The 10 Washington Cities With The Largest Black Population For 2025


The most African American cities in Washington are SeaTac and Tukwila for 2025 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About RoadSnacks
Last Updated: October 1, 2025

Most African American cities in Washington research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Washington’s most recent Census data to determine the blackest cities in Washington based on the percentage of Black residents. Here are the results of our analysis:

  • The city with the largest African American population in Washington is SeaTac based on the most recent Census data.

  • SeaTac is 23.88% Black.

  • The least African American city in Washington is Union Gap.

  • Union Gap is 0.0% Black.

  • Washington is 3.8% Black.

  • Washington is the 34th blackest state in the United States.

Cities With Highest Black Population In Washington Map

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The Black community is one of the fastest-growing communities in America this decade.

Roughly 42 million people identifying as Black or African American live in the United States, making up 12% of the total population. According to the most recent American Community Survey, the Black population in Washington is 295,487 – at 3.8% of the total population of Washington.

The percentage growth of Blacks in America is the third largest percentage change for any race according to the Census’s race and ethnicity definition. Most scholars and historians agree that increasing diversity in America is a good thing.

We agree.

But how has the increase in the black population impacted Washington? Which cities and towns in Washington have seen the greatest increase in its Black population?

We broke down the most recent census data to determine the cities in Washington with the largest African American population in 2025:

Most African American Places In Washington

  1. SeaTac
  2. Tukwila
  3. Federal Way
  4. Kent
  5. Lakewood
  6. Des Moines
  7. Tacoma
  8. Fife
  9. Renton
  10. Lynnwood

What’s the blackest city in Washington? The city with the largest Black population in Washington for 2025 is SeaTac. See if SeaTac ranked as one of the most african american places in America.

And if you already knew these places were Black, check out the best places to live in Washington or the most diverse places in Washington.

The 10 Blackest Cities In Washington For 2025

1. Seatac

Seatac, WA

Source: Wikipedia User SounderBruce from Seattle, United States | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 31,143
% African American: 23.88%
# Of African American Residents: 7,437
Percent Change Since 2010: 80.42%
More on Seatac: Data

2. Tukwila

Tukwila, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Joe Mabel | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 21,479
% African American: 17.43%
# Of African American Residents: 3,743
Percent Change Since 2010: 36.46%
More on Tukwila: Data

3. Federal Way

Federal Way, WA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 99,232
% African American: 17.35%
# Of African American Residents: 17,218
Percent Change Since 2010: 128.51%
More on Federal Way: Data

4. Kent

Kent, WA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 135,015
% African American: 12.99%
# Of African American Residents: 17,541
Percent Change Since 2010: 88.43%
More on Kent: Data

5. Lakewood

Lakewood, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Kgrr | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 63,034
% African American: 12.73%
# Of African American Residents: 8,023
Percent Change Since 2010: 8.43%
More on Lakewood: Data

6. Des Moines

Des Moines, WA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 32,545
% African American: 10.84%
# Of African American Residents: 3,529
Percent Change Since 2010: 8.15%
More on Des Moines: Data

7. Tacoma

Tacoma, WA

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR 2 | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 220,482
% African American: 10.02%
# Of African American Residents: 22,087
Percent Change Since 2010: 0.3%
More on Tacoma: Data

8. Fife

Fife, WA

Source: Wikipedia User SounderBruce | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 10,902
% African American: 9.86%
# Of African American Residents: 1,075
Percent Change Since 2010: 20.38%
More on Fife: Data

9. Renton

Renton, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Westernyankee | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 105,279
% African American: 8.87%
# Of African American Residents: 9,334
Percent Change Since 2010: 5.61%
More on Renton: Data

10. Lynnwood

Lynnwood, WA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 40,953
% African American: 8.69%
# Of African American Residents: 3,557
Percent Change Since 2010: 76.79%
More on Lynnwood: Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In Washington With The Largest Black Population For 2025

We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Washington.

That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2019-2023 American Community Survey data from the US Census.

Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:

  • Hispanic or Latino
  • White alone*
  • Black or African American alone*
  • American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
  • Asian alone*
  • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
  • Some other race alone*
  • Two or more races*
* Not Hispanic or latino

Our particular column of interest was the number of people who identified as Black or African American.

We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 6,000 people in Washington. That left us with 115 cities.

We then calculated the percentage of residents that are Black or African American. The percentages ranked from 23.9% to 0.0%.

Finally, we ranked each city based on the percentage of the Black population, with a higher score being more Black than a lower score. SeaTac took the distinction of being the most Black, while Union Gap was the least African American city.

We updated this article for 2025. This is our tenth time ranking the cities in Washington with the largest African American population.

Read on for more information on how the cities in Washington ranked by population of African American residents or, for a more general take on diversity in America, head over to our ranking of the most diverse cities in America.

Summary: Black Populations Across Washington

If you’re looking for a breakdown of African American populations across Washington according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.

The blackest cities in Washington are SeaTac, Tukwila, Federal Way, Kent, Lakewood, Des Moines, Tacoma, Fife, Renton, and Lynnwood.

If you’re curious enough, here are the least African American places in Washington:

  1. Union Gap
  2. Ocean Shores
  3. Stanwood

For more Washington reading, check out:

African American Population By City In Washington

Rank City Population African American Population % African American
1 Seatac 31,143 7,437 23.88%
2 Tukwila 21,479 3,743 17.43%
3 Federal Way 99,232 17,218 17.35%
4 Kent 135,015 17,541 12.99%
5 Lakewood 63,034 8,023 12.73%
6 Des Moines 32,545 3,529 10.84%
7 Tacoma 220,482 22,087 10.02%
8 Fife 10,902 1,075 9.86%
9 Renton 105,279 9,334 8.87%
10 Lynnwood 40,953 3,557 8.69%
11 Auburn 85,455 6,330 7.41%
12 University Place 34,850 2,500 7.17%
13 Burien 51,331 3,571 6.96%
14 Dupont 9,952 675 6.78%
15 Seattle 741,440 48,164 6.5%
16 Brier 6,507 422 6.49%
17 Everett 111,083 7,160 6.45%
18 Airway Heights 10,766 692 6.43%
19 Pacific 7,064 448 6.34%
20 Shoreline 59,280 3,647 6.15%
21 Covington 20,957 1,261 6.02%
22 Lacey 57,088 3,379 5.92%
23 Oak Harbor 24,396 1,326 5.44%
24 Yelm 10,618 521 4.91%
25 Mill Creek 20,846 924 4.43%
26 Bremerton 44,531 1,941 4.36%
27 Steilacoom 6,683 290 4.34%
28 Lake Forest Park 13,356 556 4.16%
29 Puyallup 42,642 1,725 4.05%
30 Fircrest 7,082 268 3.78%
31 Mountlake Terrace 21,419 774 3.61%
32 Tumwater 26,519 947 3.57%
33 Monroe 19,696 689 3.5%
34 Kenmore 23,594 714 3.03%
35 Vancouver 192,696 5,694 2.95%
36 Cheney 12,830 341 2.66%
37 Edgewood 12,683 337 2.66%
38 Moses Lake 25,594 669 2.61%
39 Spokane 229,228 5,914 2.58%
40 Walla Walla 33,766 870 2.58%
41 Poulsbo 11,962 301 2.52%
42 Marysville 71,570 1,783 2.49%
43 Olympia 55,583 1,365 2.46%
44 Aberdeen 17,040 413 2.42%
45 Milton 8,747 205 2.34%
46 Lake Stevens 39,500 894 2.26%
47 Edmonds 42,783 950 2.22%
48 Bellevue 151,199 3,247 2.15%
49 Redmond 75,721 1,612 2.13%
50 Woodinville 13,440 276 2.05%
51 Sequim 8,130 165 2.03%
52 Kennewick 84,389 1,701 2.02%
53 Clarkston 7,240 145 2.0%
54 Maple Valley 28,121 528 1.88%
55 Pasco 78,446 1,470 1.87%
56 Pullman 31,939 578 1.81%
57 Ellensburg 18,913 339 1.79%
58 Kelso 12,697 208 1.64%
59 Issaquah 39,472 644 1.63%
60 Burlington 9,637 157 1.63%
61 Camas 26,779 435 1.62%
62 Newcastle 12,945 203 1.57%
63 Kirkland 91,614 1,417 1.55%
64 Sammamish 66,375 1,014 1.53%
65 Yakima 96,810 1,389 1.43%
66 Woodland 6,513 93 1.43%
67 Mercer Island 25,282 345 1.36%
68 Arlington 20,599 274 1.33%
69 Mount Vernon 35,312 469 1.33%
70 Chehalis 7,536 100 1.33%
71 Spokane Valley 105,460 1,381 1.31%
72 Mukilteo 21,312 278 1.3%
73 Richland 61,912 774 1.25%
74 Bellingham 92,367 1,128 1.22%
75 Port Orchard 16,398 197 1.2%
76 Bonney Lake 22,776 259 1.14%
77 Normandy Park 6,659 72 1.08%
78 Centralia 18,457 194 1.05%
79 Sumner 10,674 105 0.98%
80 Port Angeles 20,087 197 0.98%
81 Wenatchee 35,502 328 0.92%
82 Longview 37,836 330 0.87%
83 Bothell 48,610 416 0.86%
84 Selah 8,301 69 0.83%
85 Snoqualmie 13,750 114 0.83%
86 West Richland 17,126 141 0.82%
87 Orting 8,957 69 0.77%
88 Ephrata 8,493 65 0.77%
89 Lynden 16,025 119 0.74%
90 Port Townsend 10,290 75 0.73%
91 Quincy 7,922 54 0.68%
92 Gig Harbor 12,202 79 0.65%
93 Duvall 8,279 51 0.62%
94 Washougal 16,945 103 0.61%
95 Snohomish 10,177 61 0.6%
96 Battle Ground 21,293 124 0.58%
97 College Place 9,828 56 0.57%
98 Anacortes 17,837 88 0.49%
99 Sedro-Woolley 12,633 59 0.47%
100 Enumclaw 12,663 59 0.47%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Black Population, Rankings

One thought on “The 10 Washington Cities With The Largest Black Population For 2025”

  1. I think you missed the city of Silverdale.
    Population of 19,204 in 2010 census
    % African American = 3.24% in 2010 census

    Reply

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