Economy

Seattle’s Creative Class Is Expanding Its Reach

Creative workers here earn a lot compared to other cities

By Bill Conroy May 31, 2019

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This article originally appeared in the June 2019 issue of Seattle Magazine.

This article appears in the June 2019 issue. Click here for a free subscription.

At $30.76 per hour, Seattles creative workers enjoy one of the highest median earnings rates in the country.

Creative workers include those in the arts, design, entertainment and media fields as well as software and web developers, computer programmers, photographers, writers, musicians and singers.

Seattle boasts more than 67,000 creative jobs, up 23% between 2012 and 2017 and significantly above the overall job-growth rate for the period of 15%, according to a study by the city of Seattle.

The report also found that female, African-American and Latino workers are underrepresented in the vast majority of creative occupations. Asians, as a group, are overrepresented in the software developers and applications field holding 46% of the jobs as of 2017 although they are underrepresented among photographers, writers and authors, musicians and singers, and public relations specialists.

The disparity varies greatly by occupation, the report notes.

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