U.S. Department of Commerce
and U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development Joint Release IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1997 Public Information Office CB97-H.23 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TTD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Ed Montfort 301-763-8551 Twenty-eight Percent of Seattle-Everett Metro Area's Households Give High Marks to Their Neighborhood, Census Bureau Report Says About 28 percent of households in the Seattle-Everett,WA Metropolitan Area rated their neighborhood a perfect 10 and a comparable proportion said their home was "the best place to live," according to a report released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In the report, American Housing Survey for the Seattle-Everett Metropolitan Area in 1996, H170/96-60, respondents were asked to rate their neighborhood and their house or apartment as a place to live based on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the best and 1 is the worst. Of the households in these neighborhoods, 8 percent reported problems with crime, 12 percent reported problems with traffic, and 4 percent experienced problems with litter or housing deterioration. Other findings about the Seattle-Everett,WA Metropolitan Area: - The area had 965,300 housing units in 1996, of which 902,400 were occupied (62 percent by owners and 38 percent by renters). - Single-family homes, at 67 percent of all occupied units, represented the predominant housing type in the area. - The median age of homes in Seattle city was 45 years, compared with 20 years for the remaining area. - Homes in the area had a median of 2.6 bedrooms. - Occupied homes in the area had a median of 2.2 persons per unit and a median of 5.7 rooms per unit. - The median monthly housing costs for owners was $897 and for renters was $630. Monthly housing costs include mortgage payments or contract rent, utilities, fuels, insurance, real estate taxes (for owners), and other housing-related expenditures. - Monthly housing costs that were $1,000 or more accounted for 44 percent of the owners and 11 percent of the renters. - The median household income for area homeowners was $54,800, compared with $28,200 for renters. - Owners had monthly housing costs that represented a median of 21 percent of their current income, compared with 28 percent for renters. - Median value of homeowners' residences in 1996 was $164,600. - Of the 36,400 owner-occupied homes built or purchased during the last four years, 91 percent cost $100,000 or more; 30 percent of the owners of new homes used savings or cash-on-hand for their down payment. Data in the report are shown separately for units with African American and Hispanic householders. Since data in the report are from a survey, they are subject to sampling variability.-X-The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In over 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
