People Commuting to Work by Walking

People living in Seattle and young adults aged 16 to 24 were among the groups in King County most likely to walk to work.

Between 2019-2023, 4.3% King County workers walked to work.    

  • Age: People aged 16-24 years old (9.2%) were nearly twice as likely to walk to work than the county average and among all other age groups. 

  • Disability: People with a disability (5.9%) were more likely to walk to work compared to people without a disability (4.3%). 

  • Poverty: People with incomes less than 400% of the federal poverty level were more likely to walk to work (5.0%-8.7%) compared to people with incomes over 400% of the federal poverty level (3.6%).  

  • Region/City/Neighborhood: People living in Seattle were more likely to walk to work (8.3%) than people in other regions of the county. Among cities and neighborhoods, the areas with the highest rates of walking to work were South Lake Union/Cascade/Eastlake (33.1%), University District (26.7%), Downtown Seattle/Belltown/First Hill (24.9%), and Capitol Hill (17.3%).  

  • Trends: The percentage of people who walked to work in King County decreased from 5.2% in 2019 to 3.7% in 2021 and with a modest increase to 4.5% in 2023. Walking to work has also decreased among Seattle residents, from 10.7% in 2019 to a low of 6.8% in 2021 with rates still lower than pre-pandemic levels at 8.5% in 2023.  

 

Notes & Sources

Source: American Community Survey (ACS).

To learn more about the American Community Survey and view the data biography, click here.