KOMO 4: Downtown Seattle tops 3.7 million July visitors as waterfront trips & light rail use rise

This story was originally published by KOMO 4 on Friday, Aug. 20, 2026.

By Claire Weber

SEATTLE — Over 3.7 million people visited downtown Seattle last month, with light rail ridership and trips to the Seattle waterfront also up this summer, according to new data published by the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA).

The total number of domestic visitors in July is a 5-point increase from July 2025 and a 12% increase in visitors from July 2019, pre-pandemic, DSA says.

Locals also spent more time on Seattle’s waterfront, according to the data, with a total of 351,284 visits made in July by people who live within 10 miles of downtown. This total is 25,000 more waterfront visits than a previous high recorded by DSA in August 2019.

That uptick in foot traffic was felt by the restaurants and businesses at Miners Landings on the waterfront.

“I’ve never seen so many people here at one time,” said Rachelle Navarro, an HR manager for Miners Landing.

The massive crowds were, of course, partly because of the FIFA World Cup and the different watch parties and fan events happening on the waterfront, but Navarro also acknowledged the newly-renovated Waterfront Park as reason for continued crowds post-tournament.

“It’s a much more welcoming environment for people,” Navarro described the park. “You can just feel free, take your time, take a leisurely stroll, and explore the surrounding area.”

Overall, Seattle’s six FIFA World Cup matches hosted at Lumen Field brought record crowds of over 3 million downtown visitors on only the six game days.

Leaders with DSA say the city must continue implementing the same, successful models that were used during the global tournament to maintain steady crowds throughout the city.

Chris Copacino, DSA’s vice president of communications and marketing, suggested the city explore more opportunities to activate public spaces like parks and downtown squares and utilize more walkable pedestrian zones.

“Great cities are great walking cities; they just go hand in hand,” Copacino said. “So, when we can have those great pedestrian experiences across our downtown, that’s when people come.”

Additionally, Copacino said public safety is top of mind for locals and tourists, and it must also be top of mind during event planning and execution. He also noted improvements to area public transit have helped people physically get to downtown for events, sporting games, or other activities.

This translated into Sound Transit also seeing ridership records in July, DSA says.

There were 743,041 Link light rail Sunday boardings, or an average of 123,000 boardings per Sunday, last month. This marks the highest Sunday ridership for a given month in agency history for Sound Transit and reflects an increase in riders during non-commute hours.

DSA’s visitor data does not include international trave