Seattle’s median household income tops $93K

The median income in Seattle reached more than $93,000 in 2018, jumping by close to $7,000 from the previous year, according to data released this week.

The data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed the median household income in Seattle was $93,481. Still, thousands of individuals in Seattle were making far less — with many earning amounts making it nearly impossible to afford the cost of living in the city.

The data showed of the 338,002 households analyzed, more than 19,000 were making less than $10,000. Another 27,621 households were making between $10,000 and $24,999 a year. About 20% of households in Seattle were making $34,999 or less per year.

On the other end, close to 100,000 households were making between $100,000 and $199,999 with more than 60,000 households making$200,000 or more a year.

The data found the median income in Seattle was far above the national median income, which was at $61,937 in 2018. Nationally, between 2017 and 2018, the median income increased by less than 1%. The median income in Washington was just more than $74,000. The poverty rate in Washington also declined slightly to 10.3% between 2017 and 2018, according to the data.

Among black households in Seattle, the median income was just $42,527 — far less than the median income among all households in the city. About 17% of the nearly 20,000 black households tracked made below $10,000 in 2018, according to the data. About 45% of black households made less than $34,999. About 20% of black households made $100,000 or more.

Of the more than 641,000 individuals over the age of 16, 470,517 were in the labor force, according to the report, and 17,000 were counted as unemployed. More than 170,000 were not in the work force.

The census data shows a wide range of incomes, representing individuals living in poverty and those making far above the median income.

A report released last month also showed Seattle ranks near the top for most expensive cities in the country.

According to a study released late last month, Seattle was ranked the seventh most expensive U.S. city to live in. A cost of living study published by The Council for Community and Economic Research on the second quarter of 2019, found Seattle ranked below cities including New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The city had previously ranked fifth in the index. The study uses research on the cost of “housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.”

Seattle and King County have recently been trying to address issues of housing and affordability, putting forth various solutions and proposing new affordable housing units. Officials have also grappled with how to provide housing and services for the more than 11,000 homeless individuals living in King County.

This was originally posted on seattle pi by Becca Savransky.

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Lifestyle Northwest – Fall 2019