At 563,374 people, Seattle has surpassed its previous high of 557,087 in the 1960 Census and now ranks 24th in size among U.S. cities.
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Seattle’s 2000 Population Surpassed 1960 Peak
Growth rate doubles from 1980s.
Since 1990, the City of Seattle has grown by about 47,000 people, or 9 percent. This rate is twice as fast as the city’s growth between 1980 and 1990 and close to the national increase of 10 percent growth in central cities.
2000 population caps twenty year growth spurt.
The current growth continues a trend since the 1980 census, which reversed a period of population loss. From 1960 to 1980 Seattle's population declined 11 percent.
City grows faster than Seattle's Comprehensive Plan target.
The city’s Comprehensive Plan set out to accommodate a population growth of 72,000 over 20 years-- from 1994 to 2014. The estimated growth from 1994 to 2000 reached 45 percent of that projected increase.
Census finds higher growth than forecasted.
When the Comprehensive Plan was adopted, an independent economic forecast said the city would have 536,000 people in 2000. Estimates by Washington State and the City of Seattle had put the city’s anticipated 2000 population at between 540,000 and 548,000. The 2000 census found more people in Seattle than were projected by these three entities.
Suburbs grow faster than Seattle.
Between 1990 and 2000, population growth in Seattle represented 21 percent of the county's growth.
Seattle becomes smaller proportion of county.
Seattle's share of King County's population continues to decline from 34 percent in 1990 to 32 percent in 2000. Our share of the county population has been steadily declining over the past four decades as population increases in the suburbs exceed Seattle's population growth.
Seattle ranks 10th in relative growth in Washington State.
Seattle’s population change over the past 10 years, as a percentage (9 percent), was the smallest change among the 10 largest Washington cities.
OTHER INFORMATION ON POPULATION TRENDS:
