Bellevue to Seattle pano · Photo: Original photos: Deathgleaner Stiching: esby (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
King County, Washington
2,287,171 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
The community services in King County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Bellevue to Seattle pano · Photo: Original photos: Deathgleaner Stiching: esby (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
1,421,867
▼ 0.3%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$2,739
▲ 1.9%
vs. a year ago · $68.47/hr
—
Needs a 2-bedroom rent
No published median yet
4.9%
▲ 0.4 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$124,746
8.6%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Are wages keeping up with rent?
Average weekly wage and typical rent, both indexed to Q3 2023 = 100.
+1.9%wages vs. a year ago
| Q3 2023 | Wages 100.0 | Rent 100.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | Wages 102.7 | Rent 100.5 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 109.8 | Rent 101.8 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 110.0 | Rent 102.7 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 107.1 | Rent 102.9 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 116.6 | Rent 103.6 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 117.1 | Rent 104.7 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 110.1 | Rent 105.3 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 115.1 | Rent 105.7 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 116.4 | Rent 106.0 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 119.3 | Rent 105.9 |
Unemployment, year over year
Not seasonally adjusted, so each year gets its own line. A line above last year’s is the real signal. October 2025 was not published.
| Month | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.4% | 4.1% | 5.7% |
| February | 4.2% | 4.2% | 5.5% |
| March | 4.1% | 4.3% | 4.8% |
| April | 3.9% | 4.0% | 4.9% |
| May | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.7% |
| June | 4.7% | 4.5% | 4.9% |
| July | 4.5% | 4.5% | 4.9% |
| August | 4.4% | 4.7% | — |
| September | 4.2% | 4.8% | — |
| October | 4.2% | — | — |
| November | 4.0% | 5.3% | — |
| December | 3.6% | 4.9% | — |
4.9%
▲ 0.4 pts
vs. July 2025
65,612
unemployed of a 1,349,771 labor force
July 2026
How pay is spread
Hourly pay of all workers in the Seattle metro, BLS wage percentiles.
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$34.91
Median$80.50
90th
Jobs and pay by occupation group
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs.
| Management Occupations | $80.82/hr | 117,570 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $75.00/hr | 194,970 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $59.70/hr | 50,350 jobs |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $59.08/hr | 110,230 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $56.13/hr | 18,110 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $49.19/hr | 25,810 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $49.01/hr | 201,160 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $37.82/hr | 88,640 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $35.88/hr | 71,640 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $35.51/hr | 29,190 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $34.71/hr | 107,040 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $34.70/hr | 35,880 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $28.68/hr | 212,900 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $28.66/hr | 43,230 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $28.65/hr | 84,180 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $25.45/hr | 161,300 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $24.41/hr | 168,900 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $23.63/hr | 101,480 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $23.35/hr | 42,370 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $22.78/hr | 51,860 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $22.35/hr | 167,040 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $21.66/hr | 2,370 jobs |
What different jobs pay
Hourly pay range for each occupation group: 10th–90th percentile, middle half and median.
Pay compared with Washington and the U.S.
Median hourly wage for all occupations, then each group’s Seattle median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Seattle metro$34.91
- Washington$30.28
- United States$24.51
- Computer & mathPays more by +14%
- Arts, media & sportsPays more by +14%
- Healthcare practitionersPays more by +13%
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays more by +12%
- Architecture & engineeringPays more by +10%
- LegalPays more by +9%
- Education & libraryPays more by +9%
- SciencePays more by +9%
- Installation & repairPays more by +8%
- ProductionPays more by +8%
- SalesPays more by +7%
- Community & social servicePays more by +7%
- Office & admin supportPays more by +5%
- ManagementPays more by +5%
- Transportation & movingPays more by +5%
- Food servicePays more by +4%
- Construction & extractionPays more by +4%
- Business & financePays more by +4%
- Cleaning & groundsPays more by +4%
- Personal care & servicePays more by +3%
- Healthcare supportPays more by +2%
- Protective servicePays less by −4%
What sets local work apart?
Every occupation group’s share of local jobs compared with its U.S. share (location quotient). 2× means twice as common here; 0.5× means half as common.
Most concentrated here
Computer & math
2.8× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Farming, fishing & forestry
0.4× the U.S. share
- Computer & math2.8×
- Architecture & engineering1.4×
- Business & finance1.4×
- Science1.3×
- Arts, media & sports1.1×
- Legal1.0×
- Construction & extraction1.0×
- Community & social service1.0×
- Personal care & service1.0×
- Healthcare support1.0×
- Sales0.9×
- Food service0.9×
- Office & admin support0.9×
- Installation & repair0.9×
- Education & library0.9×
- Transportation & moving0.9×
- Protective service0.8×
- Cleaning & grounds0.8×
- Healthcare practitioners0.8×
- Management0.8×
- Production0.7×
- Farming, fishing & forestry0.4×
Key takeaways
What this means for King County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $2,739, up 1.9% from a year ago.
Where most people work
Office & admin support, business & finance and computer & math are 29% of jobs, with median pay of $28.68, $49.01, $75.00 an hour.
Unemployment is rising
4.9% in July 2026, 0.4 points above a year earlier.
Sources: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (through July 2026) · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (Q1 2026) · BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area, which covers 3 counties; BLS doesn’t publish occupational wages for single counties) · Census ACS 2024 · Range Lab RST listings. The housing wage follows the National Low Income Housing Coalition method: rent × 12 ÷ 0.30 ÷ 2,080 hours. About the data.