Seattle, WA population, income and ZIP codes

Seattle city is a major city in Washington, with 741,440 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it first of 639 ranked by population. The median age here is 35.5 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Seattle city earn a median of $121,984 a year, 55.3% above the national figure of $78,538 and 35% above the $90,592 median for the 393 Washington cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 9.9% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Seattle city is valued at $912,100, 200.6% above the national figure and 95% above the $468,400 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,998 a month, 42.1% above the national figure, or roughly $23,976 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 19.7% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 7.5×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 44.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 7.5× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.