Nearly half of Seattle businesses that answered a new survey question say they seriously considered moving operations, jobs or investment out of the city in the past year — and they score Seattle's overall business climate at just 39 out of 100, according to the 2026 Business Climate Survey released this week by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Seattle Association.
The survey gathered responses from 247 Seattle businesses and organizations in late summer 2026, with response counts varying by question. Of the 197 respondents who answered the relocation question, 92 — about 47 per cent — said they had seriously considered moving. Fifty-six per cent said the business climate has worsened in the past year, 61 per cent are pessimistic about the next 12 months, and 72 per cent disagreed that Seattle is competitive with comparable locations on taxes, fees and the cost of complying with government policies combined.
Source: Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, 2026 Business Climate Survey
Safety and taxes tie at the top of the worry list
Asked to name their most pressing challenges, respondents put public safety and taxes and fees in a tie at the top, each selected by 64 per cent. Homelessness and behavioural health conditions followed at 61 per cent, and labour costs at 59 per cent. Among businesses that had considered leaving, public safety and taxes or fees were again the leading reasons, each cited by 59 per cent of those answering the follow-up question, with labour costs at 44 per cent.
Views of safety around their own premises were mixed: 40 per cent said the area around their business felt safe always or most of the time, 42 per cent said it depended, and 18 per cent said it usually or never felt safe. Support for action was broad — in the survey's policy questions, 91 per cent of 194 respondents backed a city review of tax and fee impacts on the climate and job market, 89 per cent supported hiring more police, and 84 per cent supported targeted public safety in commercial districts and downtown, including surveillance cameras.
What businesses say would keep them in Seattle
Asked what would encourage them to stay, expand or invest over the long term, 70 per cent chose improved public safety, 56 per cent a stronger downtown recovery, 43 per cent more predictable taxes and fees, and 41 per cent additional support for small businesses. Looking ahead one year, 9 per cent of respondents expected to relocate outside the city and 19 per cent expected to shrink, while about 49 per cent expected their operations to stay about the same.
Source: KVI Seattle, survey report, Oct. 28, 2026
'Businesses are telling us very clearly what they need to succeed: safer neighborhoods and commercial districts, greater predictability around taxes and fees, and a city that recognizes that a strong business environment is fundamental to jobs, investment and opportunity,' said Seattle Metro Chamber President and CEO Joe Nguyễn. Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes said businesses want to invest in the city, but conditions have to give them confidence — safe and welcoming streets, a vibrant downtown, a competitive business environment and sustained public-private partnership.
This is a voluntary survey of Chamber and Downtown Seattle Association contacts, not a random sample of all Seattle businesses, and the number answering each question varies. Considering a move is also not the same as making one: only 9 per cent said they actually expect to relocate in the coming year. The survey is best read as a measure of confidence among engaged employers — and on that measure, the signal is sharply negative.
The wider Washington picture
The Seattle results echo a statewide pattern. The Association of Washington Business's spring 2026 survey found 24 per cent of employers considering moving their businesses out of Washington, up from 17 per cent the previous quarter and 9 per cent a year earlier, in a poll of 407 business owners and operators conducted April 8–22. A separate Chamber survey released October 13 also put public safety at the top of Seattle residents' concerns.
The findings land as Mayor Katie Wilson's administration works on the city's economic direction — Chamber chief Nguyễn sits on the mayor's recently announced economic task force — and as state voters weigh tax questions on Tuesday's ballot, including a measure that would repeal the state's new 9.9 per cent tax on individual income above $1 million, scheduled to start in 2028.
Why it matters here — and what happens next
For the Punjabi and wider South Asian business community across the Seattle–Tacoma corridor — truckers running I-5, and the restaurant, retail, fuel and logistics owners of Kent, Auburn, Tukwila and SeaTac — the survey frames the costs and safety questions that decide whether small operators expand in the city or shift investment to suburbs and other states. What happens next is political as much as economic: the survey's backers say they want it read as a roadmap for City Hall on safety staffing, downtown recovery and tax predictability, and the mayor's economic task force is the first place that argument will be tested.