Shoreline, Washington
City
Shoreline City Hall
Location of Shoreline, Washington
Coordinates: 47°45′23″N 122°20′23″W / 47.75639°N 122.33972°W / 47.75639; -122.33972
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	King
City	August 31, 1995
Government
• Type	Council–manager
• Mayor	Keith Scully[1]
• Manager	Bristol S. Ellington
Area [2]
• Total	12.44 sq mi (32.21 km2)
• Land	11.63 sq mi (30.13 km2)
• Water	0.80 sq mi (2.08 km2)
Elevation	476 ft (145 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	58,608
• Estimate  (2023)[4]	61,353
• Rank	US: 683rd WA: 22nd
• Density	4,901.33/sq mi (1,892.46/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	98133, 98155, 98177
Area code	206
FIPS code	53-63960
GNIS feature ID	1699810[5]
Website	www.shorelinewa.gov

Shoreline is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is located between the city limits of Seattle and the Snohomish County border, approximately 9 miles (14 km) north of Downtown Seattle. As of the 2020 census, the population of Shoreline was 58,608,^[3] making it the 22nd largest city in the state. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Shoreline ranks 91st of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.

Shoreline began in 1890 with the platting of the neighborhood of Richmond Beach, on Puget Sound, in anticipation of the arrival of the Great Northern Railway the next year. Over the next two decades, Shoreline was connected to Seattle via the Seattle–Everett Interurban streetcar line (1906) and North Trunk Road (now Aurora Avenue N., State Route 99) (1913), helping to increase its population.

The name "Shoreline" was applied to this stretch of unincorporated King County in 1944 when it was given to the school district, since the school district boundaries stretched from "Shore to Shore" (Puget Sound to Lake Washington) and "Line to Line" (the old Seattle city limit of 85th St to the Snohomish County Line).^[6] Though the modern borders of the city do not stretch to Lake Washington, the area has kept the "Shoreline" name. From 1950 to 1957, it was the fastest-growing area in the Seattle metropolitan area, with a 64 percent population increase.^[7]

After the incorporation of Lake Forest Park in 1961, the remainder of the Shoreline School District remained an unincorporated portion of King County. The school district remained the main identifier for the area for several decades; a set of welcome signs were installed in 1983 by the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce bearing the name.^[8] The City of Seattle began studying an annexation of the area in 1988, causing local residents to organize an incorporation measure to retain their separate school system.^[9] A half-century after it had been named, on August 31, 1995, Shoreline was officially incorporated as a code city, and it adopted the council–manager form of government.

Shoreline contracts with the King County Sheriff's Office for police services. Deputies assigned to Shoreline wear city uniforms and drive patrol cars marked with the city logo. As of 2012, there are 52 full-time employees assigned to the Shoreline Police Department.^[10] The Shoreline Police Department has a burglary/larceny unit, traffic unit, and a street crimes unit.^[11]

Shoreline is located at 47°45′23″N 122°20′23″W / 47.75639°N 122.33972°W / 47.75639; -122.33972 (47.756519, -122.339657).^[12]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.70 square miles (30.30 km²), of which, 11.67 square miles (30.23 km²) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km²) is water.^[13] The city of Shoreline also contains a gated community, The Highlands, which manages its utilities separately from Shoreline. The Richmond Beach neighborhood occupies the northwest corner of the city, around 47°46′10″N 122°23′24″W / 47.7695415°N 122.3901313°W / 47.7695415; -122.3901313.^[14][15]

Shoreline's 25 parks hold a total of 330 acres (130 ha) of park land. Boeing Creek and Shoreview Park, which abuts Shoreline Community College, contains Boeing Creek, flowing on its way to Hidden Lake and Puget Sound. Echo Lake is located within city limits, and contains Echo Lake Park.

As of the 2010 census,^[17] there were 53,007 people, 21,561 households, and 13,168 families living in the city. The population density was 4,542.2 inhabitants per square mile (1,753.8/km²). There were 22,787 housing units at an average density of 1,952.6 per square mile (753.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.4% White, 5.0% African American, 0.8% Native American, 15.2% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 2.2% from other races, and 5.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.6% of the population.

There were 21,561 households, of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.9% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.96.

The median age in the city was 42.1 years. 19.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.7% were from 25 to 44; 30.9% were from 45 to 64; and 15.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

As of the 2000 census, there were 53,025 people, 20,716 households, and 13,486 families living in the city. The population density was 4,546.0/sq mi (1,755.2/km²). There were 21,338 housing units at an average density of 1,829.4/sq mi (706.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.99% White, 2.77% African American, 0.91% Native American, 13.23% Asian, 0.32% Pacific Islander, 1.51% from other races, and 4.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.87% of the population.

There were 20,716 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $51,658, and the median income for a family was $61,450. Males had a median income of $40,955 versus $33,165 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,959. About 4.4% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

As a close-in suburb of Seattle, Shoreline's politics lean to the left. In recent years, its voting habits - as well as those of neighboring Lake Forest Park - have become even more similar to those of Seattle, overwhelmingly in support of Democratic politicians.

Shoreline is divided into 14 neighborhoods, according to the city government's designation.^[19] The neighborhood boundaries have been laid out more-or-less rectangularly according to street maps, rather than following socioeconomic or natural boundaries.

The city maintains a council of neighborhoods, with the intent of bringing together community leaders from each of the neighborhoods for discussions and coordination of city programs that affect the neighborhoods.^[20]

If its offer to annex Point Wells is accepted by the developer, Shoreline will extend into south Snohomish County.^[21] As of 2020, The Shoreline city government and Woodway government have discussed plans for subarea policies and development regulations in the event of annexation of Point Wells by either Shoreline or Woodway. The governments of both of the urban areas have taken steps to update their plans in accordance to their joint committee.^[22]

The City of Shoreline has designated the following landmarks:

In addition, the city designates the following "community landmark":

Landmark	Built	Listed	Address	Photo
Ronald Grade School[23]	1912	1995	749 N 175th Street

Companies and organizations based in Shoreline include Crista Ministries.

• Hamlin Park
• Kruckeberg Botanic Garden
• Boeing Creek and Shoreview Park
• Shoreline Community College
• Echo Lake

• Boryeong, South Chungcheong, South Korea (since 2002)^[24][25]

• Shoreline School District^[26]
  • Shorecrest High School
  • Shorewood High School
  • Some of the schools, including Kellogg Middle School participate in an exchange student program with junior high students from Nichinan, in Tottori Prefecture of Japan.

A third high school, Shoreline High School, closed in June 1986 due to a decline in enrollment; its 1,000 students were divided between Shorecrest and Shorewood.^[27] The campus was retained by the school district for use as their headquarters and later became the Spartan Campus, which includes a public gymnasium, theater, and stadium.^[28]

• King's Schools
• Shoreline Christian School
• The Evergreen School

• Shoreline Community College

Shoreline is bisected by two major north–south highways: Interstate 5, the main inter-city freeway in Western Washington; and State Route 99 (Aurora Avenue), which travels south to Seattle and north to Everett. State Route 523 (145th Street) forms the southern boundary of the city and connects Interstate 5, State Route 99, and State Route 522 (Lake City Way).^[29] The Interurban Trail runs along State Route 99 and follows the route of the former Seattle–Everett interurban railway.^[30] It was constructed in the 2000s to connect Seattle with Everett and was completed within Shoreline in September 2007.^[31][32]

The city has two Link light rail stations near Interstate 5 that are served by Sound Transit's 1 Line: Shoreline South/148th station near the State Route 523 interchange; and Shoreline North/185th station near North City. Both stations have park-and-ride garages with a combined 1,000 stalls and will become termini for bus rapid transit lines.^[28][33] The county's King County Metro provides local and commuter bus service within Shoreline, which includes the RapidRide E Line on Aurora Avenue.^[34][35] It debuted one of its first paratransit vans in the then-unincorporated area in 1979 to address a need for east–west connections.^[36]

Shoreline began a bicycle-sharing and scooter-sharing pilot in August 2024 with Lime.^[30][37]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shoreline, Washington.

• Official website