New analysis from the Downtown Seattle Association reveals devastating job losses for the heart of the city over the last few years.
DSA’s report found that between 2024 and 2025, Seattle lost more than 18,600 jobs, while other cities such as Bellevue and Tacoma recorded gains.
“It's staggering, and I think, especially if you look at where those jobs are being lost from, 70% of them are in the downtown core, which is where DSA represents over 600 members,” said Dennis Sills, DSA’s vice president for advocacy and economic development.
According to DSA, since 2024, Bellevue and Tacoma have increased total employment by 5,375 and 662 jobs, respectively.
DSA’s report says the largest job losses were in information technology, professional services and construction sectors.
It was just a decade ago, Seattle was a hub for American tech prosperity. Amazon and Microsoft brought in engineers, executives, and capital, adding roughly 40,000 jobs per year at the peak of the boom, according to the Puget Sound Regional Council.
Seattle’s downtown office vacancy rate hit 35.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and remained at that level in the summer of 2026.
Among the notable losses downtown is Starbucks moving jobs to Nashville and committing to hiring 2,000 people in Tennessee.
According to Fortune magazine, Seattle’s reversal unfolds in three ways.
“An office market in free fall, a labor market that has gone from boom to bust, and a policy environment that has made survival harder for the small businesses left behind,” the article notes.
Local business leaders want that to change.
“We want to get ahead of this and get back on a really positive course of being a great place to do business,” wrote Jon Scholes, DSA’s executive director in Wednesday's news release.
“There's lots of great reasons to do business in Seattle. We've got great fundamentals and assets. I think our best days are ahead of us but we definitely have some turbulence and headwinds right now.”
Sills told The Center Square their analysis also looked at large metro cities that are bringing in the jobs.
“We saw significant growth, for example, in Texas and in Nashville, and some of those areas have vastly different policies, economic, fiscal policies than we do at the state and local level."
Sills said they are not showing causality between state and fiscal policies and job losses.
“We're just showing that relative to these other places, we are heading in a different direction with many of these indicators.”
Seattle’s minimum wage of $20.76 an hour applies to all employers regardless of size as of January 2025, and has resulted in more pressure on small businesses.
Seattle’s minimum wage will rise to $22.14 an hour on Jan. 1, up 84 cents from this year.
Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association, told “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio that the region has “a recipe for disaster right now.”
Last year we talked about Seattle’s got the second highest prices of all the major cities’ restaurants across the country, and I’m pretty sure this year we will push into the number one category of being the most expensive. We also have the nation’s lowest profit margin," he said.
Sills told The Center Square they are looking at the future of the downtown economy keeping in mind lower foot traffic.
“We need to create a reason for people to come downtown. So that means developing ecosystems of business and attraction and all that, but also setting policy that facilitates that.”
He was cautiously optimistic about Mayor Katie Wilson's proposed budget priorities going into 2027 and how those plans could stem the job loss tide.
"We're encouraged by the way that she approached that initial package, but there will still be a lot of communication with the Mayor and with council up until November," said Sills.
The mayor highlighted working with the business community in her speech unveiling her proposed budget last month.
"The City will lead in partnership with our private sector, and labor, to diversify our economy, revitalize our downtown, support the growth of small and mid-sized businesses, and create pathways for entrepreneurs, artists, and workers from every background to succeed in Seattle," she said.
"A thriving economy means great jobs for our residents, and it’s also the essential tax base for a robust public sector."
