Jobs & Economy in Kirkland
Kirkland's economy centers on Google's two real, current downtown-waterfront campuses -- the 6th Street Campus and the growing Kirkland Urban development -- a genuine, specifically downtown-sited tech-employer presence distinct from Bellevue's or Redmond's larger single-campus footprints.
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Learn moreGoogle's two real Kirkland campuses
Google's 6th Street Campus (777 6th Street South) and Kirkland Urban (425 Urban Plaza, eventually roughly 760,000 square feet across four buildings) sit directly on Kirkland's downtown Lake Washington waterfront -- a real, current employer presence, though a Kirkland-specific headcount was not independently confirmed this pass.
A real, King County-wide labor market
Kirkland shares King County's 4.9% June 2026 unemployment rate with Bellevue and Redmond -- no Kirkland-specific unemployment figure was independently available this pass, consistent with how this dataset treats county-wide labor data for closely adjacent Eastside cities.
Proximity to the broader Eastside job market
Kirkland's location between Bellevue and Redmond gives residents real, practical access to both cities' much larger employer bases (Amazon and T-Mobile US in Bellevue; Microsoft and Nintendo of America in Redmond) without requiring an in-city job specifically -- see bellevue-wa.js and redmond-wa.js for the fuller employer detail.
A genuinely walkable, downtown-centered local economy
Beyond Google, Kirkland's downtown supports a real, dense local restaurant, retail, and services economy along the waterfront -- a genuinely different, smaller-scale commercial character from Bellevue's or Redmond's larger corporate campuses.
Key takeaways
- Google's 6th Street Campus and Kirkland Urban development are real, current, downtown-waterfront-sited employers.
- Kirkland shares King County's 4.9% June 2026 unemployment rate with Bellevue and Redmond.
- Kirkland's location gives residents practical access to Bellevue's and Redmond's much larger employer bases.
- A real, dense local downtown restaurant/retail economy complements Kirkland's tech-employer presence.
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