Seattle sales tax rate (WA)

10.45% in Seattle — high. It ranks 1 of 94 covered metros, +2.5 pts against the 7.95% median. On $26,000 of taxable household spending that is $2,717 a year, $650 above it.

Local government sets 3.95% of the total, 38% of the bill; the state takes 6.5%. 4 layers stack: Washington state 6.5%, King County 1.4%, City of Seattle 1.15%, Sound Transit and transportation benefit district 1.4%. The King County increment at 1.4% is the largest local piece — 35% of everything local, worth $364 a year on its own.

1 of 2 covered Washington metros, +0.725 pts from the 9.725% state median. The in-state spread runs 9% in Spokane to 10.45% in Seattle — 1.45 points wide. Buying a $35,000 vehicle in Spokane instead of Seattle saves $508, though Washington normally taxes vehicles where they are registered.

No other covered metro sits within 0.05 points of 10.45%. Seattle is an outlier in the national distribution, which usually means a district measure the surrounding region never adopted.

Scale: 755,078 residents, roughly 302,031 households. At $26,000 of taxable spend each, the 3.95% local share pulls about $310,185,837 a year from residents alone — before any visitor or business spending, which in a metro this size is where the rest comes from.

Washington has no income tax and leans hard on sales tax; Seattle's Sound Transit component funds light rail expansion through 2046.

Rates move when a district measure passes or a local option expires. Confirm the current figure with the Washington State Department of Revenue before filing or quoting it to a customer.