county

King County, WA

Demographic and economic profile of King County, WA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

King County anchors Washington State's economy with a labor force notable for its education level — 55.9% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher — and a median household income of $124,746 against a GDP per capita of $165,266, signaling high output per worker. The county's 2.34 million residents grew by 4.6% over five years, with a labor force participation rate of 70.1% and unemployment at 4.6%. Housing costs are significant, with a median home value of $811,200 and median gross rent of $2,035/month, reflecting the elevated cost of accessing this workforce market.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

2,340,211

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$124,746

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

37.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+4.6% since 2018

King County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone1,251,054 (54.7%)
  • Asian Alone472,849 (20.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races160,752 (7.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone149,956 (6.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone115,259 (5.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race105,377 (4.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish150,694
  2. 2.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)104,344
  3. 3.Other Indo-European91,614
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island79,168
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic43,939

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

66.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

13.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

25.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

82,668

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$165,266

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$71,062

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

8.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services277,441
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance251,800
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)148,767
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services99,903
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)99,439

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations734,901
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations193,721
  3. 3.Service Occupations159,382
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations106,408
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations62,190

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Information (LQ 2.37×)55,359
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 1.78×)274,310
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.10×)148,955
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 0.94×)102,428
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 0.89×)64,694

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$811,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$2,035/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

55.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,999120,730 (23.1%)
  • $750,000 to $999,999112,850 (21.6%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,999107,709 (20.6%)
  • $1,500,000 to $1,999,99945,673 (8.8%)
  • $2,000,000 or More44,289 (8.5%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99938,810 (7.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

55.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

70.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$67,141

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

27.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

11.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone618,912 (50.4%)
  • Worked At Home358,401 (29.2%)
  • Carpooled86,153 (7.0%)
  • Public Transit83,585 (6.8%)
  • Walked52,772 (4.3%)
  • Bicycle13,442 (1.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.