Demographics Of Seattle
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The population of the city of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, in the U.S. state of Washington, was 737,015 in the 2020 United States census. Only about a fifth of the households include minor children, and more people live alone here than any other U.S. city besides San Francisco. Seattle's population is mostly white, with a relatively large minority of Asians. It has the largest African American population in the area and a Latino population that is growing quickly. About half the population are Christians (mostly Protestants) and about a third are unaffiliated. As of a 2019 estimate, less than 30% of adults in Seattle were born in Washington state, with the majority born in other parts of the United States. Approximately 20 percent were born abroad.


Population

As of the U.S. Census of 2000, there were 563,374 people, 258,499 households, and 113,481 families residing in the city of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 270,524 housing units at an average density of . During the day, incoming commuters increase Seattle's population by about 30%. According to Census 2010, there were a total of 283,510 households in Seattle. Of these, 42.9% were family households and 57.1% were non-family households. A total of 19.5% of households had children under 18 years, and 17.6% had someone over the age of 65. The average household size was 2.06, while the average family size was 2.87. The city is second-last in terms of households with children, with only 19.1% of households reporting children under 18 living with them. Only San Francisco has a lower percentage of families with children. Seattle also sports the fifth-highest percentage of adults living alone in the country. In the city the population was spread out, with 15.6% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $45,736, and the median income for a family was $62,195. Males had a median income of $40,929 versus $35,134 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $30,306. 11.8% of the population and 6.9% of families were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
as were 13.8% were under the age of 18 and 10.2% are 65 or older. Seattle has the largest
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
population of any city in the Pacific Northwest, it is largely concentrated in the Central District, High Point and Rainier Beach neighborhoods, which are at least 15% Black.. While Seattle's Hispanic population is only 6.6%, it is largely concentrated on the city's
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
neighborhood. In addition, the city has seen a major uptick in
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
in recent decades. The foreign-born population increased 40 percent between the 1990 and 2000 census. Although the 2000 census shows only 5.28% of the population as
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race, Hispanics are believed to be the most rapidly growing population group in Washington State, with an estimated increase of 10% just in the years 2000–2002.


Ethnic groups

According to the 2010 United States Census, Seattle had a population of 608,660 with a racial and ethnic composition as follows: * White: 69.5% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 66.3%) * Asian: 13.8% (4.1% Chinese, 2.6% Filipino, 2.2% Vietnamese, 1.3% Japanese, 1.1%
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...
, 0.8% Indian, 0.3% Indonesian, 0.3% Cambodian, 0.3% Laotian, 0.2%
Pakistanis Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
, 0.2% Thai) * Black or African American: 7.9% (including
Somalis The Somali people (, Wadaad's writing, Wadaad: , Arabic: ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to the Somali Peninsula. who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic languages, East ...
) * Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 9.0% (4.0% Mexican, 2.3% Puerto Rican, 1.3% Colombian, 0.2% Guatemalan, 0.2%
Salvadoran Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...
, 0.2% Cuban) * American Indian and Alaska Native: 0.8% * Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.4% * Other race: 2.4% * Two or more races: 5.1% The racial composition of the city in 2016 was 65.7%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 14.1% Asian, 7.0%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, 0.4% Native American, 0.9%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 2.3% from other races, and 5.6% from two or more races. 6.6% of the population is
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race. Amongst the city's European origin population, 11.3% were of
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, 9.1% Irish, 8.1% English and 5.0% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000.


Religion

Seattle residents identify as mostly various types of Christian (52%), but with a large portion of irreligious. Seattle residents' current religious affiliations are shown in the table below:Major U.S. metropolitan areas differ in their religious profiles
Pew Research Center
*
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
52% **
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
34% ***
Evangelical Protestant Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian ...
23% ***
Mainline Protestant The mainline Protestants (sometimes also known as oldline Protestants) are a group of Protestantism in the United States, Protestant denominations in the United States and Protestantism in Canada, Canada largely of the Liberal Christianity, theolo ...
10% *** Historically Black Protestant 1% **
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
15% **
Mormonism Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to va ...
2% **
Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...
1% **Other Christian 1% *Non-Christian Faiths 10% **
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
3% **
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
1% **
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
1% **Other religion 5% *Unaffiliated 37%


Housing and homeless issues

Estimates of Seattle's
homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
population put the number somewhere around 6,000 to 8,000 people; up to 1,000 are children and young adults. As of January 27, 2017, according to the Point-In-Time Count in Seattle/King County, an annual count of individuals, youth, and families experiencing
homelessness in Seattle In the Seattle King County, Washington, King County area, there were estimated to be 11,751 homeless people living on the streets or in shelters. On January 24, 2020, the count of unsheltered homeless individuals was 5,578. The number of indivi ...
and King County, there were a total of 11,643 individuals experiencing homelessness, of which 47% were unsheltered, which included 13% on the street, 20% in vans or RVs, 13% in tents and 1% in abandoned buildings.


See also

*
Homelessness in Seattle In the Seattle King County, Washington, King County area, there were estimated to be 11,751 homeless people living on the streets or in shelters. On January 24, 2020, the count of unsheltered homeless individuals was 5,578. The number of indivi ...
* History of the Chinese Americans in Seattle * History of the Japanese in Seattle (Japanese Americans and temporary expatriates)


References


External links

{{Demographics of the United States by state Seattle Culture of Seattle Economy of Seattle Geography of Seattle
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...