Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Washington

Cities in Washington by employed residents

Seattle, WA had the highest employed residents of 46 cities in 2021, at 446,382. Bainbridge Island, WA had the lowest, at 11,086. The median was 26,668. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest446,382Seattle, WA
Lowest11,086Bainbridge Island, WA
Median26,66846 cities

All cities, 2021

Seattle, WA: 446,382 personsSeattle, WA446,382Tacoma, WA: 109,158 personsTacoma, WA109,158Spokane, WA: 108,782 personsSpokane, WA108,782Vancouver, WA: 93,065 personsVancouver, WA93,065Bellevue, WA: 78,019 personsBellevue, WA78,019Kent, WA: 67,338 personsKent, WA67,338Renton, WA: 56,818 personsRenton, WA56,818Everett, WA: 54,013 personsEverett, WA54,013Spokane Valley, WA: 50,459 personsSpokane Valley, WA50,459Kirkland, WA: 49,921 personsKirkland, WA49,921Federal Way, WA: 47,701 personsFederal Way, WA47,701Bellingham, WA: 46,981 personsBellingham, WA46,981Yakima, WA: 43,756 personsYakima, WA43,756Auburn, WA: 43,480 personsAuburn, WA43,480Redmond, WA: 40,746 personsRedmond, WA40,746Kennewick, WA: 37,046 personsKennewick, WA37,046Marysville, WA: 35,570 personsMarysville, WA35,570Pasco, WA: 35,124 personsPasco, WA35,124Sammamish, WA: 32,492 personsSammamish, WA32,492Shoreline, WA: 30,605 personsShoreline, WA30,605Richland, WA: 28,546 personsRichland, WA28,546Lakewood, WA: 27,275 personsLakewood, WA27,275Burien, WA: 26,829 personsBurien, WA26,829Olympia, WA: 26,506 personsOlympia, WA26,506Bothell, WA: 24,869 personsBothell, WA24,869Lacey, WA: 23,995 personsLacey, WA23,995Issaquah, WA: 21,809 personsIssaquah, WA21,809Edmonds, WA: 21,411 personsEdmonds, WA21,411Puyallup, WA: 21,309 personsPuyallup, WA21,309Bremerton, WA: 19,395 personsBremerton, WA19,395Lake Stevens, WA: 18,803 personsLake Stevens, WA18,803Lynnwood, WA: 18,680 personsLynnwood, WA18,680Wenatchee, WA: 18,035 personsWenatchee, WA18,035University Place, WA: 16,576 personsUniversity Place, WA16,576Longview, WA: 15,611 personsLongview, WA15,611Walla Walla, WA: 15,608 personsWalla Walla, WA15,608SeaTac, WA: 15,482 personsSeaTac, WA15,482Des Moines, WA: 15,465 personsDes Moines, WA15,465Pullman, WA: 15,428 personsPullman, WA15,428Mount Vernon, WA: 15,216 personsMount Vernon, WA15,216Tumwater, WA: 13,694 personsTumwater, WA13,694Maple Valley, WA: 13,209 personsMaple Valley, WA13,209Camas, WA: 12,152 personsCamas, WA12,152Mercer Island, WA: 11,867 personsMercer Island, WA11,867Moses Lake, WA: 11,424 personsMoses Lake, WA11,424Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,086 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,086Seattle, WA: 446,382 personsSeattle, WA446,382Tacoma, WA: 109,158 personsTacoma, WA109,158Spokane, WA: 108,782 personsSpokane, WA108,782Vancouver, WA: 93,065 personsVancouver, WA93,065Bellevue, WA: 78,019 personsBellevue, WA78,019Kent, WA: 67,338 personsKent, WA67,338Renton, WA: 56,818 personsRenton, WA56,818Everett, WA: 54,013 personsEverett, WA54,013Spokane Valley, WA: 50,459 personsSpokane Valley, WA50,459Kirkland, WA: 49,921 personsKirkland, WA49,921Federal Way, WA: 47,701 personsFederal Way, WA47,701Bellingham, WA: 46,981 personsBellingham, WA46,981Yakima, WA: 43,756 personsYakima, WA43,756Auburn, WA: 43,480 personsAuburn, WA43,480Redmond, WA: 40,746 personsRedmond, WA40,746Kennewick, WA: 37,046 personsKennewick, WA37,046Marysville, WA: 35,570 personsMarysville, WA35,570Pasco, WA: 35,124 personsPasco, WA35,124Sammamish, WA: 32,492 personsSammamish, WA32,492Shoreline, WA: 30,605 personsShoreline, WA30,605Richland, WA: 28,546 personsRichland, WA28,546Lakewood, WA: 27,275 personsLakewood, WA27,275Burien, WA: 26,829 personsBurien, WA26,829Olympia, WA: 26,506 personsOlympia, WA26,506Bothell, WA: 24,869 personsBothell, WA24,869Lacey, WA: 23,995 personsLacey, WA23,995Issaquah, WA: 21,809 personsIssaquah, WA21,809Edmonds, WA: 21,411 personsEdmonds, WA21,411Puyallup, WA: 21,309 personsPuyallup, WA21,309Bremerton, WA: 19,395 personsBremerton, WA19,395Lake Stevens, WA: 18,803 personsLake Stevens, WA18,803Lynnwood, WA: 18,680 personsLynnwood, WA18,680Wenatchee, WA: 18,035 personsWenatchee, WA18,035University Place, WA: 16,576 personsUniversity Place, WA16,576Longview, WA: 15,611 personsLongview, WA15,611Walla Walla, WA: 15,608 personsWalla Walla, WA15,608SeaTac, WA: 15,482 personsSeaTac, WA15,482Des Moines, WA: 15,465 personsDes Moines, WA15,465Pullman, WA: 15,428 personsPullman, WA15,428Mount Vernon, WA: 15,216 personsMount Vernon, WA15,216Tumwater, WA: 13,694 personsTumwater, WA13,694Maple Valley, WA: 13,209 personsMaple Valley, WA13,209Camas, WA: 12,152 personsCamas, WA12,152Mercer Island, WA: 11,867 personsMercer Island, WA11,867Moses Lake, WA: 11,424 personsMoses Lake, WA11,424Bainbridge Island, WA: 11,086 personsBainbridge Island, WA11,086
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Seattle, WA446,382+4.3%
2Tacoma, WA109,158+4.7%
3Spokane, WA108,782+3.4%
4Vancouver, WA93,065+3%
5Bellevue, WA78,019+3.7%
6Kent, WA67,338+4.2%
7Renton, WA56,818+3.9%
8Everett, WA54,013+2.8%
9Spokane Valley, WA50,459+4.6%
10Kirkland, WA49,921+3.8%
11Federal Way, WA47,701+3.5%
12Bellingham, WA46,981+0.3%
13Yakima, WA43,756+1.3%
14Auburn, WA43,480+3.8%
15Redmond, WA40,746+7.6%
16Kennewick, WA37,046+2.9%
17Marysville, WA35,570+3.4%
18Pasco, WA35,124+2.9%
19Sammamish, WA32,492+4%
20Shoreline, WA30,605+6.1%
21Richland, WA28,546+3.8%
22Lakewood, WA27,275+4.3%
23Burien, WA26,829+3.6%
24Olympia, WA26,506+2.7%
25Bothell, WA24,869+4.1%
26Lacey, WA23,995+2.5%
27Issaquah, WA21,809+3.9%
28Edmonds, WA21,411+2.1%
29Puyallup, WA21,309+4.6%
30Bremerton, WA19,395+3.5%
31Lake Stevens, WA18,803+4.4%
32Lynnwood, WA18,680+3.5%
33Wenatchee, WA18,035+1.9%
34University Place, WA16,576+4.7%
35Longview, WA15,611+1.5%
36Walla Walla, WA15,608+1.4%
37SeaTac, WA15,482+6%
38Des Moines, WA15,465+4.6%
39Pullman, WA15,428+1.4%
40Mount Vernon, WA15,216+0.8%
41Tumwater, WA13,694+4.6%
42Maple Valley, WA13,209+5.9%
43Camas, WA12,152+3.7%
44Mercer Island, WA11,867+3.6%
45Moses Lake, WA11,424+0.8%
46Bainbridge Island, WA11,086-0.1%

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 2021 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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_washington_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2021.
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 446,382 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Bainbridge Island, WA, with 11,086 in 2021.

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 2021 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Washington: more rankings