Best Places for Business and Careers 2019

Seattle, WA

Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
the place image

Seattle, WA

Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
gross metro product
$327.1B
population
3.0M
median household income
$89,158
median home price
$565,000
cost of living
46% above nat'l avg
college attainment
46.4%
net migration
5,780 (year: 2018)
unemployment
3.3%
major industries
Clean energy, Aerospace & Defense, Life Sciences
job growth
2.3% (year: 2018)
As of October 2019
Seattle rates as Forbes' best city for business for the second straight year. Credit a booming economy, educated work force and large millenial population. The metro area is home to the two richest people on the planet in Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. The two tech titans are worth more than $200 billion combined. Seattle's most well-known nickname is "the Emerald City," in reference to the lush evergreen forests of the area. Seattle is also referred to informally as the Rain City and Jet
City, the latter title referring to the local influence of Boeing, the multi-national aerospace company which was founded in Seattle (Boeing moved its corporate headquarters to Chicago in 2001). The Port of Seattle, which also operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, is a major gateway for trade with Asia and cruises to Alaska, and is one of the largest port in the United States in terms of container capacity. Seattle has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption. Coffee companies founded or based in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee and Tully's. The city is home to the prestigious University of Washington as well as Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, City University of Seattle and Antioch University Seattle.
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On forbes lists
#162
In Cost of Doing Business
#39
In Job Growth
#12
In Education
By The Numbers
EmploymentHousingEducationQuality of Life
Job Growth
2.3% (year: 2018)
Projected Annual Job Growth
1.8%
Unemployment
3.3%
Median Household Income
$89,158
Household Income Growth
4.6%
High-Tech Employment
6.4%
  • Data is for the metro area
  • Sources: Moody's Analytics; Sperling's BestPlaces; U.S. Census.
  • Numbers as of October 2019


  • a - Value of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough income to qualify for a typical mortgage on a median-priced single-family home. An index above 100 signifies that the family has surplus income.
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