofficially namedInterstate 605 that was proposed several times.[364] The highway system includes several of the longestfloating bridges in the world due to the depth of local water bodies and their soft silt, which make conventional bridge designs more challenging.[365]Lake Washington has three of the bridges: a pair carries separate directions of I-90, while theEvergreen Point Floating Bridge carries SR 520 and is the world's longest floating bridge at 7,700 feet (2,300 m).[365][366] The SR 520 floating bridge is one of twotoll bridges in the area, along with the eastbound span of theTacoma Narrows Bridge on SR 16, which was constructed with toll revenue.[367] The toll bridges and theState Route 99 tunnel in Seattle use theGood to Go electronic toll system, which charges based on a transponder or by reading a vehicle'slicense plate with fees collected by mail.[368]
The region's freeway system includes a network ofhigh-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes) to encourage use of mass transit andcarpools duringpeak periods;[369] the lanes also include bypasses atramp meters and special ramps at some interchanges.[370][371] As of 2018[update], 250 miles (400 km) of the planned 369 miles (594 km) in the network have been constructed and carry 38 percent of all freeway miles traveled.[360] it was the third-largest system of HOV lanes among U.S. metropolitan areas in 2008.[372] A 40-mile (64 km) section of HOV lanes on I-405 and SR 167 are planned to be converted tohigh-occupancy toll lanes (HOT lanes) by the late 2020s.[373] The Good to Go system is used to collect tolls for single-occupant vehicles in the lanes and are set by variable demand with a maximum of $15; vehicles carrying three or more people are exempt from the toll with a compatible transponder.[374]
The region is served by twoClass I railroads primarily used for freight:BNSF Railway, which owns several lines that connect the north–south I-5 corridor and across the Cascade Mountains; and theUnion Pacific Railroad, which owns a short section from Tukwila to Tacoma and has operating rights on other BNSF lines.[375]Amtrak operates intercity passenger trains on these railroads with stations in the Seattle metropolitan area. TheCascades serves the Portland–Seattle–Vancouver corridor with multiple trips per day; theCoast Starlight operates daily service to Oregon and California fromKing Street Station in Seattle; and theEmpire Builder connects the region to Eastern Washington andChicago.[375] TheCascades travels along thePacific Northwest Corridor, a designated study corridor for potentialhigh-speed rail service.[375][376]
The Seattle metropolitan area has seven major transit agencies that providepublic transportation across several modes, including buses,light rail,commuter rail, andferries. Most transit modes in the region use theORCA card, a smart fare card system introduced in 2009.[377][378] Fares are discounted for people aged 65 or older or those with disabilities; since 2022, all fares for passengers 18 years old and younger have been waived as part of a state program.[379] According to 2019 estimates from theAmerican Community Survey, approximately 10.7 percent of workers in the Seattle metropolitan area used public transit to commute—the sixth most per capita among the largest metropolitan areas in the United States.[380] The high ridership, particularly for buses in the 2010s, was attributed to subsidized fares and other benefits offered by large employers for commuters.[381]
Sound Transit is a regional authority that managesLink light rail,Sounder commuter rail, andSound Transit Express buses on freeways.[382] It was created in 1993 and has a district that covers 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2) and 2.9 million people across 50 municipalities.[383] Link, the regionalrapid transit system, carried 23.9 million passengers in 2022 on its two lines: the1 Line from Seattle toSeaTac, and theT Line in Tacoma.[382][384] Sound Transit's major capital projects are funded by several sources, includingproperty taxes and fees on motor-vehicle registrations, that are enabled byballot initiatives approved by voters in 1996, 2008, and 2016.[383][385] The light rail system plans to expand to 116 miles (187 km) by 2045 and cover several major corridors at a total cost of $149 billion.[385] Other local rail systems include theSeattle Streetcar network, which comprises two lines,[386] and theSeattle Center Monorail, a popular tourist attraction that carries 2 million riders annually.[387]
The largest local transit agency isKing County Metro, which operates buses,paratransit,vanpools, andrideshare in King County. It also operates anelectric trolleybus network in Seattle as well as the city's streetcar system.[388] Metro is one of the largest bus agencies in the United States by ridership, carrying 63.6 million annual passengers in 2022.[384] Snohomish County has two transit providers:Community Transit, which serves most of the county and also operates commuter express service to Seattle; andEverett Transit, which serves the city.[389] Other providers includePierce Transit in Tacoma and Pierce County;Kitsap Transit in Kitsap County;[390] andIntercity Transit in Olympia and Thurston County, which operates fare-free.[391]
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The state-runWashington State Ferries system is the largest maritime transit system in the United States and carries both passengers and vehicles as an extension of the state highway system; it also serves as a tourist attraction in addition to its role as a commuter mode.[392][393] The ferries carried 17.4 million passengers and 8.6 million vehicles in 2022; prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and service cuts, it had carried 25 million annual passengers.[394][395] The system was created in 1951 after a state takeover of thePuget Sound Navigation Company's main lines in the region.[392]Colman Dock in Downtown Seattle is the system's main hub and is served by routes fromBainbridge Island andBremerton.[396]Vashon Island has two terminals at opposite ends of the island: the north terminal is used by theSouthworth–Vashon–Fauntleroy triangle service that connects east toWest Seattle; and the south terminal atTahlequah is part of thePoint Defiance–Tahlequah route from Tacoma.[397] Two routes serve Snohomish County: theEdmonds–Kingston run connects to the Kitsap Peninsula and theMukilteo–Clinton run travels toWhidbey Island.[398] The Pierce County government operates theSteilacoom–Anderson Island ferry with automobile service to two island communities in southern Puget Sound.[399]
The King County Marine Division operates theKing County Water Taxi, a passenger ferry service that connects Downtown Seattle toWest Seattle and Vashon Island.[400] The Vashon Island run was formerly a passenger ferry operated by Washington State Ferries from 1990 until 2006, when the state government cut its funding; the county government later acquired the service under a new ferry district.[401] The passenger-onlyKitsap Fast Ferries system operated by Kitsap Transit connects a terminal near Colman Dock to three terminals on theKitsap Peninsula.[402] Kitsap Transit launched the system's first route, Seattle–Bremerton, in 2017 to provide a faster alternative to the existing state ferry run; it expanded using a fleet ofcatamarans designed for lowwakes.[403] The agency also runs a passenger-only foot ferry between Bremerton and two terminals inPort Orchard using the historicCarlisle II and other boats.[404][405] ThePort of Everett runs a seasonal passenger ferry between Everett andJetty Island in Possession Sound.[406] These services are similar to that of the historicMosquito Fleet, a collective name for passenger ferries operated on Puget Sound from the 1880s to 1920s.[407]
In addition to public operators, several private ferry and excursion services are based in the Seattle area. TheVictoria Clipper connects Downtown Seattle toVictoria, British Columbia, via an international passenger ferry.[408]Argosy Cruises operates sightseeing cruises in Elliott Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal; from 2009 to 2021, the company also operatedTillicum Village, a performance and culinary cruise onBlake Island.[409]
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There are sixelectric utilities that distribute electricity to customers in a local market within the Seattle metropolitan area.[410] They draw most of theirelectric power fromhydroelectric dams in the Pacific Northwest, along withwind,natural gas, andcoal.[411][412] In 2020, these utilities generated or sold over 43,019,000megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity, of which 52 percent was from hydroelectric sources.[413] The largest utility,Puget Sound Energy, is a private company that covers most of King County and portions of Pierce County; as of 2022[update], it derives half of its electricity from coal and natural gas.[411][414] The company is one of two non-government providers alongside thePeninsula Light Company, a non-profitcooperative on theKey Peninsula.[410][415] The remaining local providers,Seattle City Light, theSnohomish County Public Utility District, andTacoma Power, are public utilities who are also members of theEnergy Northwest consortium.[416] They generate their own electricity and also purchase it from the federalBonneville Power Administration, which operates 31 hydroelectric dams on theColumbia andSnake rivers.[417] The cost of electricity in the metropolitan area is approximately 25 percent below the average for the United States due to its reliance on hydroelectricity;[418] as of 2019[update], the average price of electricity ranged from 7.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in Tacoma to 10.2 cents for Puget Sound Energy customers.[419]
The region derives most of itstap water from sources in the Cascade Mountains that are fed by meltedsnowpack that accumulate during the autumn and winter and fill reservoirs as they melt.[420] The water is collected andtreated by three major public utilities that distribute it for consumption: the City of Everett manages the water supply for most of Snohomish County, which is derived fromSpada Lake on theSultan River;Seattle Public Utilities serves 1.3 million people in King County and has two major water sources on theCedar andTolt rivers;[421] andTacoma Public Utilities uses the upperGreen River in King County to serve Pierce County and portions of southern King County.[410]: 7.6 [422] The utilities and other providers also rely ongroundwater wells that draw from a series of underground aquifers in the region, but their use has diminished since the mid-20th century.[410]: 6.7 [423] The treatment process generally includes the addition ofwater fluoridation and the use of chlorine as well as ozone orultraviolet light disinfection.[424][425]
Wastewater is collected locally and sent through sewers andpump stations to regionaltreatment facilities to be discharged into local waterways, primarily Puget Sound.[410]: 7.4 [426] Thecombined sewer system in older areas, including most of Seattle, also carries untreatedstormwater that is dumped with wastewater during overflow events;[427] cities and utilities have undertaken projects to build separate stormwater tunnels and holding tanks to address the issue.[428]Solid waste is collected from curbside bins anddumpsters by local governments or contracted out to companies includingWaste Management,Allied Waste,Republic Services, andRecology.[429][430] County and city governments also operate collection and distribution sites to sort waste before it is sent to a regionallandfill or by rail to awaste-to-energy plant.[431][432] The curbside collection service also includesrecycling pickup, which Seattle began in 1988,[433] which is sorted and processed locally and overseas.[434] In 2015, it became mandatory for providers to offer curbside collection offood waste forcomposting in Seattle after the program was expanded from commercial establishments to all households.[435] Various cities in the metropolitan area banned single-useplastic bags and began imposing charges on reusable orpaper bags from 2009 onward,[436] ahead of a statewide ban that took effect in 2021.[437]
Residential and commercialcentral heating systems in the metropolitan area are primarily supplied by electricity or natural gas; some denser neighborhoods in Seattle also use steamdistrict heating.[438][439] The region historically had the lowest number of households usingair conditioning in their homes in the U.S. due to the temperate summer climate. A series of majorheat waves in the late 2010s and 2020s contributed to an increase in the number of households with air conditioning from 31 percent to over 53 percent by 2021.[440][441] Puget Sound Energy provides natural gas to approximately 850,000 residents in the three metropolitan counties but has announced plans to transition to electric heating under new state regulations.[414][442] Natural gas, primarily sourced from Canada and theMountain states,[443] andpetroleum are transported through a series ofpipelines that travel along the Interstate 5 corridor in Western Washington.[444] The region is also served byoil refineries that primarily receivecrude oil transported by ship from Alaska and train fromNorth Dakota.[445] The refineries in Western Washington producegasoline anddiesel fuel that is primarily used for transportation; prices for gasoline in the Seattle metropolitan area are among the highest in the United States, averaging 45 cents higher than the national average from 2017 to 2021, due to a more limited wholesale market.[446]
The Seattle metropolitan area has severalbroadband andfiber-optic internet service providers, includingAT&T Fiber,[447]CenturyLink,Charter Spectrum,Comcast Xfinity,Wave Broadband, andZiply Fiber;[448][449] approximately 85 percent of households in the metropolitan area had access to broadband internet service in 2014.[450] Comcast Xfinity has the largest market coverage in the area at an estimated 95 percent of households in 2015 and little overlap with competitors.[451] CenturyLink and Ziply additionally operate legacylandline telephone networks respectively inherited fromPacific Northwest Bell andGTE.[452][453][454] The Seattle area is also served by the three majorcellular network companies in the U.S., including Bellevue-basedT-Mobile US, and has had5G coverage since the late 2010s.[455][456] The region is part of fivearea codes under theNorth American Numbering Plan:206 in Seattle;253 in Tacoma and the southern Puget Sound region;360 for most of Western Washington;425 in the Eastside and southern Snohomish County; and564 as an overlay for the region introduced in 2017.[457] Area code 206 was originally assigned to all of Western Washington until it was split in the 1990s with the introduction of new local area codes.[458]
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