Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Washington

Cities in Washington by employed residents

Seattle, WA had the highest employed residents of 46 cities in 2020, at 427,781. Bainbridge Island, WA had the lowest, at 11,095. The median was 25,859. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest427,781Seattle, WA
Lowest11,095Bainbridge Island, WA
Median25,85946 cities

All cities, 2020

Seattle, WA: 427,781 personsSeattle, WA427,781Spokane, WA: 105,175 personsSpokane, WA105,175Tacoma, WA: 104,258 personsTacoma, WA104,258Vancouver, WA: 90,312 personsVancouver, WA90,312Bellevue, WA: 75,251 personsBellevue, WA75,251Kent, WA: 64,613 personsKent, WA64,613Renton, WA: 54,677 personsRenton, WA54,677Everett, WA: 52,519 personsEverett, WA52,519Spokane Valley, WA: 48,235 personsSpokane Valley, WA48,235Kirkland, WA: 48,115 personsKirkland, WA48,115Bellingham, WA: 46,833 personsBellingham, WA46,833Federal Way, WA: 46,087 personsFederal Way, WA46,087Yakima, WA: 43,182 personsYakima, WA43,182Auburn, WA: 41,888 personsAuburn, WA41,888Redmond, WA: 37,852 personsRedmond, WA37,852Kennewick, WA: 36,012 personsKennewick, WA36,012Marysville, WA: 34,387 personsMarysville, WA34,387Pasco, WA: 34,129 personsPasco, WA34,129Sammamish, WA: 31,254 personsSammamish, WA31,254Shoreline, WA: 28,846 personsShoreline, WA28,846Richland, WA: 27,492 personsRichland, WA27,492Lakewood, WA: 26,156 personsLakewood, WA26,156Burien, WA: 25,898 personsBurien, WA25,898Olympia, WA: 25,820 personsOlympia, WA25,820Bothell, WA: 23,901 personsBothell, WA23,901Lacey, WA: 23,399 personsLacey, WA23,399Issaquah, WA: 20,994 personsIssaquah, WA20,994Edmonds, WA: 20,964 personsEdmonds, WA20,964Puyallup, WA: 20,380 personsPuyallup, WA20,380Bremerton, WA: 18,740 personsBremerton, WA18,740Lynnwood, WA: 18,048 personsLynnwood, WA18,048Lake Stevens, WA: 18,013 personsLake Stevens, WA18,013Wenatchee, WA: 17,696 personsWenatchee, WA17,696University Place, WA: 15,829 personsUniversity Place, WA15,829Walla Walla, WA: 15,399 personsWalla Walla, WA15,399Longview, WA: 15,387 personsLongview, WA15,387Pullman, WA: 15,212 personsPullman, WA15,212Mount Vernon, WA: 15,094 personsMount Vernon, WA15,094Des Moines, WA: 14,779 personsDes Moines, WA14,779SeaTac, WA: 14,602 personsSeaTac, WA14,602Tumwater, WA: 13,098 personsTumwater, WA13,098Maple Valley, WA: 12,470 personsMaple Valley, WA12,470Camas, WA: 11,721 personsCamas, WA11,721Mercer Island, WA: 11,451 personsMercer Island, WA11,451Moses Lake, WA: 11,335 personsMoses Lake, WA11,335Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,095 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,095Seattle, WA: 427,781 personsSeattle, WA427,781Spokane, WA: 105,175 personsSpokane, WA105,175Tacoma, WA: 104,258 personsTacoma, WA104,258Vancouver, WA: 90,312 personsVancouver, WA90,312Bellevue, WA: 75,251 personsBellevue, WA75,251Kent, WA: 64,613 personsKent, WA64,613Renton, WA: 54,677 personsRenton, WA54,677Everett, WA: 52,519 personsEverett, WA52,519Spokane Valley, WA: 48,235 personsSpokane Valley, WA48,235Kirkland, WA: 48,115 personsKirkland, WA48,115Bellingham, WA: 46,833 personsBellingham, WA46,833Federal Way, WA: 46,087 personsFederal Way, WA46,087Yakima, WA: 43,182 personsYakima, WA43,182Auburn, WA: 41,888 personsAuburn, WA41,888Redmond, WA: 37,852 personsRedmond, WA37,852Kennewick, WA: 36,012 personsKennewick, WA36,012Marysville, WA: 34,387 personsMarysville, WA34,387Pasco, WA: 34,129 personsPasco, WA34,129Sammamish, WA: 31,254 personsSammamish, WA31,254Shoreline, WA: 28,846 personsShoreline, WA28,846Richland, WA: 27,492 personsRichland, WA27,492Lakewood, WA: 26,156 personsLakewood, WA26,156Burien, WA: 25,898 personsBurien, WA25,898Olympia, WA: 25,820 personsOlympia, WA25,820Bothell, WA: 23,901 personsBothell, WA23,901Lacey, WA: 23,399 personsLacey, WA23,399Issaquah, WA: 20,994 personsIssaquah, WA20,994Edmonds, WA: 20,964 personsEdmonds, WA20,964Puyallup, WA: 20,380 personsPuyallup, WA20,380Bremerton, WA: 18,740 personsBremerton, WA18,740Lynnwood, WA: 18,048 personsLynnwood, WA18,048Lake Stevens, WA: 18,013 personsLake Stevens, WA18,013Wenatchee, WA: 17,696 personsWenatchee, WA17,696University Place, WA: 15,829 personsUniversity Place, WA15,829Walla Walla, WA: 15,399 personsWalla Walla, WA15,399Longview, WA: 15,387 personsLongview, WA15,387Pullman, WA: 15,212 personsPullman, WA15,212Mount Vernon, WA: 15,094 personsMount Vernon, WA15,094Des Moines, WA: 14,779 personsDes Moines, WA14,779SeaTac, WA: 14,602 personsSeaTac, WA14,602Tumwater, WA: 13,098 personsTumwater, WA13,098Maple Valley, WA: 12,470 personsMaple Valley, WA12,470Camas, WA: 11,721 personsCamas, WA11,721Mercer Island, WA: 11,451 personsMercer Island, WA11,451Moses Lake, WA: 11,335 personsMoses Lake, WA11,335Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,095 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,095
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons		Change on 2019
1Seattle, WA427,781-6.2%
2Spokane, WA105,175-3.6%
3Tacoma, WA104,258-6.8%
4Vancouver, WA90,312-4.6%
5Bellevue, WA75,251-8.3%
6Kent, WA64,613-8.1%
7Renton, WA54,677-8.5%
8Everett, WA52,519-7.6%
9Spokane Valley, WA48,235-1.9%
10Kirkland, WA48,115-5.8%
11Bellingham, WA46,833-5%
12Federal Way, WA46,087-8.2%
13Yakima, WA43,182-3.2%
14Auburn, WA41,888-8.6%
15Redmond, WA37,852-7.5%
16Kennewick, WA36,012-4%
17Marysville, WA34,387-7.2%
18Pasco, WA34,129-2.7%
19Sammamish, WA31,254-8.1%
20Shoreline, WA28,846-6.3%
21Richland, WA27,492-2.2%
22Lakewood, WA26,156-7.7%
23Burien, WA25,898-8.6%
24Olympia, WA25,820-2.5%
25Bothell, WA23,901-8.1%
26Lacey, WA23,399-1%
27Issaquah, WA20,994-7.8%
28Edmonds, WA20,964-8.8%
29Puyallup, WA20,380-7.2%
30Bremerton, WA18,740-2.2%
31Lynnwood, WA18,048-8.8%
32Lake Stevens, WA18,013-6.9%
33Wenatchee, WA17,696-6.3%
34University Place, WA15,829-7.4%
35Walla Walla, WA15,399-2.5%
36Longview, WA15,387-2.9%
37Pullman, WA15,212-8.3%
38Mount Vernon, WA15,094-6.5%
39Des Moines, WA14,779-8.1%
40SeaTac, WA14,602-8.7%
41Tumwater, WA13,098n/a
42Maple Valley, WA12,470-7.1%
43Camas, WA11,721n/a
44Mercer Island, WA11,451-8.1%
45Moses Lake, WA11,335n/a
46Bainbridge Island, WA11,095-3.1%

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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2020 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Washington by employed residents, 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2020. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2020.

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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_washington_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2020. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020
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.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2020.
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.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Seattle, WA, with 427,781 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Bainbridge Island, WA, with 11,095 in 2020.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2020 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Washington: more rankings