According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest biannual housing survey, 53% of homes in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties had air conditioning in 2

Seattle is now an air conditioning town

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2024-05-16 05:30:03

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest biannual housing survey, 53% of homes in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties had air conditioning in 2021, up from 44% in 2019.

Surveyors collected this information during the summer that a record-shattering heat wave killed hundreds around the Northwest. The heat was especially deadly for people living outdoors or in buildings without access to conditioned air.

More than 90% of American homes have artificial cooling. But in temperate, maritime Seattle, air conditioning has been the exception, not the rule, until recently.

Before Kim Virant, of Shoreline, got air conditioning, she took pride in not having it. She said her tipping point was the 2021 heat dome, when she and her dog had to flee their unlivable apartment.

“I’m relieved and thankful to have the A/C but also bummed out that you have to get it and that things have changed,” Virant said. “After that 2021 [heat wave], it was that realization that it's never going to be what it was before."