121-510: Swedish Health Services (formerly Swedish Medical Center ) is a nonprofit healthcare provider in the Seattle metropolitan area . It operates five hospital campuses (in the Seattle neighborhoods of First Hill , Cherry Hill and Ballard , and the cities of Edmonds and Issaquah ), ambulatory care centers in the cities of Redmond and Mill Creek , and Swedish Medical Group, a network of more than 100 primary-care and specialty clinics. Founded as
242-725: A gross domestic product (GDP) of $ 517.8 billion in 2022, the eleventh-highest in the United States. In the same year, the Seattle area also had a GDP per capita of $ 128,316, the third-highest figure among large metropolitan areas in the United States, behind San Jose and San Francisco. As of November 2023 , the largest employment sector is professional and business services, with approximately 401,200 employees, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities (369,100), education and health services (318,400), and government (276,700). A total of 2,181,500 jobs are available in non-farm sectors in
363-636: A 2022 circulation of 11 million items. The Sno-Isle Libraries system serves most of Snohomish and Island counties and has 23 locations that circulated 7.4 million items in 2022; Sno-Isle does not serve the city of Everett, which operates the two locations of the Everett Public Library . Pierce County has a county library system with 20 locations that circulated 4.8 million items in 2022 and separate, city-run libraries in Tacoma with eight locations and Puyallup with one location. In 2016,
484-480: A designated library district. These include library districts that cover most of a county—either through direct annexation or contracted by local governments—or a department of the city government. Some cities have opted out of having library systems after voters rejected the proposed property tax to fund services. The earliest public libraries in the region were established in the late 19th century by private organizations that were later absorbed into city governments;
605-495: A division of Providence Health & Services. In 2014, Swedish formed new partnerships with Group Health Cooperative and Pacific Medical Centers. Swedish Health Services is owned by the Catholic healthcare system Providence Health & Services . In 2012, Swedish and Providence announced that the two hospital systems would form an alliance, with both organizations citing their own staffing challenges caused by budget shortfalls as
726-518: A four-year term. By the 2021 session, almost all legislative districts in the region were represented solely by Democrats in the Senate and House, with the exception of exurban districts. According to a 2022 marketing survey by Nielsen , the Seattle metropolitan area is tied for the eighth highest percentage of adults who favored the Democratic Party, at nearly 55 percent—an 11-point increase from
847-640: A large public market with more than 220 shops and restaurants, draws 10 million annual visitors and is among the most-visited tourist attractions in the world. Other major attractions in Seattle include the Space Needle , the Seattle Center Monorail , Seattle Great Wheel , the Amazon Spheres , the Seattle Underground Tour , and the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood. The city
968-536: A majority of visitors in 2019 were from Western Washington and included a large number from within the metropolitan area. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the county's largest tourist attraction was the Future of Flight Aviation Center adjacent to Paine Field, which offered tours of the nearby Boeing Everett Factory and drew 300,000 annual visitors. Pierce County had 8.8 million visitors in 2021 and estimated that they spent
1089-405: A married couple, 8.1% included an unmarried cohabiting couple, 19.7% had a single male with no spouse or partner, and 24.4% single female with no spouse or partner. Out of all households, 29.8% had people under the age of 18 and 25.3% had people 65 years or older. Approximately 18.3% of household residents were opposite-sex spouses, while 0.3% were same-sex spouses. According to a 2022 survey by
1210-632: A nonprofit hospital in First Hill, Seattle in 1910, the then-named Swedish Hospital was formed by 11 Swedish Americans who wanted to offer care that incorporates the medical advances seen in other parts of the country. As of 2021, it employs more than 3,800 physicians and handles more than two million outpatient visits per year. The hospital network has been owned by the Catholic healthcare system Providence Health & Services since 2012. Dr. Nils August Johanson founded Swedish Hospital in 1910 as Seattle's first modern nonprofit medical facility. Dr. Johanson
1331-658: A population of 420,663. The Seattle metropolitan area, successor to the metropolitan district, was expanded in 1949 to encompass all of King County but lose its portions in Kitsap and Snohomish counties. The local chamber of commerce and other leaders had lobbied for a definition that also included all of Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in a manner similar to the Portland metropolitan area , which had been expanded to cover four counties in Oregon and southwestern Washington. The Bureau of
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#17328555008241452-683: A similar survey conducted in 2004. The area also decides most statewide elections due to their large population, which has contributed to an unbroken line of Democratic governors since 1984. Public K–12 education is managed by local school districts that are governed by elected boards and overseen by two of the state's nine regional educational service districts . The Puget Sound Educational Service District covers 35 school districts and 416,000 students in King and Pierce counties, along with Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County, and includes 40 percent of
1573-633: A threatened suppression of the National Catholic Welfare Council due to concerns that it over-centralized power away from the individual bishops, the administrative board decided to rename the organization to be the National Catholic Welfare Conference, with the purpose of advocating reforms in education, immigration, and social action. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops took its present form in July 2001 with
1694-637: A total of $ 1.4 billion. Mount Rainier National Park , located mostly in the county, had 2.3 million visitors in 2022—primarily between July and September. The Seattle MSA comprises three counties, nine federally recognized tribes , and 77 municipalities classified as cities or towns , each with their own governments. These include 39 municipalities in King County, 23 in Pierce County, and 20 in Snohomish County; several cities also extend beyond
1815-516: A valuation of at least $ 1 billion. The region also has a large aerospace industry that is dominated by Boeing , historically the largest employer in Washington state with 60,244 workers as of 2022 . The company has major commercial jetliner assembly plants in Everett and Renton alongside testing facilities in Seattle and smaller component manufacturers in other areas. The Boeing Everett Factory
1936-763: A week. Seattle's oldest daily newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , ceased print publication in 2009 and became an online-only outlet. The Seattle area also has weekly newspapers in smaller cities, including several owned by Sound Publishing or independent companies; other hyperlocal publications, primarily in Seattle neighborhoods, have largely ceased publication in the early 21st century. Other newspapers include free weeklies The Stranger and Seattle Weekly , which both ceased regular print publication by 2020; trade and industry publications Puget Sound Business Journal and Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce ; and student newspaper The Daily of
2057-607: A wider labor market region known as the Seattle–Tacoma combined statistical area (CSA), which encompasses most of the Puget Sound region . The population of this wider region was 4,953,389 at the 2020 census and estimated to be 4,993,725 in 2023; the Puget Sound region is home to two-thirds of Washington's population. The Seattle CSA is the 14th largest in the United States and the 13th largest primary census statistical area in
2178-481: A working group to address the "confusion" that could be caused by Catholic politicians who support policies that are against church teaching. On January 20, 2021, the date of President Joe Biden's inauguration, when he became the second Roman Catholic U.S. president, the USCCB sent him a letter authored by President Gómez, which was described as "stinging" by America . While congratulating Biden on his election and stating
2299-593: Is also home to three cruise ship terminals operated by the Port of Seattle that serve excursions through the Inside Passage to Alaska. An estimated 1.8 million passengers visited Seattle on 291 departures during the 2023 summer season with an estimated economic impact of $ 900 million. The region has several convention centers that are able to host large events, such as trade shows , fan conventions , corporate meetings, and conferences. The first portion of
2420-453: Is home to several of the wealthiest people in the United States and the world by net worth. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos both held the title of world's richest person , as determined by Forbes , while living in the Eastside city of Medina . Another Eastside suburb, Sammamish , has a median household income of $ 201,370—the second-highest among cities in
2541-552: Is home to the head offices of truck manufacturer Paccar , telecom network T-Mobile US , and clothing retailer Eddie Bauer . Warehouse retailer Costco is headquartered in Issaquah and has more than a dozen locations in the Seattle area. The region has several large shopping centers that range from traditional enclosed malls like Alderwood Mall and Westfield Southcenter to newer outdoor designs such as University Village . While suburban areas have had few retail vacancies since
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#17328555008242662-490: Is noted for its technology industry , which developed in the late 20th century and grew significantly with the development of Microsoft and Amazon . The industry has 290,000 workers based in the Seattle area, ranking second nationally behind the San Francisco Bay Area , and comprises 13 percent of the regional workforce; from 2005 to 2017, Seattle was one of five metropolitan areas that had 90 percent of
2783-566: Is one of the tallest mountains in the United States. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget , the Seattle metropolitan area is officially the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and consists of: Based on commuting patterns, the adjacent metropolitan areas of Olympia , Bremerton , and Mount Vernon , along with a few smaller satellite urban areas, are grouped together in
2904-498: Is sold by homeless and low-income vendors with an estimated annual circulation of 550,000 copies. Several digital-only publications emerged in the 2000s and 2010s to provide local news, including Crosscut.com , tech industry publication GeekWire , and hyperlocal outlets Capitol Hill Seattle Blog and West Seattle Blog . The Seattle metropolitan area has several local public library systems that are funded primarily by property taxes that are set by voter-approved levies within
3025-546: Is tasked with protecting. The Second Amendment does not stand as a barrier to their safety." As of 2021, the USCCB has been in ecumenical discussion with the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA), as well as discussing the possibility of future theological dialogue between Pentecostalism and Catholicism. The USCCB is a member of Christian Churches Together , an Interdenominational fellowship of Christian denominations and organizations in
3146-654: Is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States . Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (USCC), it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic hierarchy (i.e., diocesan , coadjutor , and auxiliary bishops and the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter ) in
3267-561: Is the largest library in the region, with 50 branches and a total circulation of nearly 18.9 million physical and digital items as of 2022 . It was established as a rural library district in 1943 and absorbed most of the city-operated systems in King County, with the exception of the Seattle Public Library , by 2012. The independent Seattle system has 27 locations, including its Central Library in Downtown Seattle, and had
3388-482: Is the world's largest building by volume and is the assembly site of the 747 , 767 and 777 programs, including their variants, alongside most 787s . The company was headquartered in Seattle until its move to Chicago in 2001; in subsequent years, widebody production of the 787 was moved to Charleston, South Carolina . The Seattle region is also home to several startup electric aircraft and component manufacturers, including Eviation and MagniX , who emerged in
3509-793: The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services . It was sued by the ACLU on the grounds that the directive in some cases caused doctors to refuse treatment of women in an emergency medical situation. In March 2012, regarding the contraception mandate issued as a regulation under the Affordable Care Act , which required that employers who do not support contraception but are not religious institutions per se must cover contraception via their employer-sponsored health insurance . USCCB decided to "continue its 'vigorous opposition to this unjust and illegal mandate'". In June and July 2012,
3630-876: The U.S. News & World Report , the top high schools in the metropolitan area are primarily in the Eastside region, along with specialized industry and technical schools in Tukwila and Lakewood; the highest-ranked school in Washington is the Tesla STEM High School in the Lake Washington School District. The smallest school district in the Seattle area is the Index School District , which has 19 students and no high school. The Seattle area has hundreds of registered private schools that serve over 50,000 students and offer alternative curriculums or religious education. The largest private schools in
3751-403: The 1900 census . The Seattle metropolitan district was expanded to encompass the entirety of Lake Washington in the 1930 census and also included Edmonds in Snohomish County, Des Moines in southern King County, and portions of eastern Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County. The district covered 209.9 square miles (544 km ), of which two-thirds was outside of Seattle proper, and counted
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3872-538: The COVID-19 pandemic , Downtown Seattle has had a slower recovery with a vacancy rate of nearly 14 percent as of late 2023. In the retail grocery sector, the most popular supermarket chains in the region are owned by Kroger ( Fred Meyer and QFC ) and the Albertsons Companies (Albertsons, Safeway ), alongside warehouse retailers like Costco. The Seattle area is a tourist destination, especially during
3993-612: The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, under which nearly 800,000 young people had applied for protection from deportation. At the 2018 biannual meeting that was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USCCB president Cardinal Daniel DiNardo issued a statement criticizing the Trump administration's policies of family separation and denial of asylum to women fleeing domestic violence. The USCCB filed an amicus brief in
4114-623: The Episcopal Conference of the Pacific . The organization is a registered corporation based in Washington, D.C. As with all bishops' conferences , certain decisions and acts of the USCCB must receive the recognitio , or approval, of the Roman dicasteries , which are subject to the immediate and absolute authority of the Pope. As of November 2022 , the president is Timothy Broglio , Archbishop for
4235-535: The Indian reservations that were established in the region. The reservations were created through treaties with the federal government that were not consistently honored and often combined several tribes together; they were also open to settlement by non-Indians. The Puget Sound region has approximately 83,705 U.S. Department of Defense personnel, including active duty members of the military and civilian workers at United States Armed Forces bases. Major facilities in
4356-475: The Pew Research Center 's 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, the Seattle metropolitan area's religious affiliation is as follows: The cost of living in the Seattle area ranks among the highest in the United States among urban areas, particularly for housing, services, and retail goods. In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that median household income for residents of the Seattle metropolitan area
4477-576: The Seattle Convention Center (formerly the Washington State Convention Center) was built over Interstate 5 and opened in 1988; it expanded to a second building in 2023 to meet growing demand for event space in Downtown Seattle. The convention center can hold simultaneous events and has over 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m ) of exhibition and meeting space. Its largest annual events include PAX West (formerly
4598-498: The Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area as the three most populous counties in the state : King , Pierce , and Snohomish . Seattle has the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States with a population of 4,018,762 as of the 2020 census , over half of Washington's total population. The area is considered part of the greater Puget Sound region , which largely overlaps with
4719-507: The Wenatchee metropolitan area . As of 2021 , it is the 12th largest television market and 11th largest radio market in the United States by population. King County has the majority of the region's television and radio antenna towers , which are concentrated on Seattle's hills or on Cougar Mountain and Tiger Mountain in the Issaquah Alps . In addition to over-the-air television ,
4840-532: The 2010s. The decade also saw the establishment of several space technology companies in the area, including Kent-based Blue Origin , Vulcan Aerospace , Kuiper Systems , and satellite offices for SpaceX ; the industry has 13,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region as of 2022 , a two-fold increase since 2018. The region is a major hub for international trade and handles most of Washington's exports, which totaled $ 78 billion in 2018, through three major seaports on Puget Sound . The Northwest Seaport Alliance
4961-448: The 2023–24 school year, a 9 percent decrease from its 2019 peak of 56,000 students. The district has 106 schools and over 6,000 staff members; most students attend their closest neighborhood schools, while option schools are able to enroll students from across the city. Other large districts with more than 20,000 enrolled students include Lake Washington , Tacoma , Kent , Northshore , Puyallup , and Federal Way . According to
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5082-652: The American Law Institute (ALI). New Jersey attorney Juan Ryan served as the organization's first president. NRLC held a nationwide meeting of anti-abortion leaders in Chicago in 1970 at Barat College . The following year, NRLC held its first convention at Macalestar College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1990 the USCCB hired the public relation firm Hill & Knowlton to launch a campaign to persuade Catholics and non-Catholics to oppose abortion rights for women. The USCCB issued
5203-565: The Bishop was "praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times," the letter also expressed concern that his policies "would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences." The letter
5324-516: The Boeing Everett Factory. Other maritime industries in the area include shipbuilding and commercial fishing , particularly boat fleets based in Seattle that travel annually to the northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea near Alaska . The city has a major coffee retail industry that developed in the 1970s and 1980s and spawned several chains that remain headquartered in Seattle, including Starbucks and Tully's Coffee . Seattle had
5445-490: The Budget (now Office of Management and Budget) added Snohomish County to its definition of the Seattle metropolitan area in 1959. The definition had previously only encompassed King County; local leaders had sought to also include Pierce and Kitsap counties in a "Puget Sound metropolitan area". Snohomish County had protested its inclusion and had sought a separate metropolitan area designation centered on Everett , which did not meet
5566-701: The CMSA and expanded to cover Island and Mason counties. The Mount Vernon–Anacortes metropolitan area was created in 2003 to encompass Skagit County and added to the Seattle CSA in 2006; the CSA was extended further south to Lewis County through the addition of the Centralia micropolitan area in 2013. The Seattle metropolitan area covers 6,309 square miles (16,340 km ) of land and water in Western Washington divided between
5687-539: The January 2023 survey; of them, 594 were in shelters and 691 were unsheltered. Approximately 1,500 students in the Everett School District , the county's largest school system, were identified as homeless in 2022. The county has 683 year-round shelter beds and increases capacity during inclement weather; the county government purchased two former motels in 2022 to provide an additional 130 rooms. The region had
5808-432: The King County, Sno-Isle, and Seattle systems were among the three largest libraries in the United States by circulation. The King County and Seattle systems were also among the heaviest users of digital lending platform OverDrive by circulation worldwide in 2023, each with more than 5 million checkouts. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( USCCB )
5929-557: The Military Services, USA . The vice president is William E. Lori , Archbishop of Baltimore . The first national organization of Catholic bishops in the United States was founded in 1917 as the National Catholic War Council (NCWC), formed to enable U.S. Catholics to contribute funds for the spiritual care of Catholic servicemen during World War I . In 1919 Pope Benedict XV urged the college of bishops around
6050-457: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops to coordinate information and strategy between developing local and state Catholic anti-abortion groups and is the oldest and the largest national organization against legal abortion in the United States with NRLC affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide. These NRLC affiliate groups were forming in response to efforts to change abortion laws based on model legislation proposed by
6171-812: The Penny Arcade Expo), Emerald City Comic Con , Sakura-Con , and the Northwest Flower and Garden Show , which each attract over 10,000 attendees. Smaller convention centers in the area include the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, the Lynnwood Event Center , and the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center . The areas outside of Seattle proper attract fewer tourists and draw largely from local and regional visitors. In Snohomish County,
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#17328555008246292-408: The Puget Sound region, which includes a large population of retirees. As of the 2020 census , there were 4,018,762 people in the three counties that form the Seattle metropolitan area, which comprises 52 percent of Washington 's population. It is the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and among the fastest-growing in the country. The overall population density
6413-564: The Seattle Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The Seattle metropolitan area is home to a large tech industry and is the headquarters of several major companies, including Microsoft and Amazon . The area's geography is varied and includes the lowlands around Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains ; the highest peak in the metropolitan area is Mount Rainier , which has a summit elevation of 14,411 feet (4,392 m) and
6534-458: The Seattle area by listenership are primarily music stations , including several owned by national network iHeart Radio , and talk stations with local ownership. The first radio broadcasters in Seattle emerged in 1922, including the still-operating KJR , and grew through the decade; several radio broadcasters later established their own television stations following the first local broadcast in Seattle by KING predecessor KRSC-TV in 1948. Among
6655-476: The Seattle metropolitan area; the unemployment rate was 3.5% in November 2022 and 4.0% in November 2023. The average weekly wage was $ 1,868 across the metropolitan area in mid-2023, compared to $ 1,332 nationally; the region has some of the highest hourly minimum wages in the United States, ranging from the state minimum of $ 16.28 to $ 19.97 in Seattle for large employers and $ 20.29 in Tukwila as of 2024 . Seattle
6776-516: The Seattle–Tacoma consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA). The CMSA was expanded to include Bremerton and Olympia after the 1990 census and was the 12th largest in the country at the time. The Office of Management and Budget restructured its classification system in 2003 and created the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area to cover the tri-county region. A new Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area (CSA) replaced
6897-455: The Supreme Court case of United States v. Rahimi , arguing that protecting the innocent "is a proper consideration" when regulating firearms: As the Church teaches, and this Nation's historical traditions demonstrate, the right to bear arms is not an unqualified license that must leave vulnerable family members to live in fear. Abused victims are precisely the people whom a just government
7018-408: The U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 17 percent of adult residents in the Seattle metropolitan area identified as LGBTQ . The region has one of the highest percentages of same-sex couples in the United States at 1.3 percent of households in the metropolitan area. King County is the largest of the three counties in the metropolitan area with 2,269,675 people in 2020, or 56 percent of
7139-562: The U.S. national public broadcaster : KCTS in Seattle and KBTC in Tacoma. The region's largest Spanish-language television station, KUNS , lost its Univision affiliation in 2023 and was replaced by Bellingham -based KVOS , which did not produce local news content. National news television network MSNBC was launched jointly by Microsoft and NBC in 1996; its online news operations were based in Redmond until 2012. The largest radio stations in
7260-722: The USCCB promoted a campaign of events called the Fortnight for Freedom to protest government activities that in their view impinged on their religious liberty. On June 12, 2020, a committee praised President Donald Trump 's administration for changing a Department of Health and Human Services ruling regarding discrimination based on gender identity , saying it "will help restore the rights of health care providers—as well as insurers and employers—who decline to perform or cover abortions or 'gender transition' procedures due to ethical or professional objections." The USCCB platform on immigration reform includes: In 2017, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez ,
7381-406: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an ill-considered statement on the day of President Biden's inauguration. Aside from the fact that there is seemingly no precedent for doing so, the statement, critical of President Biden, came as a surprise to many bishops, who received it just hours before it was released." By April 2021, the working group that was announced by Gómez proposed
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#17328555008247502-430: The United States and the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands . In the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the bishops in the six dioceses form their own episcopal conference, the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference . The bishops in U.S. insular areas in the Pacific Ocean – the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the territory of American Samoa, and the territory of Guam – are members of
7623-428: The United States. The budget for 2018 was US$ 200 million. Most money is raised through national collections, government grants, and diocesan assessments. The list of presidents of the USCCB, who are elected by their brother bishops, the diocese or archdiocese they led during their tenure, and their dates of service as president: The list of vice-presidents of the USCCB, who are elected by their brother bishops,
7744-422: The United States. According to a 2024 study by Henley & Partners , the city of Seattle has an estimated 54,200 millionaires—ranking seventh in the United States by number of millionaires—and 11 billionaires. The Seattle area has a housing shortage that has contributed to affordability issues in the early 21st century, particularly due to demand outpacing construction of new units. The metropolitan area had
7865-509: The United States. This includes a high number of out-of-state adults who reside in the metropolitan area; according to a 2015 Brookings Institution study, 48% of out-of-state adults had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to 35% of in-state adults. The oldest and largest public university in the state is University of Washington (UW), which was founded in 1861 and has over 60,000 total students in nearly 500 programs at its three campuses. The 342-acre (138 ha) main campus in Seattle
7986-422: The University of Washington . The region also has publications in English and other languages for ethnic communities. These include Asian-American publications International Examiner , Northwest Asian Weekly , and the Seattle Chinese Post ; and the Seattle Medium and The Facts , both catered towards the Black community. Real Change , a weekly street newspaper , has been published since 1994 and
8107-449: The area are Cedar Park Christian School and King's Schools , both Christian programs. Since a state referendum in 2012, charter schools have been approved to operate in the area using using public funding while remaining privately-run. These non-district schools are also overseen by the educational service district of their respective region; they are also allowed to participate in the same athletics competitions as public schools under
8228-431: The area include Joint Base Lewis–McChord in Pierce County, the largest military base on the West Coast with over 25,000 active duty soldiers; Naval Station Everett in Snohomish County; and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Island County. The Kitsap Peninsula—part of the Seattle CSA—is home to Naval Base Kitsap , which includes the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton and Naval Submarine Base Bangor , site of
8349-523: The area; during severe weather events such as heat waves and cold snaps, local governments open additional shelter spaces, but these often reach capacity. In 2021, a total of $ 123 million was spent on homelessness services by local governments in King County, including cities and the regional authority. The regional authority's five-year plan, released in 2023, estimates that $ 8 billion in capital costs would be required to build and staff 18,205 new units of temporary and transitional housing to address
8470-480: The assessor, clerk, coroner and medical examiner, prosecuting attorney, and treasurer. These duties include organization of elections and voter registration, enforcement of land use regulations, management of vital records, property assessment, tax collection, public health, and building inspections. The counties also manage the criminal justice system, including the superior and district courts, public defenders , and jails. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC),
8591-571: The borders of a single county. Approximately 71 percent of Puget Sound region residents live in an incorporated city or town; the rest are in unincorporated areas under the direct jurisdiction of counties, which act as the local government. These developed unincorporated areas generally lie within the urban growth areas for existing cities that could annex them or in county-designated areas that would allow communities to vote for incorporation . The incorporated city and town governments vary between mayor–council and council–manager systems,
8712-593: The chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, issued a statement disagreeing with the first Trump travel ban , Executive Order 13769 , which restricted people from several predominantly Muslim nations from entering the US and also imposed a temporary ban on Syrian refugee admissions. Later that year, the USCCB president, vice president, and committee chairmen issued a statement condemning the Trump administration's cancellation of
8833-487: The consolidation of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference. The initial response of the USCCB to revelations in the 1980s of the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy was widely criticized both within and outside the church. The reassignment of clergy accused of abuse, in particular, was considered to have allowed the abuse to proliferate. By
8954-421: The country. The additional metropolitan and micropolitan areas included are: The Census Bureau adopted metropolitan districts in the 1910 census to create a standard definition for urban areas with industrial activity around a central city. At the time, Seattle had the 22nd largest metropolitan district population at 239,269 people, a 195.8 percent increase from the population of the equivalent area in
9075-527: The designated metropolitan planning organization for the Seattle MSA and Kitsap County, has voluntary membership from 82 municipalities, four tribes, four public ports, and six public transit operators. It maintains a long-range plan for population growth, economic development, and regional transportation that is overseen by an executive board and general assembly of all members. The organization also distributes state and federal funding for projects within
9196-695: The drafting of a new document addressing the issue of Communion. On March 30, 2021, Bishop Gómez wrote to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), informing the congregation of the USCCB's plans to draft a document regarding Catholic politicians' worthiness to receive Communion. Cardinal Luis Ladaria , prefect of the CDF, replied on May 7, cautioning the USCCB to preserve unity in discussing anti-abortion issues and not to consider that abortion and euthanasia constitute
9317-576: The early 2000s, following an explosion of public scandals and investigations by journalists, the USCCB commissioned the John Jay Report and adopted a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Subsequent decades have seen the USCCB grappling with the fallout, which included dozens of court cases resulting in a financial settlements with the victims in excess of $ 3 billion. Numerous dioceses declared bankruptcy in an effort to manage
9438-593: The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the hospital administration threatened to fire an anesthesiologist for wearing a surgical mask while walking in the hallway. The hospital has since backed down. It also required workers infected with coronavirus to exhaust sick and vacation time before granting them 80 hours of emergency time off. Swedish Medical Center is one of only seven hospitals in Washington that can perform extracorporeal membrane oxygenation , and accepted patients with extreme cases of COVID-19 during
9559-538: The election of two non-Swedish-American doctors in 1968. Swedish originally started with its First Hill campus, but began to expand its network by merging with Seattle General Hospital (founded 1895) and the Doctors Hospital (founded 1944) in May 1978. Swedish then expanded outside First Hill when it purchased Ballard Community Hospital in the Seattle district of Ballard (founded 1928) on July 1, 1992. The Ballard purchase
9680-580: The establishment of KNKX under independent ownership. The region has three major newspapers based in the largest cities of each county: The Seattle Times , the most-circulated newspaper in the Pacific Northwest, is a daily newspaper based in Seattle and had over 75,000 subscribers in 2022; The News Tribune in Tacoma has approximately 54,000 subscribers and switched to a three-day publication schedule in 2024; and The Daily Herald in Everett has 33,500 subscribers as of 2022 and prints six editions
9801-468: The faith-based Catholic Health Initiatives and similarly cease elective abortions. Before the merger, 41% of all Washington state hospital beds were already located in Catholic facilities. During the 2022 abortion protests , Swedish issued a statement clarifying that it is not bound by the Conference of Catholic Bishops ’s Ethical and Religious Directives and would continue to offer birth control . During
9922-521: The financial impact. The USCCB continues to publish an annual report on its progress in addressing concerns. During the 2020 George Floyd protests , USCCB president Archbishop José Horacio Gómez issued a statement citing Martin Luther King Jr. 's words that "riots are the language of the unheard". After some conservative bishops were concerned after Gómez congratulated Joe Biden for his election as US president, Gómez announced that he would form
10043-589: The first was in Steilacoom in 1858 and was followed by a Seattle organization in 1868. Several city libraries and local branches were constructed across the metropolitan area with grants from industrialist Andrew Carnegie beginning in 1901. In addition to public libraries, the region also has informal public bookcases (part of the Little Free Library movement) and neighborhood tool libraries that lend tools and materials. The King County Library System
10164-467: The four-county area. Other inter-county organizations include special districts and regional authorities for conservation, transit, libraries, and firefighting ; as of 2007 , there are over 220 special purpose districts in the Seattle metropolitan area. Tax rates are set by local governments and can vary due to contributions to special districts; the combined sales tax ranges from 8.1% in parts of Pierce County to 10.6% in several Snohomish County cities,
10285-501: The highest rate in the state. The Seattle MSA is part of seven congressional districts (the 1st , 2nd , 6th , 7th , 8th , 9th , and 10th ) that each elect a member of the United States House of Representatives . The boundaries are redrawn every 10 years by the state's independent redistricting commission based on the results of the decennial census. The 8th district is the only one to span all three counties, taking
10406-592: The homelessness crisis. The January 2023 point-in-time survey conducted in Pierce County identified 2,148 people who were experiencing homelessness, of whom 59 percent were in shelters and 21 percent were unsheltered—either outdoors or in vehicles. The city of Tacoma has 1,225 shelter beds and 137 permanent housing units as of 2022 ; the city government plans to temporarily increase shelter capacity while transitioning to more permanent and long-term housing for homeless people. In Snohomish County, 1,285 homeless individuals in 1,028 households were identified in
10527-408: The late 2000s, the area has also become home to satellite offices for Silicon Valley companies such as Google , Meta , and Salesforce . Seattle has historically had few venture capital firms to invest in startups until the 2010s with the advent of new companies founded by alumni of older tech companies in the area; in the early 2020s, several Seattle-area startups were labeled unicorns with
10648-592: The latter using a council-appointed city manager to handle administration. All three counties have a home rule charter and are led by an elected county executive and a county council with members representing geographic districts. The elections for the county executive and council, along with other major offices, are held in even-numbered years for Pierce County and odd-numbered years in King and Snohomish counties. The county governments are responsible for various duties for all residents that are generally delegated to other elected and appointed officials, including
10769-658: The management of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association . The Seattle area has several universities and colleges that provide post-secondary education and are run by public or private institutions. According to the National Center for Education Statistics , approximately 45 percent of people in the Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area in 2019 had a bachelor's degree or higher—the tenth-highest rate in
10890-581: The median price for a single-family home was $ 722,000 and the median rent for a one-bedroom unit is $ 1,505 across the metropolitan area. In King County, an estimated 309,000 new units are needed by 2044 to handle anticipated growth. As of the 2020 census, the Seattle metropolitan area had 1,650,246 total housing units, of which 94.8% were occupied. Of the 85,814 vacant units, 41.1% were for rent, 4.4% were rented but not occupied, 10.1% were for sale, 5.1% had been sold but not yet occupied, and 16.9% were designated for seasonal or recreational use. King County has
11011-482: The most popular modern stations is KEXP-FM , a non-profit music station that has a worldwide following due to its early use of internet broadcasting. The Seattle area has two NPR -affiliated public radio stations: KUOW-FM , founded at the University of Washington in 1952; and KNKX-FM , founded at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma as KPLU. An attempted takeover of KPLU by KUOW in 2016 resulted in public outcry and
11132-469: The new technology jobs created in the United States. Amazon is the largest private employer in the region, having grown from fewer than 5,000 local employees in 2009 to approximately 60,000 in 2020; Microsoft, the second-largest tech employer in the region with 57,000 employees as of 2021 , has several subsidiary video game studios in the region. The Eastside is also home to game developers and distributors Valve , Bungie , and Nintendo of America . Since
11253-463: The non-territorial Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (part of Region X). The Eastern Catholic eparchies (dioceses) constitute Region XV. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops had appointed Bishop James T. McHugh during April 1967 to lead the early formation of what was later to become the National Right to Life Committee. The NRLC was itself formed in 1968 under the auspices of
11374-433: The number of people seeking services and estimated that 53,532 people in the county had been homeless at some point in 2022. According to a survey collected by service providers for the county government, 68.5 percent of respondents said they last had stable housing in King County and 10.8 percent had lived elsewhere in the state. Approximately 57 percent of the homeless population counted by HUD in King County
11495-513: The only grave issues of Catholic moral teaching. Ladaria further said that any new provision of the USCCB is required to respect the rights of individual Ordinaries in their diocese and the prerogatives of the Holy See. The dioceses of the United States are grouped into fifteen regions. Fourteen of the regions (numbered I through XIV) are geographically based, for the Latin Catholic dioceses and
11616-540: The pandemic. The hospital is performing clinical trials of Tocilizumab to counter the effects of a cytokine storm , an extreme immune reaction that occurs in the most extreme cases of COVID-19. Since May 15th 2023, Dr. Elizabeth Wako has served as Swedish's chief executive officer. Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle , its surrounding satellites and suburbs. The United States Census Bureau defines
11737-485: The population of the Seattle area. The Seattle metropolitan area has one of the largest populations of people in the United States who identify as nonreligious. A 2024 Household Pulse Survey from the United States Census Bureau estimated that 64 percent of adults in the area do not attend religious services more than once a year, the highest percentage among large U.S. metropolitan areas. According to
11858-419: The population threshold of 50,000 residents. In the 1950 census, a separate metropolitan area for Tacoma was defined that encompassed all of Pierce County. Kitsap County remained part of no metropolitan area despite its connections to both Seattle and Tacoma. The Office of Management and Budget included the area in the Seattle–Tacoma standard consolidated statistical area in 1981; it was replaced in 1983 by
11979-434: The population. From 2010 to 2020, the non-Hispanic White population of the Seattle metropolitan area declined from 68 percent to 58 percent—the largest decline in the U.S. The region also has a large Asian American population that was among the fastest-growing in the country between 2010 and 2020. There were 1,564,432 total households in the metropolitan area at the time of the 2020 census, of which 47.8% included
12100-567: The reason. Swedish emphasized that it would remain a nonreligious organization, although the formerly independent Swedish would become a division of Providence. Around the same time of the merger announcement, Swedish also stopped performing elective abortions “out of respect for the affiliation,” and offered to instead underwrite a Planned Parenthood center adjacent to its Seattle hospital. The Catholic affiliation came under scrutiny in 2020 when Virginia Mason Medical Center , another major Seattle hospital network, announced that it would merge with
12221-429: The region is also served by cable and satellite providers, the largest of which is Comcast Xfinity and Wave Broadband . All major national television networks have affiliates in the region who also produce local news broadcasts and other programming; these include KOMO 4 ( ABC ), KING 5 ( NBC ), KIRO 7 ( CBS ), and KCPQ 13 ( Fox ). The Seattle area has two non-profit stations that are members of PBS ,
12342-460: The region's lowlands. To the west of the metropolitan area is Puget Sound , which forms the second-largest saltwater estuary in the United States and is part of the Salish Sea . The Seattle metropolitan area is home to nine federally recognized tribes that belong to the indigenous Coast Salish peoples: The tribes have sovereign governments that have authority over their enrolled members and
12463-470: The rural eastern portions and including areas east of the Cascade Mountains. According to the 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index , six of the congressional districts lean towards Democratic candidates while the 8th district is even between both major parties. In the state legislature , the metropolitan area is part of 28 districts that each elect two House members to a two-year term and one senator to
12584-478: The seventh highest number of new units built among large cities in 2016, of which 63 percent were in multifamily buildings . The state legislature passed a new housing law in 2023 that allows for medium-density units in areas of all cities that supersede local zoning regulations; the new law could allow for 75,000 to 150,000 new units in the region, but exempts certain pre-existing homeowner associations and other contract-based communities. As of April 2023 ,
12705-788: The state is Bellevue College , which has nearly 9,000 full-time students; other colleges with more than 5,000 enrolled students include Pierce College , Green River College , and Highline College . The three community colleges in Seattle proper form the Seattle Colleges District , which has over 12,000 total students as of 2021 . The area also has several private four-year and two-year institutions that focus on religious or liberal arts programs. These include Seattle University , Seattle Pacific University , Pacific Lutheran University , and University of Puget Sound . The Seattle–Tacoma Designated Market Area , as defined by Nielsen Media Research , includes most of Western Washington and
12826-450: The state's student population. The Northwest Educational Service District encompasses 35 school districts in northwestern Washington, including all 14 in Snohomish County. The public school districts are primarily funded by allocations from the state government and local property tax levies that are approved by voters. The largest school district in the metropolitan area is Seattle Public Schools , which has 51,000 students enrolled for
12947-419: The summer months, for domestic and international visitors. The metropolitan area's tourism industry employed 209,000 residents in early 2020, later reduced to 181,000 by 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, an estimated 33.9 million visitors in Seattle and King County spent $ 7.4 billion; the region had reached a peak of 41.9 million visitors in 2019. Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle,
13068-484: The third largest population of homeless or unsheltered people in the United States according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The agency's January 2023 report, based on the point-in-time count system, estimates 14,149 people in the county have experienced homelessness; the King County Regional Homelessness Authority adopted a different methodology based on
13189-449: The third-largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world with more than 1,100 warheads for submarines. The region also has several major companies that serve as defense contractors for the U.S. military, comprising most of Washington's $ 6.9 billion awarded in fiscal year 2022. The largest contractors in the Seattle area include Boeing, PacMed , and Microsoft. The Veterans Health Administration has 110,000 enrolled patients in
13310-400: The third-most coffee shops per capita in 2019 among U.S. cities, including independent shops and other roasters. The city proper serves as the headquarters for other major companies in various industries, including online travel agency Expedia and wood producer Weyerhaeuser . National retailers REI and Nordstrom were also founded in Seattle and remain headquartered in the area. Bellevue
13431-558: The three counties; King County is the largest county at over 2,115 square miles (5,480 km ), followed by Snohomish and Pierce counties. The region includes portions of the Cascade Range and several active volcanoes, including Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak , which can generate lahars that reach populated areas. The summit of Mount Rainier is the tallest point in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m) above mean sea level ; it has 26 glaciers that are visible from much of
13552-593: The world to assist him in promoting the labor reforms first articulated by Pope Leo XIII in Rerum novarum . In response, the U.S. Catholic episcopate organized the National Catholic Welfare Council in 1919. They also created the first Administrative Committee of seven members to manage daily affairs between plenary meetings, with archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna of San Francisco as the first chairman. Headquarters were established in Washington, D.C. After
13673-417: Was $ 101,700, an 8.2 percent increase from 2019. It is the fourth-highest figure for any metropolitan area in the United States, behind San Jose , San Francisco , and Washington, D.C. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated that the per-capita income of a Seattle metropolitan area resident was $ 92,113 in 2022; the previous year, the region ranked tenth in the U.S. for per-capita income. The area
13794-438: Was 685 inhabitants per square mile (264.5/km ). The population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female with a median age of 37.2 years old. The racial makeup of the metropolitan area was 60.1% White , 15.4% Asian , 6.1% Black , 1.1% Native American or Alaska Native , 1.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander , 11.0% from two or more races, and 5.3% from other races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 11.2% of
13915-594: Was an immigrant from Sweden and was the father-in-law of Seattle businessman Elmer Nordstrom . After returning from attending medical school at the University of Denver , he was disappointed by the facilities and the thinking in Seattle's hospitals, particularly those related to germ control and surgical techniques. In 1932, Swedish opened the first cancer-care center west of the Mississippi. The board of trustees for Swedish Hospital were historically of Swedish descent until
14036-505: Was classified as unsheltered, either living in vehicles, encampments in public spaces, or other places. The number of unsheltered individuals increased significantly in the late 2010s, leading to clearing of encampments and other structures by local governments. The county has 5,115 emergency shelter beds and tiny house villages, of which 67 percent are in the city of Seattle. Additional shelters, parking lots, and encampment sites are operated by charity organizations and churches in
14157-411: Was contested by several bishops, including Cardinal Blase J. Cupich , the archbishop of Chicago, who said the message was drafted without consultation of the USCCB's administrative committee; and described it as an "institutional failure" that the bishops did not harmonize their message prior to its release. In what America called a "rare rebuke," Cupich released two statements, one of which said "Today,
14278-508: Was established in 1895 after moving from Downtown Seattle ; it was joined in 1990 by branch institutions in Bothell and Tacoma that later built permanent campuses in the late 1990s and early 2000s. UW is also a major research university with an annual budget of $ 10.4 billion and one of the largest employers in the metropolitan area. The state's second-largest institution, Washington State University , has an Everett branch campus that
14399-458: Was established in 2011 after plans for a UW branch campus were shelved amid the Great Recession . The area has 17 community colleges and technical colleges that offer two-year degrees and other programs, including transfers to local four-year universities. Each college is assigned a specific district that also conforms to county boundaries. As of 2023 , the largest community college in
14520-617: Was followed up with that of Providence Seattle Medical Center (founded 1876) in the Central District from Providence Health & Services in February 2000. After a decade, Swedish began expanding outside Seattle and King County with its lease of Stevens Hospital (founded January 26, 1964) Edmonds on September 1, 2010, and the opening of a brand-new campus in Issaquah in July, 2011. In 2009, Swedish partnered with The Polyclinic to implement electronic health records, and in 2012, it became
14641-555: Was formed in 2015 to enable cooperation between the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma , rival public ports situated 32 miles (51 km) apart. The two ports combine to form the seventh-largest container port in the United States and has the second-largest concentration of warehouse space on the West Coast. The independent Port of Everett is a smaller port but handles exports of a similar value to Seattle and Tacoma due to its proximity to
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