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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Downtown Seattle averaged nearly 95,000 daily workers in January 2025, up 9% from January 2024 but still at 57% of its January 2019 level, according to Downtown Seattle Association data reported by GeekWire. The increase coincided with Amazon’s move to five in-office days per week at the start of 2025; the figures do not show how much of the change the policy caused.
What changed in downtown Seattle in January 2025?
The Downtown Seattle Association’s dashboard showed nearly 95,000 average daily workers in the downtown core in January 2025. GeekWire reported that this was 9% higher than January 2024, but only 57% of the January 2019 average. Those comparisons describe a rebound from the prior year alongside a substantial gap from the pre-pandemic benchmark.
Amazon’s policy shift began at the start of January. GeekWire reported that roughly 50,000 Seattle-based corporate and tech workers were covered by the change from three in-office days per week to five. The timing makes Amazon’s return relevant to the increase, but does not establish that it was the sole cause.
How did traffic change near Amazon’s headquarters?
South Lake Union and Denny Regrade, the area containing Amazon’s headquarters campus, are a narrower geography than downtown Seattle overall. In those neighborhoods, January 2025 averaged nearly 46,000 weekday workers, about 74% of the January 2019 figure, according to the data GeekWire reported.
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Within that area, Monday-and-Friday worker foot traffic was 22% above the previous month and 36% above January 2024. These are separate comparisons from the downtown-core figures: they concern specific weekdays near Amazon’s headquarters, rather than the overall downtown daily average.
Does the increase prove Amazon’s policy caused it?
No. The reported traffic increase and Amazon’s five-day policy happened at the same time, but the published figures do not isolate the policy’s effect. Seasonality, activity by other employers, events, and other changes in downtown could also influence the totals. The sources provide no causal estimate of how many additional workers were present because of Amazon’s requirement.
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Seattle officials described office attendance as part of a wider downtown recovery effort. Markham McIntyre, director of the city’s Office of Economic Development, told GeekWire that Amazon’s return had generally meant more people downtown, while the city watched how the policy played out. Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes described office workers as one ingredient in revitalization, alongside drawing residents, local visitors, and out-of-town guests.
How are the worker counts measured?
GeekWire reported that the Downtown Seattle Association’s foot-traffic data came from Placer.ai cellphone location data, with each person counted once per day. DSA’s dashboard says its office-worker presence estimate uses weekday visits between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The counts are therefore estimates based on location data and dashboard definitions, not a direct census of every employee.
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DSA also describes classification rules that affect who appears in its measures:
- People who have not visited their work site in the previous 90 days are counted as visitors until they regularly visit at least three times in one week.
- The domestic visitor measure excludes people who live or work downtown.
- International visitors are excluded from foot-traffic data.
These definitions matter when interpreting a daily average: the dashboard measures detected presence under its rules, not simply the number of workers employed downtown.
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How should later dashboard figures be compared?
DSA’s dashboard page labeled September 2026 reports August data: nearly 150,000 average daily workers, or 62% of the August 2019 average. That is a different month and a different year-over-year-to-pandemic-baseline comparison from January 2025. It should not be treated as a direct update to the January figures without keeping the dates and denominators clear.
Scholes told GeekWire he hoped returning workers would again make use of downtown’s restaurants, arts, events, and other attractions. That civic goal is broader than office attendance: higher worker counts alone do not establish the full health of downtown businesses or the wider local economy.
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