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- The Evergreen State ranked No. 1 as the best state for nurses, according to a recent WalletHub study. WalletHub said it compared all 50 states using 21 metrics and Washington took home the top spot, edging Maine, New Mexico, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Oregon, respectively. Some of the criteria included highest salaries, most and fewest job openings per capita and most and fewest healthcare facilities. The article on WalletHub said the mean annual salary for nurses hovers around $80,000 nationally, and the profession boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Click here for the full story and report from WalletHub.
- Client Giant, an automated gifting service, named Seattle one of the 10 best cities in America to start a small business. The Emerald City was ranked No. 7 on the list, behind No. 1 San Francisco, Austin, Minneapolis, San Jose, Columbus and Nashville. Seattle edged No. 8 Boston, Portland and Denver on the list. The rankings were based on the number of small businesses in each city, the city’s economic growth and small business incentives from local government. The first week of May is National Small Business Week, prompting the report. Click here for the full report from Client Giant.
- A recent WalletHub study found that Washington state ranks 23rd in the country for drug use despite having the third-highest percentage of adult drug users. West Virginia topped the list of 51, ahead of the District of Columbia, Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Nevada. Oregon was ninth on the list, which was compiled using 21 metrics ranging from arrest and overdose rates to opioid prescriptions and employee drug-testing laws, according to WalletHub’s report. Vermont, Oregon and Washington ranked Nos. 1-3, respectively, with the highest percentage of adult drug users. Washington also claimed the No. 3 ranking, behind Oregon and Colorado, with the highest percentage of adults with unmet drug-treatment needs. The Evergreen State ranked 51st in the nation – the lowest possible – with the fewest people receiving substance abuse treatment per 1,000 drug users. Click here for the full report from WalletHub.
- Washington state saw the 14th-largest rent increase since 2019 among American states, according to a new report from Stessa. The Evergreen state’s median rent jumped from $1,571 in 2019 to $1,782 in 2022. Among U.S. small cities, Yakima ranked near the top with a 29.7 percent increase over that time span, good for fifth in the country. In the midsize category, the Spokane Valley area ranked ninth-highest an increase of 23.1 percent. The Portland area’s 19.4 percent increase was ninth-highest among large cities. Click here for the full Stessa report.
- Prices for rent increased in Tacoma over the past year at a steeper rate than nearly any other city in America, according to a rent.com report. The Pierce County city saw a 39.7 percent increase in rent year-over-year, the eighth-highest in the country. Tacoma trailed No. 1 Oklahoma City (133.3 percent), Austin (112.5), Long Beach, Calif. (50), Jersey City (49.6), Nashville (48.9), Huntington Beach, Calif. (46.4), and Garland, Texas (46.1). New York (39) and Little Rock, Ark. (36.8), rounded out the top 10. The average one-bedroom apartment is renting for $2,528 in Tacoma as of April, according to rent.com. New York tops the list with an average rental cost of $5,119. The second-highest is Jersey City, which checks in at $3,943. Click here for the full report from rent.com.
- The Evergreen State is the eighth-best state in America to be a police officer, according to a recent WalletHub study. WalletHub ranked all 50 states plus the District of Columbia using 30 key indicators, from median income for law-enforcement officers to police deaths per 1,000 officers to state and local police-protection expenses per capita. Connecticut ranked No. 1 in the country, ahead of California, Illinois, DC, Maryland, Massachusetts and Minnesota. Mississippi, West Virginia, Alaska, Hawaii and Arkansas ranked Nos. 47-51, respectively. Washington ranked second in the nation in median income, median income growth and road safety, and 16th in violent-crime rate.
- A recent study from autoinsurance.org found Seattle ranks No. 7 in the country for most expensive commutes. The average daily commute time in Seattle is 28 minutes, and the annual cost to drivers is $9,790, according to autoinsurance.org. The coasts dominated the top 10, with Fremont and San Francisco in California registering the most expensive commutes in the country. Fremont’s annual commute is 36.4 minutes and costs $15,005, while San Francisco’s is 34.7 minutes and costs $13,015. Jersey City ranks third, following by Arlington, Va., New York, San Jose, Seattle, Irvine, Calif., Oakland and Chicago. The least expensive commute belongs to Lubbock, Texas, according to the study, followed by Laredo, Texas. Lubbock’s average daily commute is 16.2 minutes and costs $2,874 annually. Click here for the full report.
- With college graduations across the country nearing, WalletHub conducted a study to find out which cities are the best to start a career. Seattle ranked No. 5 in the country thanks in part to the lowest unemployment rate in America. The Emerald City boasts the second-highest percentage of adults 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree. The study found Seattle ranked 11th in percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated. Other criteria included projected population growth, starting salary (adjusted for cost of living), entry-level jobs per 100,000 working-age people and annual job-growth rate. Salt Lake City took home the top spot in the study, followed by Orlando, Atlanta and Austin. Boise, Miami, Tampa, Portland, ME, and Columbia, SC., rounded out the top 10. According to WalletHub, employers are planning to hire 31.6 percent more graduates from the class of 2022 than they did from the class of 2021. Click here for the full study results.
- SmartAsset analyzed 322 of the largest cities in the United States to determine the fastest-rising housing markets, and two Puget Sound cities ranked in the top 25. Everett claimed the No. 3 slot, while Bellevue took home No. 25. SmartAsset, a personal finance company, used three metrics: home value growth, income growth and housing demand (the difference between population growth and housing unit growth). The following blurb about Everett was written by SmartAsset in the report: Everett, Washington is located 25 miles north of Seattle and ranks in the top 10% of cities for all three metrics we considered. Everett had the 26th-largest median household income growth between 2016 and 2020, rising 29.63%. The city also saw its median home value rise 48.60% during that time (28th-highest overall). Meanwhile, the city had the 30th-highest housing demand across our study, as its population grew 3.20% faster than the number of new housing units. Six of the top nine cities are in California. Click here for the full report.
- A new WalletHub study found Washington state is the No. 1 state in the country for millennials. The personal-finance website compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia using 34 key metrics, including share of millennials, millennial unemployment rate and millennial voter-turnout rate. Washington state ranked fourth in percentage of millennials and average monthly earnings for millennials. The Evergreen state ranks ninth in percentage of millennials living with parents, 17th in percentage of insured millennials and 19th in millennial unemployment rate. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Utah, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, Virginia and Colorado rounded out the top 10, respectively. Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, West Virginia and Mississippi ranked Nos. 47-51, respectively. Click here for the full report from WalletHub.
- Zillow ranked the city of Woodinville as the country’s “most popular” housing market for the early part of 2022. The ranking is based on Zillow page views, home prices and other metrics. Another Washington city made the list, too: Edmonds ranked No. 5. Suburban cities in other states, from California to Florida, rounded out the top 10. All of the top cities are about a half-hour from a city center, helping to “paint a picture of how remote work has changed the U.S. housing landscape,” wrote Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud. Interest in the suburbs – whether for more space or lower prices – has been a driving force in the local housing market since the start of the pandemic, with some areas outside of Seattle seeing home prices jump 20% to 30% in one year according to the Seattle Times.
- Seattle ranked No. 7 in the country among the best cities to raise a family, according to a recent WalletHub study. Nearly 32 percent of people who moved last year said they did so to be closer to family, according to WalletHub. The personal-finance site said the average American moves 11.7 times in their lifetime. For the study, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities using 46 key metrics, including housing affordability, quality of school systems, the percentage of fully-vaccinated residents and more. Fremont, Calif., took home the No. 1 slot, followed by Overland Park, Kansas, Irvine, Calif., Plano, Texas, Columbia, Md., and San Diego. Detroit claimed the 182nd and final spot. Click here for the full report from WalletHub.