How we count.
When a number on our site has a footnote, this page explains it: what it measures, where it comes from, and how to read it.
The numbers
25+ years
How long the WDC has been Seattle–King County’s workforce development board.
- Where it comes from
- We became the region’s workforce development board in 2000. The work itself goes back further, to regional workforce programs in the 1970s, but every figure on this page starts in 2000.
- How to read it
- It sets the time frame for the two counts below.
500,000+ job seekers connected to work
People who used the WorkSource system in King County since 2000, from a single workshop to a full training program.
- Where it comes from
- Washington’s statewide workforce records, kept in the state’s case management system (today called WAWorks, earlier Efforts to Outcomes). We count everyone recorded in King County since 2000. Each person is counted once across the whole period, no matter how many times they came back.
- How to read it
- This is reach: how many people the system touched. It’s an undercount. In a few years when the state was switching databases, usable records don’t exist, and we count those years as zero instead of estimating them. Over 25 years the records were also kept under three federal programs that defined “served” differently. Rounded down.
75,000+ coached one-to-one
Of those 500,000 people, the ones who got individualized help: career planning, case management, and support through training.
- Where it comes from
- The same state records. It counts people enrolled in the federal Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth programs, today funded under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
- How to read it
- These people are part of the 500,000, not in addition to it. It’s an undercount: programs the state database doesn’t track aren’t included, and neither are the database transition years. Rounded down.
14,000+ employers connected
King County businesses that used a workforce service since 2000: hiring help, training partnerships, layoff support, or programs for their current employees.
- Where it comes from
- Business services and layoff support (Rapid Response) recorded in the same state records.
- How to read it
- Each business is counted once, not each worksite. It’s an undercount for the same reason as the job seeker count: the database transition years count as zero. Rounded down.
$180 million+ in increased annual earnings since 2021
How much more participants were earning per year when they finished a program than when they started, added up across everyone.
- Where it comes from
- 6,387 enrollments in WDC-funded programs, including the partner programs we fund, in program years 2021–2025 (July 2021–June 2026). It includes every enrollment with earnings recorded at both the start and the finish. Earlier records don’t include enough wage detail to compare, so the total starts in 2021.
- How to read it
- Each person’s own change is added up. It is not an average multiplied by a headcount. Earnings are self-reported and count paychecks only, not benefits or other support. People whose earnings didn’t change count as zero. The total is not adjusted for inflation and is rounded down.
What these numbers don’t tell you
- Being counted means someone received a service, not that they got a job.
- Many things shape a person’s career. We don’t claim our programs caused every result.
- Most services are delivered by the community organizations we fund. These numbers describe that whole system, not WDC staff alone.
Questions about a number?
We’re glad to walk through how any figure was calculated. Contact us
We update this page once a year. Figures last updated October 2026. Questions go to Jeremy Warren, Director of Impact.