Burien is a medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 31,744 people and five constituent neighborhoods, Burien is the 29th largest community in Washington.

Unlike some cities, Burien isn't mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Burien are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Burien is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Burien who work in office and administrative support jobs (17.36%), sales jobs (10.57%), and management occupations (8.15%).

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

In addition, Burien is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates." Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Burien 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.

Burien Information and Demographics

The percentage of people in Burien who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 14.96%: 21.24% of adults in Burien have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Burien in 2000 was $23,737, which is upper middle income relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $94,948 for a family of four.

Burien is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Burien home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Burien is White, followed by Asian. Burien also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.77% of the city's residents. Important ancestries of people in Burien include German, English, Irish, Norwegian, Italian, and Swedish.

In addition, Burien has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (15.25%).

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