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An editorial illustration of SeaTac, Washington
King County · Washington

SeaTac, WA

SeaTac’s employment base is an airport ecosystem, not a single employer.

Population
33,210
4% more from 2021 to 2026
Family households
60.8%
±5 points at 90% confidence
Local jobs
44,009
37% more from 2018 to 2023
Median income
$81,104
±$9,991 at 90% confidence
City overview

The forces shaping SeaTac now.

01
The employers behind the economy

SeaTac’s employment base is an airport ecosystem, not a single employer.

SeaTac contains 44,009 workplace jobs. Logistics / Industrial accounts for 61% of them. Hospitality is next at 13%.

Airport operations, airlines, hotels, food service, freight, parking, and rental cars collectively serve a daily population many times larger than SeaTac’s resident count. The city reports more than 40,000 local jobs across over 900 businesses and institutions.

Workplace jobs: 2023
02
The trajectory

Job growth outpaced population growth by 33 points in SeaTac.

SeaTac’s population rose 4% from 2021–2026; its workplace job count rose 37% from 2018–2023. The source periods differ because the two series are released on different schedules.

SeaTac’s faster-growing workplace base gives local businesses more daytime customers. It also makes inbound travel—including the resident connection to Seattle and nearby housing part of the city’s labor strategy.

Population: 2021–2026 · jobs: 2018–2023
03
The city’s regional role

SeaTac holds 1.33 workplace jobs for every resident.

There are 1.33 workplace jobs for every resident—44,009 jobs alongside a population of 33,210.

SeaTac’s job-rich ratio creates daytime demand and inbound trips. It also raises the value of homes and transit that connect workers to its 44,009 jobs.

Jobs: 2023 · population: 2026
04
Who needs mobility to work

11% of SeaTac households have no vehicle; service gaps land on them first.

11% of households have no vehicle. Current GTFS schedules 6,086 weekday stop departures at 107 stops inside the city, while Seattle is the largest outside job destination.

For SeaTac’s no-vehicle households, route frequency matters only if it reaches work, groceries, school, and care at the needed hour—including the connection to Seattle. They feel missing links first.

Commute modes: ACS 2024 · job destinations: 2023
05
The commercial pulse

SeaTac’s taxable sales rose 17% to $2.6B.

Taxable sales totaled $2.6B, 17% higher than the previous year. Retail trade produced 10% of that total.

More taxable activity gives SeaTac businesses and public services momentum. Openings, closures, and the next annual total will show whether the 17% gain is broad or temporary.

Washington taxable sales, 2024
People

Who lives here—and which households shape demand?

The typical household estimate is 2.6 people. 61% are estimated to be family households, while 31% are estimated to be people living alone.

Average household size
2.6

±0.1 people at 90% confidence

Median age
36.8

±2.2 years at 90% confidence

Living alone
31%

±6 points at 90% confidence

Bachelor’s degree+
26%

Among residents age 25 and older. ±3 points at 90% confidence

Population composition

Who lives here

Estimated share of all SeaTac residents. Each percentage uses the city’s total population as its denominator.

White, non-Hispanic27% ±3 pts
Black, non-Hispanic24% ±4 pts
Hispanic / Latino, any race23% ±5 pts
Two or more races, non-Hispanic6.7% ±2 pts
Vietnamese2.6% ±1 pts
Filipino2.6% ±1 pts
Asian Indian2.3% ±1 pts
Cambodian2.2% ±1 pts
Burmese2.1% ±3 pts
Chinese, except Taiwanese1.3% ±0.8 pts
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic1.3% ±0.7 pts
Two or more Asian groups1.3% ±0.7 pts
Thai1.0% ±1 pts
Korean1.0% ±0.7 pts
Japanese0.6% ±0.6 pts
American Indian / Alaska Native, non-Hispanic0.3% ±0.1 pts
Another race, non-Hispanic0.2% ±0.3 pts
Mongolian0.1% ±0.2 pts
Uzbek0.1% ±0.2 pts
Afghan<0.1% ±0.1 pts
Other Asian, not specified<0.1% ±0.1 pts
Pakistani<0.1% ±<0.1 pt

0% published estimate: Hmong, Okinawan, Taiwanese, Other East Asian, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Other Southeast Asian, Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Sikh, Sri Lankan, Other South Asian, Kazakh, Other Central Asian, Other Asian, specified. Zero is not proof that no residents identify with that group.

Some ranges are wide, which is common for smaller populations. Treat small differences as uncertain rather than as a precise ordering.

ACS 2020–2024 · 5-year estimates
Dataset
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates · tables B03002 and B02015
Period
2020–2024
Geography
SeaTac Census place
Definition
Race and Hispanic/Latino origin are self-reported Census concepts. Hispanic/Latino may be of any race; the broad display uses non-Hispanic race categories plus Hispanic/Latino of any race.
Method
Every percentage is shown with its 90% margin of error. Detailed Asian estimates use the Asian-alone universe and are divided by the city population for display.
Open the official source ↗
Work

What powers the local economy—and how dependent is it?

Logistics / Industrial accounts for 61% of jobs located in SeaTac. The city’s job base changed +92% between 2010 and 2023.

Jobs by sector

Workplace jobs inside the city—not the industries of residents who commute elsewhere.

Logistics / Industrial61%
Hospitality13%
Administrative & Support Services6%
Construction / Real Estate6%
Retail4%

Verified employer anchors

Employers and airport-serving industries located in SeaTac · Current or recent profile · 2024. The stated employer vintage is within the current two-year publication window.

Airport operations, airlines, hotels, food service, freight, parking, and rental cars collectively serve a daily population many times larger than SeaTac’s resident count. The city reports more than 40,000 local jobs across over 900 businesses and institutions.

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport / Port of SeattleHeadcount not separated
Alaska Airlines / Alaska Air GroupHeadcount not published locally
Horizon AirHeadcount not published locally
HMSHostHeadcount not published locally
DoubleTree Seattle AirportHeadcount not published
Marriott Seattle Sea-Tac AirportHeadcount not published
LyndenHeadcount not published locally
Southwest AirlinesHeadcount not published locally
LSG Sky ChefsHeadcount not published locally
ABM Janitorial ServicesHeadcount not published locally

City of SeaTac business information and 2024 Comprehensive Plan ↗. Headcounts change faster than Census employment totals.

Housing

What kinds of homes exist—and where is pressure showing?

46% of occupied homes are estimated to be owner-occupied and 54% rented. The firmer current signal is construction intent: 13 homes were authorized in 2025, versus a recent pace of about 178 per year.

Home value profile

What owner-occupied homes are worth

Owner estimates from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey—not listings, recorded sales, or appraisals. The final Census band is open-ended: $2 million and above.

Median estimate$520k±35724.0 at 90% confidence
Middle half of homes$381k–$688kLower to upper quartile of owner estimates
Luxury-home concentration1%≈56 homes · estimated at $2M+
Under $500k47%
$500–749k37%
$750–999k10%
$1–1.49M5%
$1.5–1.99M0%
$2M+1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year tables B25075–B25078. Values cover owner-occupied homes only and do not measure current asking prices or recent purchase prices.

The housing mix we can estimate confidently

This describes the existing stock. It does not imply that one building type is preferable.

Detached houses42%
Attached houses3%
2–4 unit buildings7%
5+ unit buildings43%
Other5%
Owner-occupied
46%

±6 points at 90% confidence

Homes authorized, 2025
13

Permit authorizations—not construction starts or completed homes.

Residential buildings, 2025
11

One building can contain one home or many housing units.

2023–2025 annual pace
178 homes

Average housing units authorized per year across the latest three final annual estimates.

Permit activity: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, final annual estimate for 2025. Housing units authorized are not starts or completions.

Mobility

Where do residents need to go—and who has a real alternative to driving?

Current transit schedules include 107 stops and 6,086 weekday stop departures inside SeaTac. The 2020–2024 ACS separately estimates how workers usually commuted; it does not count every transit trip or describe today's schedule.

Weekday departures
6,086

Scheduled stop departures in the current covered-feed snapshot—not riders.

Transit stops
107

Matched inside city limits; nearby cross-border stops are separate.

Top outside workplace
Seattle

34% of observed resident job destinations in 2023 LODES.

Work inside the city
18%

Share of observed resident job destinations located in the same city in 2023 LODES.

Where resident workers go

Top observed workplace destinations. 18% work inside SeaTac.

Seattle34%
Peak drive: 25–50 min
Kent7%
Peak drive: 10–30 min
Renton6%
Peak drive: 15–40 min
Tukwila6%

The strongest outside connection is Seattle. Employer or corridor changes there can alter everyday life in SeaTac, even when nothing changes inside the city boundary.

How residents usually get to work

Citywide ACS 2020–2024 estimates describe workers’ usual commute—not every trip made today.

Drive alone
58%

Share of workers usually driving alone. ±7 points at 90% confidence

Work from home
12%

Share of workers usually working from home. ±3 points at 90% confidence

Use public transit
6.5%

Usual commute mode—not all transit trips. ±2 points at 90% confidence

Commute 45+ minutes
15%

Share of workers with a one-way commute of at least 45 minutes. ±3 points at 90% confidence

For someone choosing a home in SeaTac, the practical test is the trip to Seattle, the leading outside workplace destination in the published flows. These citywide shares cannot show whether that trip works from a particular address.

Typical drive times

About how long does it take to get where people go?

Work destinations are selected from observed resident job flows. These are broad, reviewed planning ranges from representative parts of SeaTac—not live-traffic or door-to-door predictions.

Starting area
Downtown Seattle employment core

Seattle is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for SeaTac, representing 32% of matched resident jobs from this city.

25–50 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

SeaTac employment area

SeaTac is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for SeaTac, representing 17% of matched resident jobs from this city.

5–20 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Kent employment area

Kent is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for SeaTac, representing 6% of matched resident jobs from this city.

10–30 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Renton employment area

Renton is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for SeaTac, representing 6% of matched resident jobs from this city.

25–50 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Method, review date, and sources

Planning estimate; actual time varies by departure time, route, traffic, weather, incidents, and closures.

Estimates are derived from reviewed origin/destination coordinates using a documented distance-to-time heuristic (circuity factor and assumed effective speed by corridor type and period), then deliberately widened and rounded to a broad band. No live routing or traffic API was called.

Estimates reviewed 2026-09-10. Starting point: selected representative area.

City boundary and regional context● nearby   ● work destinations
Daily life

Community institutions and local activity

Public schools, libraries, pharmacies, and listed everyday places show part of the local inventory inside SeaTac; taxable sales show the scale and direction of local commercial activity. Residents also use places across city lines, so a boundary count is not the same as access.

Local field guide

Places for everyday needs in SeaTac

Care, errands, food, fitness, and personal services gathered into one browsable directory.

Hospitals0 in cityFind nearby
Explore all hospitals near SeaTacOpen
Pharmacies4 listedView all
Healthpoint4040 S 188TH ST STE 201 · SEATAC, WA 98188-5070MapHealthpoint Seatac Pharmacy4040 S 188TH ST · STE 201 · SEATAC, WA 98188-5070MapSafeway Pharmacy #14934011 S 164TH ST · SEATAC, WA 98188-3067MapTukwila Station Pharmacy15320 33RD AVE S STE 222 · SEATAC, WA 98188-5114MapExplore all pharmacies in MapsOpen
Coffee28 listedView 8 places
BigFoot JavaMapCaffe D'arteMapCaffe VitaMapCherrybomb EspressoMapThe Coffee Bean & Tea LeafMapCosta CoffeeMapDilettante Mocha CaféMapDilletante Mocha Cafe - North TerminalMapExplore all coffee in MapsOpen
Groceries13 listedView 8 places
Al Shukr Mini Market And BakeryMapBakaro MallMapDpi Specialty FoodsMapFilo Foods, Llc.MapJasper's CoffeeMapMana MarketMapPlane WaterMapSafewayMapExplore all groceries in MapsOpen
Convenience6 listedView all
7-ElevenMapExtra MileMapFood MartMapHudson NewsMapPike and PineMapYoung's MarketMapExplore all convenience in MapsOpen
Restaurants83 listedView 8 places
AmEx Centurion StudioMapAnthony's HomePortMapAqua TerraMapBad EggMapBallard Brew HallMapBambuza Vietnam Kitchen & BarMapBanda BurritoMapBirrieria La Santa Tacos & MoreMapExplore all restaurants in MapsOpen
Salons and barbers7 listedView all
Eye Brow and Lash Art SpaMapHairMastersMapSalon Belleza LatinaMapSalon MaryMapSunshine Beauty SalonMapUltimate SolutionMapZ Hair SalonMapExplore all salons and barbers in MapsOpen

Counts reflect current directory records associated with the city, not a complete business census or a measure of access. Large categories show a sample.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), snapshot 2026-08-13; Overture Maps Foundation, release 2026-08-19.0; U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (NPPES NPI Registry), snapshot 2026-09-09.

Public library footprint

Valley View Library

Floor area shows the scale of the physical branches. Physical circulation is 2024 checkouts—not visits, unique users, or digital borrowing—and people routinely use libraries across city lines.

Branch floor area
6,558 sq ft

All matched branches must report floor area before a city total is shown.

Physical checkouts
38,945

Annual branch activity; not limited to city residents. All matched branches must report before a city total is shown.

Valley View LibraryKing County Library System
6,558 sq ft38,945 physical checkouts47 scheduled hours/week

Source: Washington State Library public-library statistics, 2024. System-wide visits, digital circulation, and program attendance cannot be assigned honestly to one branch, so they are not folded into these city totals.

Education footprint

The schools inside SeaTac.

Institution counts and enrollment will remain separate. A school can serve students from outside the city, and residents may attend a school across the boundary or elsewhere in their district.

Public elementary4
  • Bow Lake Elementary SchoolHighline School District
  • Madrona Elementary SchoolHighline School District
  • McMicken Heights Elementary SchoolHighline School District
  • River Ridge Elementary SchoolKent School District
Public middle2
  • Chinook Middle School (SeaTac)Highline School District
  • Glacier Middle School (SeaTac)Highline School District
Public high1
  • Tyee High SchoolHighline School District
Other public programs1
  • Valley View Early Childhood CenterHighline School District

Public-school names and levels come from OSPI. Private schools, complete IPEDS college coverage, enrollment by level, and graduate destinations are active additions; absence here should not yet be read as “none.”

Retail role

SeaTac records relatively little retail activity for its population.

Retail sales per resident fall below 67% of the cities tracked by Metroscope. That may mean residents rely more on nearby cities for shopping, but sales records alone cannot prove where they shop.

Retail sales per resident, 2024
$7,769

Higher than 33% of 82 tracked cities.

Change from 2023
+6%

Nominal retail-sales change; inflation can account for some or all of an increase.

See the underlying sales totals
Retail trade, 2024
$258.0M

Sales reported by businesses classified in retail trade.

All taxable sales
$2.6B

Includes taxable activity outside retail trade.

Retail share
10%

Retailing industries’ share of all taxable sales.

Tracked-city median
$10,670

Median retail sales per resident across cities with comparable data.

Civic life

SeaTac only became a city in 1990.

SeaTac voters elect the council, which hires a professional city manager to run administration. The mayor is selected from the council, so executive oversight works through the council rather than a separately elected chief executive.

Government form
Council–Manager

The elected council hires and oversees the city manager.

Mayor listed
Mohamed Egal

Generally selected from the council—not a separately elected executive.

Council representatives listed
7

Current directory entries; vacancies or updates can make this differ from authorized seats.

Incorporated
1990

Code city under Washington law.

Where decisions happen

When does the SeaTac council meet?

Regular meeting schedule listed in the current municipal directory:

2nd & 4th Tue - 6:00pm

Schedules change and special meetings are separate. Check the city site for the live agenda, staff reports, public-comment rules, and video.

Official city site ↗Current officials directory ↗
Election record

Where to check SeaTac election results.

Regular municipal offices generally return in 2027. Special measures can appear earlier, and charter provisions can differ.

The next data step is city-specific turnout, contested-seat share, ballot measures, and campaign money. Until those are normalized, Metroscope links the official record instead of guessing from partisan elections.

Structure, meetings, and current officials: Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC), checked 2026-09-08. Election administration and certified results: the county election offices listed above. Confirm live agendas and officeholders at the source.

Change

What is changing the city’s trajectory?

Population and jobs do not always move together. Reading both helps distinguish a growing employment center from a city whose households are increasingly tied to opportunities elsewhere.

Residents
33,210

4% more from 2021 to 2026

Local jobs
44,009

37% more from 2018 to 2023

Retail trade, 2023–2024
+6%

Nominal taxable-sales change; not adjusted for inflation.

Data & details — selected comparable metrics across 82 places
Local jobs
LODES
44,009
1,506656,821
Higher than 79% of places
Long-run job change
LODES
+92%
−3%+166%
Higher than 89% of places
Weekday transit departures
GTFS snapshot
6,086
19256,385
Higher than 63% of places
Multifamily permitting
Census BPS
Near a 15-year high
Recent annual pace compared with this city's own 2010–2025 record
2BR Fair Market Rent
HUD, county-level
$2,549
FY2027 HUD program benchmark; chart shows FY2020–FY2027 history. Shared across this HUD metro area—not a place-specific market rent.
Work — sector breakdown
Share of local jobs by sector · LODES · workplace location, not resident industry
Logistics / Industrial61% (26,792)
Hospitality13% (5,743)
Administrative & Support Services6% (2,859)
Construction / Real Estate6% (2,736)
Retail4% (1,822)
Healthcare & Social Assistance2% (1,058)
Other2% (899)
Professional Services (partial technology proxy)2% (725)
Manufacturing (includes, but is not limited to, aerospace)1% (598)
Government (Public Administration)1% (377)
Information (partial technology proxy)0% (183)
Education (includes academia/research)0% (148)
Finance0% (69)
Where SeaTac's workforce lives (inbound)
LODES OD — commuting flows into local jobs
Seattle
17.4%
Kent
11.0%
Federal Way
9.4%
SeaTac
7.9%
Tacoma
7.2%