Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Washington

Cities in Washington by civilian labor force

Seattle, WA had the highest civilian labor force of 43 cities in 2019, at 467,905. Bainbridge Island, WA had the lowest, at 11,937. The median was 29,441. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest467,905Seattle, WA
Lowest11,937Bainbridge Island, WA
Median29,44143 cities

All cities, 2019

Seattle, WA: 467,905 personsSeattle, WA467,905Tacoma, WA: 115,977 personsTacoma, WA115,977Spokane, WA: 115,544 personsSpokane, WA115,544Vancouver, WA: 99,478 personsVancouver, WA99,478Bellevue, WA: 84,164 personsBellevue, WA84,164Kent, WA: 72,590 personsKent, WA72,590Renton, WA: 61,558 personsRenton, WA61,558Everett, WA: 58,792 personsEverett, WA58,792Kirkland, WA: 52,514 personsKirkland, WA52,514Spokane Valley, WA: 52,001 personsSpokane Valley, WA52,001Federal Way, WA: 51,984 personsFederal Way, WA51,984Bellingham, WA: 51,590 personsBellingham, WA51,590Yakima, WA: 47,711 personsYakima, WA47,711Auburn, WA: 47,302 personsAuburn, WA47,302Redmond, WA: 41,902 personsRedmond, WA41,902Kennewick, WA: 39,812 personsKennewick, WA39,812Marysville, WA: 38,254 personsMarysville, WA38,254Pasco, WA: 37,402 personsPasco, WA37,402Sammamish, WA: 34,894 personsSammamish, WA34,894Shoreline, WA: 31,746 personsShoreline, WA31,746Richland, WA: 29,575 personsRichland, WA29,575Lakewood, WA: 29,441 personsLakewood, WA29,441Burien, WA: 29,266 personsBurien, WA29,266Olympia, WA: 27,874 personsOlympia, WA27,874Bothell, WA: 26,786 personsBothell, WA26,786Lacey, WA: 24,896 personsLacey, WA24,896Edmonds, WA: 23,650 personsEdmonds, WA23,650Issaquah, WA: 23,336 personsIssaquah, WA23,336Puyallup, WA: 22,718 personsPuyallup, WA22,718Lynnwood, WA: 20,440 personsLynnwood, WA20,440Bremerton, WA: 20,212 personsBremerton, WA20,212Lake Stevens, WA: 19,951 personsLake Stevens, WA19,951Wenatchee, WA: 19,948 personsWenatchee, WA19,948University Place, WA: 17,650 personsUniversity Place, WA17,650Pullman, WA: 17,335 personsPullman, WA17,335Mount Vernon, WA: 17,079 personsMount Vernon, WA17,079Longview, WA: 16,853 personsLongview, WA16,853Des Moines, WA: 16,672 personsDes Moines, WA16,672Walla Walla, WA: 16,665 personsWalla Walla, WA16,665SeaTac, WA: 16,562 personsSeaTac, WA16,562Maple Valley, WA: 13,838 personsMaple Valley, WA13,838Mercer Island, WA: 12,813 personsMercer Island, WA12,813Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,937 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,937Seattle, WA: 467,905 personsSeattle, WA467,905Tacoma, WA: 115,977 personsTacoma, WA115,977Spokane, WA: 115,544 personsSpokane, WA115,544Vancouver, WA: 99,478 personsVancouver, WA99,478Bellevue, WA: 84,164 personsBellevue, WA84,164Kent, WA: 72,590 personsKent, WA72,590Renton, WA: 61,558 personsRenton, WA61,558Everett, WA: 58,792 personsEverett, WA58,792Kirkland, WA: 52,514 personsKirkland, WA52,514Spokane Valley, WA: 52,001 personsSpokane Valley, WA52,001Federal Way, WA: 51,984 personsFederal Way, WA51,984Bellingham, WA: 51,590 personsBellingham, WA51,590Yakima, WA: 47,711 personsYakima, WA47,711Auburn, WA: 47,302 personsAuburn, WA47,302Redmond, WA: 41,902 personsRedmond, WA41,902Kennewick, WA: 39,812 personsKennewick, WA39,812Marysville, WA: 38,254 personsMarysville, WA38,254Pasco, WA: 37,402 personsPasco, WA37,402Sammamish, WA: 34,894 personsSammamish, WA34,894Shoreline, WA: 31,746 personsShoreline, WA31,746Richland, WA: 29,575 personsRichland, WA29,575Lakewood, WA: 29,441 personsLakewood, WA29,441Burien, WA: 29,266 personsBurien, WA29,266Olympia, WA: 27,874 personsOlympia, WA27,874Bothell, WA: 26,786 personsBothell, WA26,786Lacey, WA: 24,896 personsLacey, WA24,896Edmonds, WA: 23,650 personsEdmonds, WA23,650Issaquah, WA: 23,336 personsIssaquah, WA23,336Puyallup, WA: 22,718 personsPuyallup, WA22,718Lynnwood, WA: 20,440 personsLynnwood, WA20,440Bremerton, WA: 20,212 personsBremerton, WA20,212Lake Stevens, WA: 19,951 personsLake Stevens, WA19,951Wenatchee, WA: 19,948 personsWenatchee, WA19,948University Place, WA: 17,650 personsUniversity Place, WA17,650Pullman, WA: 17,335 personsPullman, WA17,335Mount Vernon, WA: 17,079 personsMount Vernon, WA17,079Longview, WA: 16,853 personsLongview, WA16,853Des Moines, WA: 16,672 personsDes Moines, WA16,672Walla Walla, WA: 16,665 personsWalla Walla, WA16,665SeaTac, WA: 16,562 personsSeaTac, WA16,562Maple Valley, WA: 13,838 personsMaple Valley, WA13,838Mercer Island, WA: 12,813 personsMercer Island, WA12,813Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,937 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,937
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2019
persons		Change on 2018
1Seattle, WA467,905+2.8%
2Tacoma, WA115,977+1.2%
3Spokane, WA115,544+4.8%
4Vancouver, WA99,478+5.5%
5Bellevue, WA84,164+1.9%
6Kent, WA72,590+1.5%
7Renton, WA61,558+1.1%
8Everett, WA58,792+1%
9Kirkland, WA52,514+4.7%
10Spokane Valley, WA52,001+5.2%
11Federal Way, WA51,984+0.7%
12Bellingham, WA51,590+4.6%
13Yakima, WA47,711+3.4%
14Auburn, WA47,302+0.7%
15Redmond, WA41,902+7.7%
16Kennewick, WA39,812+5.8%
17Marysville, WA38,254+1.8%
18Pasco, WA37,402+4.8%
19Sammamish, WA34,894+1.7%
20Shoreline, WA31,746+2.1%
21Richland, WA29,575+4.6%
22Lakewood, WA29,441+1.2%
23Burien, WA29,266+0.6%
24Olympia, WA27,874+3.7%
25Bothell, WA26,786+2.8%
26Lacey, WA24,896+6.7%
27Edmonds, WA23,650+0.6%
28Issaquah, WA23,336+1.9%
29Puyallup, WA22,718+1.6%
30Lynnwood, WA20,440+2.5%
31Bremerton, WA20,212+6.5%
32Lake Stevens, WA19,951+2.2%
33Wenatchee, WA19,948+0.8%
34University Place, WA17,650+1.3%
35Pullman, WA17,335+4.7%
36Mount Vernon, WA17,079+4.9%
37Longview, WA16,853+4.1%
38Des Moines, WA16,672+1.4%
39Walla Walla, WA16,665+3.2%
40SeaTac, WA16,562+1%
41Maple Valley, WA13,838+1.8%
42Mercer Island, WA12,813+1.3%
43Bainbridge Island, WA11,937n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 4 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2019 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in Washington by civilian labor force, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Washington by civilian labor force, 2019. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/washington-cities?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in Washington by civilian labor force, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/washington-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Washington by civilian labor force, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/washington-cities?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_washington_by_2019,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Washington by civilian labor force, 2019}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/washington-cities?period=2019. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Washington by civilian labor force, 2019
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/washington-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/washington-cities?period=2019.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Seattle, WA, with 467,905 in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Bainbridge Island, WA, with 11,937 in 2019.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 4 cities have no value for 2019 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Washington: more rankings