Seattle’s Jobs Landscape Is Changing, and Downtown Is Feeling It Most

Downtown Seattle remains the region’s largest employment center, but new DSA analysis shows significant job losses in the city center and underscores the need for renewed focus on Seattle’s economic competitiveness.

The report, Seattle’s Shifting Employment Landscape: The Downtown Jobs Struggle, found that Seattle lost more than 18,000 jobs between 2024 and 2025. Roughly 13,000 of those jobs, or 70% of the citywide decline, were located in downtown. Over the same period, other cities, like Bellevue and Tacoma, increased total employment by 5,375 and 662 jobs, respectively.

Between 2019 and 2025, the Puget Sound region ranked 20th in terms of employment growth among the top 30 metros. Some of the 20 ranked above Seattle (1.7%) include: 

• Austin (25%)
• Dallas/Fort Worth (14%)
• Nashville (14%)

“Downtown Seattle is still the largest and most important employment center in our region, but these numbers are a clear warning that we cannot take that position for granted,” DSA President & CEO Jon Scholes said. “Seattle needs to be a place where employers want to invest, grow and create jobs. We have tremendous assets — world-class talent, transit, culture and institutions — but we’re competing every day for jobs and investment. The mayor’s proposed budget recognizes that by not adding new business taxes, and that is a helpful signal to employers weighing where to grow. We need a renewed focus on growing our employment base, supporting existing businesses and making Seattle one of the best places in the country to start and grow a business.” 

Downtown still hosts more than 300,000 jobs and has seen significant gains in residential population, visitation and public safety, but the employment data point to a different trajectory. Regional employment has been nearly flat since 2022. Seattle’s downtown workforce in 2025 was an estimated 22% below 2019 levels, compared with 6% below in Bellevue.

The health of Seattle’s employment base reaches well beyond the office market. A strong base also supports the thousands of small businesses, restaurants, retailers, arts organizations and service providers that depend on consistent activity throughout the week.

The findings reinforce DSA’s emerging long-term focus on building the downtown economy: retaining and growing existing businesses, recruiting employers and innovative institutions, supporting small and diverse businesses, expanding housing and making it easier to invest and operate in the city center.

The report lands as the City Council begins its review of Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposed 2027-2028 budget, transmitted on Sept. 22. DSA supports the proposal, which balances without raising the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax and adds a housing ombud position to help affordable housing developers navigate permitting.

“Seattle has reinvented its economy many times, and we have every reason to believe we can do it again,” Scholes said. “This is about competing for the next generation of jobs and investment. The mayor’s proposed budget is a strong foundation, and the coming weeks are a chance to build on it by keeping Seattle a place where employers can invest with confidence. It will take the public and private sectors working together to reduce barriers to investment, support employers and entrepreneurs and ensure downtown remains the economic engine of Seattle and our region.”