Kirkland is a medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 44,986 people and eight constituent neighborhoods, Kirkland is the 16th largest community in Washington.

Kirkland is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 86.99% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Kirkland is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Kirkland who work in management occupations (15.29%), office and administrative support jobs (14.74%), and sales jobs (13.21%).

Also of interest is that Kirkland has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Kirkland, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

In addition to being popular with young singles, Kirkland is also home to many people who can be described as "urban sophisticates," which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Kirkland are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

Kirkland Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, Kirkland is a pretty powerful place. 47.40% of the adults in Kirkland have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 14.96% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Kirkland in 2000 was $38,903, which is wealthy relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $155,612 for a family of four. However, Kirkland contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Kirkland is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Kirkland home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Kirkland is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Kirkland include German, English, Irish, Norwegian, Italian, Swedish, Scottish, and French.

The most common language spoken in Kirkland is English. Some people also speak Spanish.