Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Washington

Cities in Washington by employed residents

Seattle, WA had the highest employed residents of 47 cities in 2024, at 489,123. Bainbridge Island, WA had the lowest, at 10,837. The median was 27,697. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest489,123Seattle, WA
Lowest10,837Bainbridge Island, WA
Median27,69747 cities

All cities, 2024

Seattle, WA: 489,123 personsSeattle, WA489,123Tacoma, WA: 121,147 personsTacoma, WA121,147Spokane, WA: 107,217 personsSpokane, WA107,217Vancouver, WA: 95,854 personsVancouver, WA95,854Bellevue, WA: 82,984 personsBellevue, WA82,984Kent, WA: 70,054 personsKent, WA70,054Renton, WA: 58,622 personsRenton, WA58,622Everett, WA: 57,110 personsEverett, WA57,110Kirkland, WA: 53,720 personsKirkland, WA53,720Spokane Valley, WA: 51,050 personsSpokane Valley, WA51,050Federal Way, WA: 49,604 personsFederal Way, WA49,604Bellingham, WA: 48,509 personsBellingham, WA48,509Redmond, WA: 45,974 personsRedmond, WA45,974Auburn, WA: 44,790 personsAuburn, WA44,790Yakima, WA: 42,844 personsYakima, WA42,844Marysville, WA: 39,396 personsMarysville, WA39,396Kennewick, WA: 37,993 personsKennewick, WA37,993Pasco, WA: 35,318 personsPasco, WA35,318Shoreline, WA: 35,228 personsShoreline, WA35,228Sammamish, WA: 33,397 personsSammamish, WA33,397Richland, WA: 29,698 personsRichland, WA29,698Lakewood, WA: 28,849 personsLakewood, WA28,849Burien, WA: 28,108 personsBurien, WA28,108Bothell, WA: 27,697 personsBothell, WA27,697Olympia, WA: 27,162 personsOlympia, WA27,162Lacey, WA: 25,131 personsLacey, WA25,131Puyallup, WA: 22,548 personsPuyallup, WA22,548Issaquah, WA: 22,514 personsIssaquah, WA22,514Edmonds, WA: 22,387 personsEdmonds, WA22,387Lynnwood, WA: 20,780 personsLynnwood, WA20,780Lake Stevens, WA: 20,320 personsLake Stevens, WA20,320Bremerton, WA: 19,171 personsBremerton, WA19,171University Place, WA: 17,842 personsUniversity Place, WA17,842Wenatchee, WA: 17,253 personsWenatchee, WA17,253SeaTac, WA: 17,162 personsSeaTac, WA17,162Des Moines, WA: 16,179 personsDes Moines, WA16,179Pullman, WA: 15,599 personsPullman, WA15,599Walla Walla, WA: 15,485 personsWalla Walla, WA15,485Longview, WA: 15,289 personsLongview, WA15,289Mount Vernon, WA: 15,204 personsMount Vernon, WA15,204Tumwater, WA: 14,493 personsTumwater, WA14,493Maple Valley, WA: 13,745 personsMaple Valley, WA13,745Mountlake Terrace, WA: 13,560 personsMountlake Terrace, WA13,560Camas, WA: 12,326 personsCamas, WA12,326Mercer Island, WA: 12,200 personsMercer Island, WA12,200Moses Lake, WA: 11,968 personsMoses Lake, WA11,968Bainbridge Island, WA: 10,837 personsBainbridge Island, WA10,837Seattle, WA: 489,123 personsSeattle, WA489,123Tacoma, WA: 121,147 personsTacoma, WA121,147Spokane, WA: 107,217 personsSpokane, WA107,217Vancouver, WA: 95,854 personsVancouver, WA95,854Bellevue, WA: 82,984 personsBellevue, WA82,984Kent, WA: 70,054 personsKent, WA70,054Renton, WA: 58,622 personsRenton, WA58,622Everett, WA: 57,110 personsEverett, WA57,110Kirkland, WA: 53,720 personsKirkland, WA53,720Spokane Valley, WA: 51,050 personsSpokane Valley, WA51,050Federal Way, WA: 49,604 personsFederal Way, WA49,604Bellingham, WA: 48,509 personsBellingham, WA48,509Redmond, WA: 45,974 personsRedmond, WA45,974Auburn, WA: 44,790 personsAuburn, WA44,790Yakima, WA: 42,844 personsYakima, WA42,844Marysville, WA: 39,396 personsMarysville, WA39,396Kennewick, WA: 37,993 personsKennewick, WA37,993Pasco, WA: 35,318 personsPasco, WA35,318Shoreline, WA: 35,228 personsShoreline, WA35,228Sammamish, WA: 33,397 personsSammamish, WA33,397Richland, WA: 29,698 personsRichland, WA29,698Lakewood, WA: 28,849 personsLakewood, WA28,849Burien, WA: 28,108 personsBurien, WA28,108Bothell, WA: 27,697 personsBothell, WA27,697Olympia, WA: 27,162 personsOlympia, WA27,162Lacey, WA: 25,131 personsLacey, WA25,131Puyallup, WA: 22,548 personsPuyallup, WA22,548Issaquah, WA: 22,514 personsIssaquah, WA22,514Edmonds, WA: 22,387 personsEdmonds, WA22,387Lynnwood, WA: 20,780 personsLynnwood, WA20,780Lake Stevens, WA: 20,320 personsLake Stevens, WA20,320Bremerton, WA: 19,171 personsBremerton, WA19,171University Place, WA: 17,842 personsUniversity Place, WA17,842Wenatchee, WA: 17,253 personsWenatchee, WA17,253SeaTac, WA: 17,162 personsSeaTac, WA17,162Des Moines, WA: 16,179 personsDes Moines, WA16,179Pullman, WA: 15,599 personsPullman, WA15,599Walla Walla, WA: 15,485 personsWalla Walla, WA15,485Longview, WA: 15,289 personsLongview, WA15,289Mount Vernon, WA: 15,204 personsMount Vernon, WA15,204Tumwater, WA: 14,493 personsTumwater, WA14,493Maple Valley, WA: 13,745 personsMaple Valley, WA13,745Mountlake Terrace, WA: 13,560 personsMountlake Terrace, WA13,560Camas, WA: 12,326 personsCamas, WA12,326Mercer Island, WA: 12,200 personsMercer Island, WA12,200Moses Lake, WA: 11,968 personsMoses Lake, WA11,968Bainbridge Island, WA: 10,837 personsBainbridge Island, WA10,837
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Seattle, WA489,123+0.1%
2Tacoma, WA121,147+1.2%
3Spokane, WA107,217-1%
4Vancouver, WA95,854-1.2%
5Bellevue, WA82,984-0.7%
6Kent, WA70,054-0.9%
7Renton, WA58,622-1.1%
8Everett, WA57,110-0%
9Kirkland, WA53,720+1.4%
10Spokane Valley, WA51,050-0.6%
11Federal Way, WA49,604-0.6%
12Bellingham, WA48,509-1.2%
13Redmond, WA45,974+1%
14Auburn, WA44,790-1.1%
15Yakima, WA42,844-0.8%
16Marysville, WA39,396+2.7%
17Kennewick, WA37,993+1.8%
18Pasco, WA35,318+1%
19Shoreline, WA35,228+3.8%
20Sammamish, WA33,397-1.1%
21Richland, WA29,698+1.9%
22Lakewood, WA28,849+0.5%
23Burien, WA28,108-0.7%
24Bothell, WA27,697+0.4%
25Olympia, WA27,162-0%
26Lacey, WA25,1310%
27Puyallup, WA22,548-0.1%
28Issaquah, WA22,514-1.2%
29Edmonds, WA22,387-0.3%
30Lynnwood, WA20,780+0.6%
31Lake Stevens, WA20,320+0.8%
32Bremerton, WA19,171-1.2%
33University Place, WA17,842+0.4%
34Wenatchee, WA17,253-1%
35SeaTac, WA17,162+0.5%
36Des Moines, WA16,179-0.9%
37Pullman, WA15,599-2.3%
38Walla Walla, WA15,485+1%
39Longview, WA15,289-1.7%
40Mount Vernon, WA15,204+0.4%
41Tumwater, WA14,493+1.7%
42Maple Valley, WA13,745-1.1%
43Mountlake Terrace, WA13,560n/a
44Camas, WA12,326-1.2%
45Mercer Island, WA12,200-1.1%
46Moses Lake, WA11,968+1.6%
47Bainbridge Island, WA10,837-1.3%

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. 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, 2024) [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, 2024. 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=2024. 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, 2024. 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=2024.

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, 2024 [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=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_washington_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  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=2024. 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, 2024
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=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/washington-cities?period=2024.
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 489,123 in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Bainbridge Island, WA, with 10,837 in 2024.

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.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Washington: more rankings