Seattle, WA
King County · Washington · United States
Home to 49,229 people across 3.837 square miles.
At a glance
98105 by the numbers
Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.
Location
Where 98105 is
| Coordinates | 47.659861, -122.284977 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | America/Los_Angeles |
| County | King County |
| State | Washington (WA) |
| Land area | 3.837 mi² |
| Coordinate source | Census ZCTA internal point |
Local time
America/Los_Angeles
Current weather
Live from the National Weather Service
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Distance to major cities
Straight-line, computed from coordinates
| Seattle, WA | 4.3 mi |
|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 683.0 mi |
| Los Angeles, CA | 963.3 mi |
| Denver, CO | 1019.2 mi |
People
Who lives in 98105
49,229 residents in 18,106 households, averaging 2.72 people per household. The largest age group is 18-24 at 40.0% of residents, and 40.5% of households are a single person living alone.
Age distribution
Share of residents by age band
Households
Composition and size
| Total households | 18,106 |
|---|---|
| Average household size | 2.72 |
| Family households | 37.6% |
| Living alone | 40.5% |
| Median age | 24.7 years |
| Households with internet | 92.1% |
Race & ethnicity
Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.
Income & work
What people earn in 98105
The median household here earns $78,691 a year, above the US median of $70,109, which puts 98105 ahead of 63% of American ZIP codes. 22.8% of residents live below the poverty line.
Compared to the US
This ZIP against the national median
| Median household income | $78,691 ±$6,965 |
|---|---|
| Per capita income | $60,968 |
| Poverty rate | 22.8% |
| Unemployment rate | 6.1% |
| Labor force participation | 64.0% |
Household income distribution
Share of households in each bracket
Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 77.2% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 98.6% finished high school.
Housing
Homes and rent in 98105
A typical home is valued at $1.26M, and median rent runs $1,803 a month. This is a renter-majority area — 66.9% of occupied homes are rented, and the typical building went up in 1975.
Costs
Typical values
| Median home value | $1.26M |
|---|---|
| Median gross rent | $1,803/mo |
| Median year built | 1975 |
| Housing units | 20,582 |
| Vacancy rate | 12.0% |
Own vs. rent
Of 18,106 occupied units
| Owner households | 5,993 |
|---|---|
| Renter households | 12,113 |
Building types
Units by structure size
Getting to work
How 98105 commutes
29.5% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 26.2 minutes. 26.3% work from home.
Mode of transport
Workers 16 and older
Travel time
Mean commute 26.2 minutes
Overview
Understanding ZIP code 98105
ZIP code 98105 is assigned to Seattle, WA, and falls within King County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 49,229 people live inside it.
At 12,830 residents per square mile spread over 3.837 square miles, 98105 reads as a dense urban area. It is a populous postal code, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.
Household earnings track close to the national picture. The median of $78,691 puts 98105 near the middle of the pack, ahead of 63% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.
Living here
What life in Seattle looks like
Housing in 98105 costs far above the national median. A typical home is valued at $1,261,100 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $1,803 a month. This is firmly renter territory — 66.9% of occupied homes are rented, a pattern typical of city centres, student areas and neighbourhoods with a lot of apartment stock.
The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 36.0% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1975, making the housing here from the later twentieth century.
The population skews notably young, with a median age of 24.7 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.72 people, and 37.6% are family households.
Getting to work takes 26.2 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 29.5% of workers, while 18.6% take public transit, 16.6% walk, 26.3% work from home. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.
Where to stay
Where to stay in Seattle, WA
Seattle sits in a densely built environment, and accommodation in and around 98105 tends to reflect that — full-service hotels, boutique properties and serviced apartments packed close together, usually within walking distance of transit. Rates in dense urban codes move sharply with the calendar: midweek business demand and weekend leisure demand can price very differently.
Median rent in 98105 is $1,803 a month, which sits in the middle of the national range; accommodation pricing locally tends to be similarly mid-market. For reference, Seattle, WA is about 4.3 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.
Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.
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Practical uses
What ZIP code 98105 is used for
Beyond addressing mail, 98105 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.
For anyone weighing a move, 98105 offers a compact profile of Seattle: 49,229 residents, a median household income of $78,691, 77.2% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 6.1%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.
One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 98105 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Seattle may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.
Nearby
ZIP codes near 98105
The eight closest postal codes by centroid distance, each with its own full profile. You can also browse every Washington ZIP code or use the ZIP Express Lookup to search by city, county or time zone.
Other ZIP codes in Seattle
Seattle is served by 59 postal codes.
More in King County
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Questions
Common questions about 98105
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Methodology
Where this data comes from
- Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
- Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 98105. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
- Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
- Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
- Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).