In recent years, the city has seen steady population increase, posing the challenge of absorbing additional citizens. After expanding by 4,000 citizens every year for the preceding 16 years, regional planners predicted that Seattle’s population will grow by 200,000 by 2040. Former mayor Greg Nickels, on the other hand, backed plans to raise the city’s population by 60%, or 350,000 people, by 2040, and worked on ways to handle this development while maintaining Seattle’s single-family dwelling zoning restrictions. Later, the Seattle City Council voted to lift height limits on buildings in the broader Downtown area, mainly to enhance residential density in the city core.
The Downtown population topped 60,000 in 2009, up 77% since 1990, indicating continued expansion in the downtown center. Seattle’s population fell for the first time in 50 years in 2021.The amount of adults living alone in Seattle is relatively high.
According to the ACS 1-year estimates, the median household income in 2018 was $93,481, while the median family income was $130,656. 11.0% of the population and 6.6% of households lived in poverty. 11.4% of the poor were under the age of 18 and 10.9% were 65 or older.