Update: The Seattle Police Department statistics for CY2016 are complete. There were 169 reported rapes in Seattle in 2016, up from 108 in 2015. That’s an increase of 56.5%.

Last week, Amazon announced enormous pre-Trump hiring plans and it mentioned that it has now grown significantly to 40,000 employees in Washington State. One side effect of that is that for the first time, men in Washington outnumber women (as reported by The Seattle Times). In fact, in the 18 to 54 year old range, there are 76,755 more men than women in Washington State.

Seattle amazon rape increase

Washington poised to become one of 10 states where men outnumber women (Seattle Times)

As I wrote in You’ve Got Male, the 2010 U.S. census reported 144 single males per 100 single women in Bellevue, near Microsoft’s headquarters and 119 single males per 100 single women in metro Seattle, near Amazon’s headquarters. And as The Seattle Times report, that was before Amazon’s rapid growth:

“…since the start of this decade, something changed: Male population growth accelerated…”

Amazon’s headcount has grown by nearly 8x since 2010.

If you’re a straight single man thinking of coming to work for Amazon in Seattle, be prepared, the dating scene is very difficult. If you’re a straight single woman, be aware that the goods are plentiful but women often complain of the Amazon male type. Also, stay safe, there’s been an increase in reported druggings at Seattle bars and a spike in rape.

As of December 17th, 2016, there have been 163 rapes reported as compared to CY 2015’s 108 total, a 50.9% increase year over year (34% higher than CY2014). While Seattle authorities said that this is due to increased reporting, the increase is unique in major cities on the west coast as well as New York. Of course, population increase has had some impact on the numbers as well.

But it appears to me that the population growth of males from tech companies in Washington State likely has some role in the spike in rapes in Seattle in 2016.

Posted by Jeff Reifman

Jeff is a technology consultant based in the Pacific Northwest.

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