Situated on 31 miles of rolling hills between Lake Washington on the west and Lake Sammamish on the east, Bellevue is located in the center of the Puget Sound region, and ideally situated 8 miles east of metropolitan Seattle. The city offers breathtaking views of romantic sunsets on the water and snow-capped mountains to the east and west. The second largest city in King County and the fifth largest in the state, Bellevue has 118,100 residents and 138,500 jobs.
Many cities claim to be great places to live and work, but Bellevue lives up to those claims. In fact, Fortune Small Business magazine recently named Bellevue the best place in the country to live and launch a business and Washington CEO magazine named Bellevue 2008 City of the Year. Bellevue’s diverse community of civic-minded people live and work together to maintain the vitality of their community and the integrity of its environment.
Bellevue businesses and residents benefit from a progressive, forward-thinking community that features excellent amenities including an award-winning education system, a growing arts community and a varied and lively downtown.
Bellevue residents are highly satisfied with city priorities, services, and amenities. A recent survey shows that 95% of residents rate Bellevue as an excellent or good place to live. The city’s abundant amenities, excellent parks, well-regarded schools, convenient location, and safe, high-quality neighborhoods are the qualities residents most frequently cite as reasons for rating life in Bellevue so highly. According to the 2006 American Community Survey, a demographic profile of Bellevue reveals:
- A very highly educated adult population, with a large proportion of residents employed in management/professional jobs
- An ethnically and racially diverse population
Educational attainment continues to be a primary factor influencing the quality of life in Bellevue. The percentage of the population in Bellevue with higher education degrees is consistently higher than that of neighboring Seattle, as well as nationwide.
Salaries and employment opportunities make Bellevue a welcome place to work and live. Bellevue’s median and average household incomes are higher than median and average incomes for King County and the nation as a whole. The 2006 American Community Survey estimated Bellevue’s median household income at $76,757 and average household income at $102,531.