Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Washington

Cities in Washington by employed residents

Seattle, WA had the highest employed residents of 46 cities in 2023, at 488,534. Bainbridge Island, WA had the lowest, at 10,984. The median was 27,946. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest488,534Seattle, WA
Lowest10,984Bainbridge Island, WA
Median27,94646 cities

All cities, 2023

Seattle, WA: 488,534 personsSeattle, WA488,534Tacoma, WA: 119,692 personsTacoma, WA119,692Spokane, WA: 108,269 personsSpokane, WA108,269Vancouver, WA: 97,006 personsVancouver, WA97,006Bellevue, WA: 83,597 personsBellevue, WA83,597Kent, WA: 70,704 personsKent, WA70,704Renton, WA: 59,276 personsRenton, WA59,276Everett, WA: 57,118 personsEverett, WA57,118Kirkland, WA: 52,978 personsKirkland, WA52,978Spokane Valley, WA: 51,357 personsSpokane Valley, WA51,357Federal Way, WA: 49,915 personsFederal Way, WA49,915Bellingham, WA: 49,114 personsBellingham, WA49,114Redmond, WA: 45,500 personsRedmond, WA45,500Auburn, WA: 45,266 personsAuburn, WA45,266Yakima, WA: 43,204 personsYakima, WA43,204Marysville, WA: 38,360 personsMarysville, WA38,360Kennewick, WA: 37,335 personsKennewick, WA37,335Pasco, WA: 34,954 personsPasco, WA34,954Shoreline, WA: 33,938 personsShoreline, WA33,938Sammamish, WA: 33,775 personsSammamish, WA33,775Richland, WA: 29,145 personsRichland, WA29,145Lakewood, WA: 28,719 personsLakewood, WA28,719Burien, WA: 28,305 personsBurien, WA28,305Bothell, WA: 27,586 personsBothell, WA27,586Olympia, WA: 27,174 personsOlympia, WA27,174Lacey, WA: 25,129 personsLacey, WA25,129Issaquah, WA: 22,793 personsIssaquah, WA22,793Puyallup, WA: 22,569 personsPuyallup, WA22,569Edmonds, WA: 22,454 personsEdmonds, WA22,454Lynnwood, WA: 20,662 personsLynnwood, WA20,662Lake Stevens, WA: 20,159 personsLake Stevens, WA20,159Bremerton, WA: 19,402 personsBremerton, WA19,402University Place, WA: 17,779 personsUniversity Place, WA17,779Wenatchee, WA: 17,431 personsWenatchee, WA17,431SeaTac, WA: 17,069 personsSeaTac, WA17,069Des Moines, WA: 16,322 personsDes Moines, WA16,322Pullman, WA: 15,966 personsPullman, WA15,966Longview, WA: 15,556 personsLongview, WA15,556Walla Walla, WA: 15,327 personsWalla Walla, WA15,327Mount Vernon, WA: 15,138 personsMount Vernon, WA15,138Tumwater, WA: 14,253 personsTumwater, WA14,253Maple Valley, WA: 13,898 personsMaple Valley, WA13,898Camas, WA: 12,475 personsCamas, WA12,475Mercer Island, WA: 12,336 personsMercer Island, WA12,336Moses Lake, WA: 11,783 personsMoses Lake, WA11,783Bainbridge Island, WA: 10,984 personsBainbridge Island, WA10,984Seattle, WA: 488,534 personsSeattle, WA488,534Tacoma, WA: 119,692 personsTacoma, WA119,692Spokane, WA: 108,269 personsSpokane, WA108,269Vancouver, WA: 97,006 personsVancouver, WA97,006Bellevue, WA: 83,597 personsBellevue, WA83,597Kent, WA: 70,704 personsKent, WA70,704Renton, WA: 59,276 personsRenton, WA59,276Everett, WA: 57,118 personsEverett, WA57,118Kirkland, WA: 52,978 personsKirkland, WA52,978Spokane Valley, WA: 51,357 personsSpokane Valley, WA51,357Federal Way, WA: 49,915 personsFederal Way, WA49,915Bellingham, WA: 49,114 personsBellingham, WA49,114Redmond, WA: 45,500 personsRedmond, WA45,500Auburn, WA: 45,266 personsAuburn, WA45,266Yakima, WA: 43,204 personsYakima, WA43,204Marysville, WA: 38,360 personsMarysville, WA38,360Kennewick, WA: 37,335 personsKennewick, WA37,335Pasco, WA: 34,954 personsPasco, WA34,954Shoreline, WA: 33,938 personsShoreline, WA33,938Sammamish, WA: 33,775 personsSammamish, WA33,775Richland, WA: 29,145 personsRichland, WA29,145Lakewood, WA: 28,719 personsLakewood, WA28,719Burien, WA: 28,305 personsBurien, WA28,305Bothell, WA: 27,586 personsBothell, WA27,586Olympia, WA: 27,174 personsOlympia, WA27,174Lacey, WA: 25,129 personsLacey, WA25,129Issaquah, WA: 22,793 personsIssaquah, WA22,793Puyallup, WA: 22,569 personsPuyallup, WA22,569Edmonds, WA: 22,454 personsEdmonds, WA22,454Lynnwood, WA: 20,662 personsLynnwood, WA20,662Lake Stevens, WA: 20,159 personsLake Stevens, WA20,159Bremerton, WA: 19,402 personsBremerton, WA19,402University Place, WA: 17,779 personsUniversity Place, WA17,779Wenatchee, WA: 17,431 personsWenatchee, WA17,431SeaTac, WA: 17,069 personsSeaTac, WA17,069Des Moines, WA: 16,322 personsDes Moines, WA16,322Pullman, WA: 15,966 personsPullman, WA15,966Longview, WA: 15,556 personsLongview, WA15,556Walla Walla, WA: 15,327 personsWalla Walla, WA15,327Mount Vernon, WA: 15,138 personsMount Vernon, WA15,138Tumwater, WA: 14,253 personsTumwater, WA14,253Maple Valley, WA: 13,898 personsMaple Valley, WA13,898Camas, WA: 12,475 personsCamas, WA12,475Mercer Island, WA: 12,336 personsMercer Island, WA12,336Moses Lake, WA: 11,783 personsMoses Lake, WA11,783Bainbridge Island, WA: 10,984 personsBainbridge Island, WA10,984
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2023
persons		Change on 2022
1Seattle, WA488,534+2.3%
2Tacoma, WA119,692+3.9%
3Spokane, WA108,269-0.8%
4Vancouver, WA97,006+1.4%
5Bellevue, WA83,597+1.3%
6Kent, WA70,704+0.8%
7Renton, WA59,276+0.8%
8Everett, WA57,118+2.2%
9Kirkland, WA52,978+1.9%
10Spokane Valley, WA51,357+0.3%
11Federal Way, WA49,915+1.3%
12Bellingham, WA49,114+0.2%
13Redmond, WA45,500+4.8%
14Auburn, WA45,266+0.5%
15Yakima, WA43,204-1.6%
16Marysville, WA38,360+3.4%
17Kennewick, WA37,335-0.5%
18Pasco, WA34,954-2%
19Shoreline, WA33,938+4.3%
20Sammamish, WA33,775+0.5%
21Richland, WA29,145-0%
22Lakewood, WA28,719+1.4%
23Burien, WA28,305+1.2%
24Bothell, WA27,586+4.4%
25Olympia, WA27,174+1%
26Lacey, WA25,129+1.5%
27Issaquah, WA22,793+0.6%
28Puyallup, WA22,569+1.5%
29Edmonds, WA22,454+2.1%
30Lynnwood, WA20,662+3.4%
31Lake Stevens, WA20,159+3.2%
32Bremerton, WA19,402-1.2%
33University Place, WA17,779+3%
34Wenatchee, WA17,431-2.8%
35SeaTac, WA17,069+4.2%
36Des Moines, WA16,322+1.7%
37Pullman, WA15,966+0.5%
38Longview, WA15,556-1.1%
39Walla Walla, WA15,327-0.7%
40Mount Vernon, WA15,138-0.3%
41Tumwater, WA14,253+2.6%
42Maple Valley, WA13,898+0.5%
43Camas, WA12,475+0.1%
44Mercer Island, WA12,336+0.5%
45Moses Lake, WA11,783-1.2%
46Bainbridge Island, WA10,984-0.7%

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 2023 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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_washington_by_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2023.
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 488,534 in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Bainbridge Island, WA, with 10,984 in 2023.

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 2023 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Washington: more rankings