Below 200% Poverty Level

Black and American Indian/Alaska Native people are more than twice as likely to live in or near poverty than the King County average.

From 2019-2023, 17.6% of King County residents had a household income less than 200% of the federal poverty level. In 2023, this would have been an annual income of less than $60,000 for a family of four including two children. 

• Age: Young adults between the ages of 18-24 years (31.3%) were more likely to have a household income less than 200% of the federal poverty level, the highest in comparison to all other age groups. At 23.9%, adults ages 75 and older were more likely to have an income below 200% of the federal poverty level than adults ages 25-74.  

• Gender: Women were more likely to have an income less than 200% of the federal poverty level than men (19.1% and 16.1% respectively). Groups that are impacted the most by the wage gap include women and people of color.  

• Race: American Indian/Alaska Native (43.3%), Black (37.9%), Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (34.5%) and Hispanic/Latinx (31.2%) residents were more likely to have an income less than 200% of the federal poverty level compared to white (13.0%) and Asian residents (14.2%), suggesting these groups disproportionately experience income inequality. However, note that the “Asian” race category represents an aggregate of the many Asian ethnicities. This aggregation is a limitation, as it may mask important differences in household income among Asian subgroups. 

• Disability: People with a disability (33.1%) were about twice as likely to have an income less than 200% of the federal poverty level than people without a disability (15.8%). 

• Region and city/neighborhood: People residing in South King County had the highest rate of having a household income of less than 200% of the federal poverty level (22.6%) compared to all other regions. People residing in East King County had the lowest rate of being in or near poverty (10.6%). Among cities and neighborhoods, Seattle – University District (52.8%), Federal Way – North Corridor (41.8%), and North Highline and White Center (38.4%) experienced the highest rates of people in households with an income less than 200% of the federal poverty level, while Snoqualmie and North Bend (5.05) and Sammamish (6.2%) had the lowest rates.  

• Trends: The proportion of King County residents with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level decreased from 2013 to 2019, then increased from 2019 to 2021 and has remained flat from 2021 to 2023. Overall, Washington State experienced a collective decreasing trend since 2014.