Downtown Today

Downtown Seattle
2024 Report Card

LIVE
Residential Population
78% increase since 2010 / 2024 estimate: 108,488

WORK
Total Number of Jobs
54% increase since 2010 / 2024 estimate: 336,959

SHOP
Brick-and-Mortar Retail Jobs
11% increase since 2010 / 2024 estimate: 9,842

PLAY
Dining, Hotel, Recreation, Arts and Entertainment Jobs
16% increase since 2010 / 2024 estimate: 31,892

Sources: Esri Community Analyst, Puget Sound Regional Council. The 2024 jobs estimate was derived from data provided by PSRC and the Washington State Employment Security Department. Note that data here are for Q1 of each year. The 2013 jobs data were unavailable and were therefore interpolated.

Downtown By-the-Numbers

21.5%total office vacancy rate

While office vacancy remains at a record high level, there are signs of improvement with an increasing number of new leases. In fact, this figure increased nearly three percentage points in the past year.
2372new residents

Since 2023, downtown’s residential population has grown by more than 2,300 people. Between 2023 and 2024, downtown accounted for nearly 50% of the city’s additional residents.
-463649 sfnet office absorption

While still negative, this figure (measuring the total square feet occupied in existing buildings less the total space vacated over a given period of time) is another strong indicator the office market is turning a corner. This strong improvement comes after several years of vacancies significantly outpacing occupied square footage. In 2023, the net absorption for office space was -2,733,567 sf.
2959726newly leased office square footage

In 2024, downtown offices had the highest level of newly leased office square footage since 2021, as well as the highest level of new leases (448) since 2019.
70.6downtown diversity index

Over the past decade, downtown Seattle has grown increasingly diverse. In 2024, downtown scored 70.6, according to Esri’s Diversity Index — an increase of nearly 14 points since 2010. This is five points higher than the rest of Seattle.
Sources: CoStar, Esri Community Analyst, U.S. Census Bureau. The Diversity Index from Esri represents the likelihood that two persons, chosen at random from the same area, belong to different races or ethnic groups.

Demographic Snapshot: Who Lives, Works and Visits Downtown?

Who Lives Downtown?

108,488total population

34median age

1.47average household size

$117,375median household income

4.6%are unemployed (July 2024)

72.3%have a bachelor’s degree or higher

4.2%are under 18

50.2%are nonwhite

81.1%are renters

Source: Esri Community Analyst
Who Works Downtown?
65.6%have a bachelor’s degree or higher
60.2%live in a multifamily housing unit
21%identify as Asian, the fastest-growing demographic by race
36.9%are married
23minutes is the median travel time to work
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 2022), Placer.ai
Who Visits Downtown?
True trade area demographics
$108,000median household income
57%have a bachelor’s degree or higher
45.5%are nonwhite
Source: Placer.ai and Experian:Mosaic

Top customer household profiles by percentage of visitors: Singles and Starters (21%) Young City Solos (19%) and Power Elite (15%).

Downtown Revitalization: 2024 in Review

Downtown Seattle was the first American urban center to experience the impacts of COVID-19, enduring a sudden economic downturn. As downtown evolves, DSA continues to track several key revitalization metrics. The data sets provide a comparison point to the same period in 2019.

Return to Office

  • In 2024, weekday worker foot traffic reached an average of more than 88,000 people per day — a 14% increase over 2023. This represents 56% of 2019’s daily worker foot traffic.
  • Every month of 2024 saw a higher level of weekday worker foot traffic than in 2023.
  • Preliminary worker foot traffic data for January and February 2025 showed a strong start to the year, with the three busiest weeks since March 2020 occurring during this period.
Average Weekday Worker Foot Traffic
Compared to 2019

Source: Placer.ai
Credit: CitizenM

Hotel Demand

  • In 2024, downtown hotels sold more than 4 million room nights — the highest level since 2019 and 96% of the hotel rooms booked in 2019.
  • Between May-October 2024, downtown hotel demand surpassed 2019 levels.
  • In 2024, every month (with the exception of September) saw a year-over-year increase in hotel demand compared to 2023.
Downtown Hotel Demand


Source: Visit Seattle/STR

New Multifamily Units Delivered

  • According to CoStar, nearly 3,000 multifamily units were built downtown in 2024 — almost three times as many as in 2023.
  • In fact, Seattle built more multifamily units in 2024 (8,580) than in any other year on record, with downtown accounting for 35% of all units added citywide.
  • As of February 2025, nearly 4,600 residential units were under construction downtown, with more than 15,000 either in final planning or being proposed.
Downtown Multifamily Units Added

Source: CoStar

Total Visitors

  • Downtown welcomed nearly 10 million unique domestic visitors in 2024 — a 3% increase over 2023 and 98% of 2019’s unique visitors.
  • In July 2024, nearly 3.1 million visitors came downtown — the highest level of any month that year, and the second-highest since March 2020.
  • With a record tourist season projected in 2025, along with anticipated improvements in business travel, conference attendance and the continued return of locals, the overall number of visitors to downtown is expected to continue growing and likely surpass 2019’s level.
Unique Downtown Visitors
In millions

Source: Placer.ai
Note: This graph includes only domestic visitors. International visitors are not represented.

Light Rail Ridership

  • In 2024, light rail boardings downtown continued to grow, rising 3% year-over-year.
  • Downtown light rail ridership in 2024 was 79% of 2019’s level.
  • The last quarter of 2024 saw 87% of the passengers in Q4 2019, indicating strong improvement in downtown boardings heading into 2025.
Downtown Link Light Rail Boardings

Source: Sound Transit Performance Dashboard
Note: Downtown stations include Chinatown-International District, Pioneer Square, Symphony and Westlake. Ridership levels were negatively impacted in early 2024 due to planned bus tunnel maintenance in January and February of that year, and positively impacted starting October 2024 with the expansion of light rail service to Lynnwood.