Just across Lake Washington from Seattle, Bellevue has grown from a suburb into a downtown of glass towers with a real skyline. It calls itself the City in a Park, and that is fair. Downtown Park, Meydenbauer Bay, Mercer Slough and the Botanical Garden are all a short walk or drive from the offices and shops at Bellevue Square. Snowflake Lane, a nightly holiday show in late November and December, is a local favorite.
About 154,000 people live here, and the community is strongly international, with Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Telugu and Korean all common. It is safe by big-city standards, with low violent crime, although car break-ins in garages and trailheads are the main problem. It is also very expensive. Housing costs are far above the national average, though prices have cooled slightly. Expect a long rainy season from October to April, wind storms that knock out power, smoke in late summer, and earthquake risk for the whole region.
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- Known as
- The City in a Park; Seattle's Eastside hub
- Founded
- 1869 first settled; 1953 incorporated
- Languages
- English; Mandarin; Cantonese; Hindi; Telugu; Korean; Russian; Spanish
- Airports
- Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) about 20 miles / 30-40 min drive, Link light rail to downtown Seattle then Bellevue; Boeing Field (BFI) general aviation about 12 miles; Paine Field (PAE) about 30 miles
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20% for table service; bars $1-2 per drink or 15-20%; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-3 per bag; delivery 15-20%; counter service optional
About this data
Population from Census July 2025 estimate (154,193); metro is the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA, 2024 estimate 4,145,494, and Bellevue is a secondary city in it; area and elevation from Wikipedia; home price from Redfin Aug 2026; median home value and rent from Census ACS 2020-2024; crime from FBI-based aggregator (2019-2024 average), unreliable in absolute terms. Hotel rates, cost of living index, rent range and 1869 settlement year are approximate and not verified by live search; tipping norms are general US practice
