Business survey: 47% of respondents considered moving out of Seattle. What the numbers show, and what's on the Council's table

Nearly half of the businesses that answered a new survey said they had seriously considered moving operations, jobs or investment out of Seattle in the past year, KIRO 7 reported Thursday. The 2026 Business Climate Survey was released this week by the Seattle Metro Chamber and the Downtown Seattle Association.

The findings are landing in the middle of the City Council's budget work, and two of the survey's top requests, more police officers and more use of police cameras, are among the proposals the Council's budget committee discusses Thursday.

What the survey found

According to the Chamber's release and KIRO 7:

• 247 businesses and organizations responded. The survey ran in August and September.
• Respondents gave Seattle's business climate an average score of 39 out of 100, and the city's responsiveness to business needs 26.
• 47 percent said they had seriously considered moving operations, jobs or investment out of the city in the past year. Fewer said they expect to act: 19 percent expect to shrink in Seattle and 9 percent expect to leave entirely, while 17 percent plan to grow.
• Public safety and taxes and fees were each cited by 64 percent as top challenges, followed by homelessness and behavioral health (61 percent) and labor costs (59 percent).
• 89 percent want the city to hire more police officers and stabilize SPD leadership, and 84 percent want closed-circuit cameras and the Real Time Crime Center used in commercial districts and downtown, KIRO 7 reported.

Read it with care. The report itself says respondents chose to take part, so the results reflect the businesses that answered, not a random sample. The number of businesses invited is not known, and the number answering each question varied, KIRO 7 noted.

The Chamber's chief executive called the results "a wake-up call" and "a roadmap," KIRO 7 reported. We found no public response from the mayor's office or councilmembers in coverage so far.

What our records add: what's on the table

Police hiring and cameras. Thursday's police packet for the Select Budget Committee includes Robert Kettle's plan to keep hiring 12 recruits a month, adding 92 officers above the mayor's plan, and three different camera proposals. We broke those down in Kettle's police hiring plan and Three Council budget proposals on police cameras.

Taxes. The city's last major business tax change, CB 121028, sent a business and occupation tax overhaul to voters in 2025. It passed the Council 9-0 at the Aug. 4, 2025 meeting, sponsored by Alexis Mercedes Rinck. A draft ordinance in Thursday's Legislative Department packet says those changes generated additional tax revenue. Thursday's budget office packet also includes CBO-100S-A from Eddie Lin, which asks for a study of B&O tax deductions for businesses that hire at-risk youth, people leaving incarceration and people exiting homelessness.

Enforcement. Kettle's MO-001S-A, in the Mayor's Office packet, asks the mayor to report on how departments enforce non-safety city rules and to consider a new office to handle enforcement, with options due Aug. 2, 2027.

What's next

• Thursday, Oct. 29: police, CARE and Human Services proposals at the Select Budget Committee.
• Nov. 4: Budget Chair Dan Strauss's balancing package. Nov. 5: public hearing, the next chance for businesses and residents to weigh in (meeting page).