Federal Way is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 97,701 people and 22 associated neighborhoods, Federal Way is the tenth largest community in Washington. Housing costs in Federal Way are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Washington.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Federal Way is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Federal Way is a city of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Federal Way who work in office and administrative support (10.46%), management occupations (10.21%), and sales jobs (8.80%). Also of interest is that Federal Way has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.49% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Federal Way is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery. One downside of living in Federal Way, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 32.34 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead. Like elsewhere in America, most people in Federal Way use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Federal Way‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the bus. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.The overall education level of Federal Way citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 31.07% of adults in Federal Way have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%. The per capita income in Federal Way in 2022 was $39,547, which is middle income relative to Washington, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $158,188 for a family of four. However, Federal Way contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Federal Way is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Federal Way home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Federal Way residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Federal Way also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 19.04% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Federal Way include German, English, Irish, Norwegian, and Italian. Federal Way also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 29.08%. The most common language spoken in Federal Way is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Korean.
