Active business licenses in Seattle and Puget Sound
BrokerHQ, a Seattle tenant-representation intelligence platform, monitors 40,491 active business licenses across Seattle and the Puget Sound region as of August 7, 2026, sourced from official business license records.
Updated August 7, 2026See how this is built
Seattle and Puget Sound, as of August 7, 2026
Expired, closed and revoked dropped
No list of individuals, per RCW 42.56.070(8)
How many active business licenses does BrokerHQ monitor?
BrokerHQ monitors 40,491 active business licenses across Seattle and the surrounding Puget Sound jurisdictions as of August 7, 2026. The set is refreshed as each issuing agency publishes new license data, so new filings and closures both move the number.
What counts as an active license?
Only licenses in an active status count. Expired, closed and revoked records are dropped rather than carried forward. That is the difference between a live occupier population and a stale directory, and it is why this count can fall as well as rise.
Why do business licenses matter to a tenant rep broker?
A new license is the earliest public trace of a business that will need space, and a lapsed one is the earliest trace of space about to come back. Licenses, registrations and inspections together produce the openings-and-turnover signal, which points at occupiers months before anything reaches a listing platform.
Does BrokerHQ publish lists of individual businesses or owners?
No. Washington's Public Records Act states that agencies may not "give, sell or provide access to lists of individuals requested for commercial purposes" under RCW 42.56.070(8), and the City of Seattle's open data terms carry the same restriction. BrokerHQ publishes aggregate counts on this site and does not expose any record set readily sorted as a list of individuals.
What corroborates a license before it becomes a signal?
A license on its own is one source. Before an openings-or-turnover signal surfaces, it needs a second independent source, which is usually a Washington Secretary of State registration, a King County food establishment inspection for food service tenants, or a permit pulled on the space. Uncertain matches are held back for review rather than guessed.
How often does the license data refresh?
The set is refreshed as each issuing agency publishes, which in practice means municipal and state license files are re-read on their own publication cycles and composite signals are recomputed nightly. Every data point carries a last-verified date, and corrections are acknowledged within 24 hours.
Which public records does this come from?
Every record below is published by the body that created it, and every link goes to that body rather than to a reseller. You can check any number on this page against them yourself.
- City of Seattle business license tax
Seattle business license records. The primary municipal source behind the count on this page.
- Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities
Business registrations used to corroborate a license before a turnover signal surfaces.
- King County food safety and inspections
Food establishment inspections, a reliable tenant-turnover tell in retail and food service space.
- SBA open data
SBA 7(a) and 504 loan records, read as a growth and borrowing signal for private companies.
- RCW 42.56.070, Washington Public Records Act
The statute restricting commercial access to lists of individuals, which is why this site publishes aggregates only.
How is the count actually built?
The primary source is official municipal and state business license records for Seattle and the surrounding Puget Sound jurisdictions. Only licenses in an active status count; expired, closed, and revoked records are dropped. The set is refreshed as each issuing agency publishes new license data, so new filings and closures move the number. Aggregate counts are published here; record sets readily sorted as a list of individuals are not.
Where to look next
- The full data map the eight signal families and what feeds each one.
- Public companies in the Puget Sound region the disclosure-driven half of the occupier picture.
- Methodology what BrokerHQ deliberately does not do with data.
Last updated August 7, 2026