As the region grew by more than 86,000 people last year, two thirds of that growth occurred within 10 cities.

The top city by total population change was Seattle, which accounted for 28% of the region’s population change last year. Seattle likely surpassed 700,000 people in early 2017.

Sammamish was second on the list, gaining 11,270 new residents largely due to an annexation of previously unincorporated Klahanie and several adjacent neighborhoods in January 2016.

Other top growing cities by total change include:  Bellevue, Tacoma, Federal Way, Renton, Everett, Kent, Auburn, and Redmond.

With the exception of Sammamish, all of the top-growing cities have designated regional growth centers.

These centers are key to the region’s VISION 2040 growth strategy.  The strategy calls for a majority of new housing and jobs to locate in centers, creating vibrant urban neighborhoods linked to transit connections.

Another way to look at population growth is by percent change. Sammamish topped this list due to an annexation.

Other fast growing cities by percent population change are shown in the chart below, which shows the top 10 cities for percent population growth in central Puget Sound region, 2016.

– Puget Sound Regional Council

Seattle was the eighth fastest growing city by percent change last year: