The largest city of the Pacific Northwest region, Seattle is home to over 600,000 people in the city proper and with 3.7 million residents, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statical Area (Seattle MSA) is the 15th largest in the nation. The population grew by 8% between the 2000 and 2010 Census. A notable characteristic of the Seattle demographics is the level of education. For people over the age of 25, 56% of the residents have Bachelor's Degree or higher, which ranks Seattle among the top of major cities in the United States. University of Washington, the largest employer in the city proper, has over 40,000 students.
Seattle MSA accounts for 1.93 million jobs and generates an estimated gross metropolitan product of $218 billion. Aerospace, largely due to The Boeing Company, accounts over 80,000 jobs and $32 billion in revenue. Information technology is another important sector to the economy of Seattle MSA, employing over 100,000 and with companies such as Microsoft and Amazon.com headquartered in the region. Other notable companies headquartered in Seattle MSA include Costco, Starbucks, and Nordstrom.
International commerce is crucial to Seattle, which is situated roughly equidistant from Tokyo and London. Washington State ranks first in exports per capita, with Mainland China, Canada, and Japan as the top trading partners. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is the closest airport on the continental US to Asia and served 31.2 million passengers in 2009. Internally, King County Metro and Sound Transit combine to offer express bus, light rail, and commuter rail services for the region.
In terms of the cost of living, Seattle trails major Northeastern and California cities from Boston to Los Angeles, and is comparable to that of Chicago. In 2010, 2 bedroom /1 bath apartment rental on average cost slightly over $1,100. Average high temperature in July is around 75F, while average low in winter hovers around the freezing point. At 36.2 inches, the average annual precipitation is actually lower than that of New York; summer is the dry season, while light precipitation and partly cloudy skies dominate the winter months.
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