Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Washington

Cities in Washington by employed residents

Seattle, WA had the highest employed residents of 43 cities in 2019, at 456,016. Bainbridge Island, WA had the lowest, at 11,448. The median was 28,334. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest456,016Seattle, WA
Lowest11,448Bainbridge Island, WA
Median28,33443 cities

All cities, 2019

Seattle, WA: 456,016 personsSeattle, WA456,016Tacoma, WA: 111,836 personsTacoma, WA111,836Spokane, WA: 109,158 personsSpokane, WA109,158Vancouver, WA: 94,651 personsVancouver, WA94,651Bellevue, WA: 82,037 personsBellevue, WA82,037Kent, WA: 70,308 personsKent, WA70,308Renton, WA: 59,729 personsRenton, WA59,729Everett, WA: 56,845 personsEverett, WA56,845Kirkland, WA: 51,052 personsKirkland, WA51,052Federal Way, WA: 50,190 personsFederal Way, WA50,190Bellingham, WA: 49,285 personsBellingham, WA49,285Spokane Valley, WA: 49,171 personsSpokane Valley, WA49,171Auburn, WA: 45,820 personsAuburn, WA45,820Yakima, WA: 44,609 personsYakima, WA44,609Redmond, WA: 40,930 personsRedmond, WA40,930Kennewick, WA: 37,498 personsKennewick, WA37,498Marysville, WA: 37,053 personsMarysville, WA37,053Pasco, WA: 35,068 personsPasco, WA35,068Sammamish, WA: 34,017 personsSammamish, WA34,017Shoreline, WA: 30,801 personsShoreline, WA30,801Burien, WA: 28,335 personsBurien, WA28,335Lakewood, WA: 28,334 personsLakewood, WA28,334Richland, WA: 28,109 personsRichland, WA28,109Olympia, WA: 26,473 personsOlympia, WA26,473Bothell, WA: 26,010 personsBothell, WA26,010Lacey, WA: 23,629 personsLacey, WA23,629Edmonds, WA: 22,976 personsEdmonds, WA22,976Issaquah, WA: 22,772 personsIssaquah, WA22,772Puyallup, WA: 21,964 personsPuyallup, WA21,964Lynnwood, WA: 19,792 personsLynnwood, WA19,792Lake Stevens, WA: 19,342 personsLake Stevens, WA19,342Bremerton, WA: 19,160 personsBremerton, WA19,160Wenatchee, WA: 18,876 personsWenatchee, WA18,876University Place, WA: 17,095 personsUniversity Place, WA17,095Pullman, WA: 16,588 personsPullman, WA16,588Mount Vernon, WA: 16,140 personsMount Vernon, WA16,140Des Moines, WA: 16,088 personsDes Moines, WA16,088SeaTac, WA: 15,985 personsSeaTac, WA15,985Longview, WA: 15,840 personsLongview, WA15,840Walla Walla, WA: 15,796 personsWalla Walla, WA15,796Maple Valley, WA: 13,418 personsMaple Valley, WA13,418Mercer Island, WA: 12,464 personsMercer Island, WA12,464Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,448 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,448Seattle, WA: 456,016 personsSeattle, WA456,016Tacoma, WA: 111,836 personsTacoma, WA111,836Spokane, WA: 109,158 personsSpokane, WA109,158Vancouver, WA: 94,651 personsVancouver, WA94,651Bellevue, WA: 82,037 personsBellevue, WA82,037Kent, WA: 70,308 personsKent, WA70,308Renton, WA: 59,729 personsRenton, WA59,729Everett, WA: 56,845 personsEverett, WA56,845Kirkland, WA: 51,052 personsKirkland, WA51,052Federal Way, WA: 50,190 personsFederal Way, WA50,190Bellingham, WA: 49,285 personsBellingham, WA49,285Spokane Valley, WA: 49,171 personsSpokane Valley, WA49,171Auburn, WA: 45,820 personsAuburn, WA45,820Yakima, WA: 44,609 personsYakima, WA44,609Redmond, WA: 40,930 personsRedmond, WA40,930Kennewick, WA: 37,498 personsKennewick, WA37,498Marysville, WA: 37,053 personsMarysville, WA37,053Pasco, WA: 35,068 personsPasco, WA35,068Sammamish, WA: 34,017 personsSammamish, WA34,017Shoreline, WA: 30,801 personsShoreline, WA30,801Burien, WA: 28,335 personsBurien, WA28,335Lakewood, WA: 28,334 personsLakewood, WA28,334Richland, WA: 28,109 personsRichland, WA28,109Olympia, WA: 26,473 personsOlympia, WA26,473Bothell, WA: 26,010 personsBothell, WA26,010Lacey, WA: 23,629 personsLacey, WA23,629Edmonds, WA: 22,976 personsEdmonds, WA22,976Issaquah, WA: 22,772 personsIssaquah, WA22,772Puyallup, WA: 21,964 personsPuyallup, WA21,964Lynnwood, WA: 19,792 personsLynnwood, WA19,792Lake Stevens, WA: 19,342 personsLake Stevens, WA19,342Bremerton, WA: 19,160 personsBremerton, WA19,160Wenatchee, WA: 18,876 personsWenatchee, WA18,876University Place, WA: 17,095 personsUniversity Place, WA17,095Pullman, WA: 16,588 personsPullman, WA16,588Mount Vernon, WA: 16,140 personsMount Vernon, WA16,140Des Moines, WA: 16,088 personsDes Moines, WA16,088SeaTac, WA: 15,985 personsSeaTac, WA15,985Longview, WA: 15,840 personsLongview, WA15,840Walla Walla, WA: 15,796 personsWalla Walla, WA15,796Maple Valley, WA: 13,418 personsMaple Valley, WA13,418Mercer Island, WA: 12,464 personsMercer Island, WA12,464Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,448 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,448
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2019
persons		Change on 2018
1Seattle, WA456,016+3.3%
2Tacoma, WA111,836+1.8%
3Spokane, WA109,158+4.7%
4Vancouver, WA94,651+5.4%
5Bellevue, WA82,037+2.4%
6Kent, WA70,308+2.1%
7Renton, WA59,729+1.6%
8Everett, WA56,845+1.5%
9Kirkland, WA51,052+5.3%
10Federal Way, WA50,190+1.2%
11Bellingham, WA49,285+4.5%
12Spokane Valley, WA49,171+5.3%
13Auburn, WA45,820+1.2%
14Yakima, WA44,609+2.9%
15Redmond, WA40,930+8.4%
16Kennewick, WA37,498+5.7%
17Marysville, WA37,053+2.3%
18Pasco, WA35,068+4.6%
19Sammamish, WA34,017+2.3%
20Shoreline, WA30,801+2.5%
21Burien, WA28,335+1.2%
22Lakewood, WA28,334+1.9%
23Richland, WA28,109+4.8%
24Olympia, WA26,473+3.5%
25Bothell, WA26,010+3.5%
26Lacey, WA23,629+6.7%
27Edmonds, WA22,976+1.2%
28Issaquah, WA22,772+2.4%
29Puyallup, WA21,964+2.3%
30Lynnwood, WA19,792+3.2%
31Lake Stevens, WA19,342+2.8%
32Bremerton, WA19,160+6.7%
33Wenatchee, WA18,876+0.5%
34University Place, WA17,095+1.9%
35Pullman, WA16,588+4.8%
36Mount Vernon, WA16,140+4.6%
37Des Moines, WA16,088+2%
38SeaTac, WA15,985+1.4%
39Longview, WA15,840+3.9%
40Walla Walla, WA15,796+2.9%
41Maple Valley, WA13,418+2.3%
42Mercer Island, WA12,464+1.7%
43Bainbridge Island, WA11,448n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents who did any work for pay or profit in the reference week, or were temporarily absent from a job, 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, whatever the place of work, and someone with two jobs counts once. 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: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in Washington by employed residents, 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: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Washington by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Cities in Washington by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Washington by employed residents, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Washington by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2019. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Washington by employed residents, 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/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2019.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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 employed residents?

Seattle, WA, with 456,016 in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Bainbridge Island, WA, with 11,448 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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 4 cities have no value for 2019 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Washington: more rankings