Seattle, United States Population

Population in Urban Area, now

3,501,575
  • World: 139th
  • North America: 18th
  • United States: 13th

Seattle Urban Area Population Graph

Seattle Population Review

Seattle is a relatively small city located in the state of Washington on Puget Sound with 760,000 people living in the city area. While not massive compared to many other cities across the United States or the globe, Seattle is still the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA and has one of the fastest-growing county populations in the country! Seattle is part of the Seattle Metropolitan area, a 15,000 sq. kilometer expanse that includes Seattle and the neighboring suburbs, which has 3.4 million residents in total.

Seattle is projected to continue growing steadily, with an estimate that 3.9 million people will live in the urban area by 2035. Considering Seattle started with only 1,150 people in 1870, this isn’t too shabby for population growth.

The fastest-growing city of the decade

While Seattle may not be a metropolitan behemoth, that hasn’t stopped it from becoming one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States in the past ten years. After another year of remarkable growth in 2017, the US Census Bureau found that Seattle’s population had grown by an impressive 18.7% since 2010. This is the fastest growth rate among the 50 largest cities in the United States. Seattle is also one of the cities with the highest population density in the country. Whether this is because of Seattle’s growing appeal or because of its tight quarters hemmed in by water on both sides, the city had 2,799 people per square kilometer in 2017.

Predominantly white

Seattle remains a city with not much ethnic diversity. Almost 70% of the city’s population identifies as white and 78.9% of the population speak only English at home. The city’s second-largest ethnic population is Asian, with 13.8% of residents identifying as either Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, or of some other Asian descent. This foreign-born population grew 40% from 1990 to the 2000 census but is still only a minuscule portion of the population.

Accommodating a booming population

All that population growth has meant that Seattleites have been feeling the squeeze when it comes to finding homes. The majority of the urban area consists of single-family housing zoning, which developers have been pushing to have changed. This has caused controversy in the city, with many residents wanting to hold onto the single-family housing zoning. The Seattle City Council relaxed height restrictions on buildings in 2006, which cleared the way for out-of-town developers to start putting up high-rise accommodations for the city’s ever-expanding population.

An educated city

Seattleites are people focused on their education. More than half of the city’s population over the age of 25 hold a bachelor’s degree—compare this to the national average of 27.4 percent—and 91% of the city have a high school diploma. The United States Census Bureau has indicated that Seattle actually has one of the highest rates of college graduates among all major cities in the country. Other than traditional educational institutions, there is also a robust adult literacy program and homeschooling programs helping it become the most literate city in all of the United States.

A cultured population

Not only are Seattleites more educated than most Americans, they are also more dedicated to the arts and culture. There are multiple contemporary galleries throughout the city that are well funded and attended and almost 80% of adults in Seattle hold a library card to the Seattle Public Library. The ballet is also widely attended in Seattle, with the Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Ballet celebrating the highest per capita attendance of any ballet in the United States, even beating out New York City. The city has also always been known as an incubator for great musicians and has produced bands like Nirvana, Heart, and Soundgarden.

Review Updated: July 8, 2020
Seattle SkylineSeattle Skyline

Seattle Urban Area Population History

1950 795,000
1951 821,000
1952 847,000
1953 874,000
1954 901,000
1955 930,000
1956 960,000
1957 990,000
1958 1,021,000
1959 1,054,000
1960 1,089,000
1961 1,129,000
1962 1,171,000
1963 1,214,000
1964 1,259,000
1965 1,305,000
1966 1,354,000
1967 1,404,000
1968 1,456,000
1969 1,509,000
1970 1,556,000
1971 1,577,000
1972 1,598,000
1973 1,619,000
1974 1,641,000
1975 1,663,000
1976 1,685,000
1977 1,707,000
1978 1,730,000
1979 1,753,000
1980 1,780,000
1981 1,819,000
1982 1,858,000
1983 1,899,000
1984 1,940,000
1985 1,982,000
1986 2,025,000
1987 2,069,000
1988 2,114,000
1989 2,160,000
1990 2,206,000
1991 2,253,000
1992 2,302,000
1993 2,351,000
1994 2,401,000
1995 2,453,000
1996 2,505,000
1997 2,559,000
1998 2,613,000
1999 2,669,000
2000 2,720,000
2001 2,753,000
2002 2,787,000
2003 2,820,000
2004 2,855,000
2005 2,889,000
2006 2,924,000
2007 2,960,000
2008 2,996,000
2009 3,032,000
2010 3,069,000
2011 3,106,000
2012 3,143,000
2013 3,182,000
2014 3,220,000
2015 3,259,000
2016 3,299,000
2017 3,339,000
2018 3,379,000
2019 3,406,000
2020 3,433,000
2021 3,461,000
2022 3,489,000
2023 3,519,000
2024 3,549,000

Seattle Urban Area Population Projections

2025 3,581,000
2026 3,613,000
2027 3,646,000
2028 3,680,000
2029 3,713,000
2030 3,747,000
2031 3,780,000
2032 3,813,000
2033 3,845,000
2034 3,877,000
2035 3,909,000

Map of Seattle, United States

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