Chart

King County counted 379 deaths at subsidized housing sites in 2025, countywide only

Horizontal bar chart of 379 deaths the King County Medical Examiner investigated in 2025 among people living at housing service sites: accident (not traffic) 200, natural 164, suicide 8, homicide 3, traffic 3, undetermined 1. Natural deaths are highlighted.
In 2025 the King County Medical Examiner investigated 379 deaths of people living at housing service sites, a group that mixes supportive, income-restricted and recovery housing. 200 were accidents other than traffic and 164 were natural deaths, which are undercounted because the Medical Examiner does not investigate them all. The county publishes this only as a countywide total, with no count by building or provider.

Deaths the King County Medical Examiner investigated in 2025 among people living at housing service sites (supportive, income-restricted and recovery housing), by manner of death. The county publishes this only as a countywide total, with no count by building or provider.

Credit: FactHub Research Team; data from King County Medical Examiner's Office dashboard, read November 7, 2026

Where this chart is used

What this chart asks

How many deaths did the King County Medical Examiner investigate in 2025 among people living at subsidized housing sites, and by what manner?

Why it is shown this way

  • Horizontal bars rank the manners of death and keep the labels readable.
  • Natural deaths are highlighted because they are the ones most likely undercounted: the Medical Examiner does not investigate all of them.
  • The title states the total and that it is countywide only, which is the point of the article this chart supports.

Data and accessibility

The chart's data and images are in the strip under it.

Dataset kcme-housing-site-deaths, analysis deaths-by-manner-2025

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Deaths the King County Medical Examiner investigated at housing service sites, 2025, by manner of death

  1. King County Medical Examiner's Office, KCMEO Annual Report dashboard: Characteristics of Deaths Investigated by KCMEO (last updated October 29, 2026) 2025 deaths at housing service sites by manner of death (Decedent Characteristics tab, PresumedLivingSituation = Housing service site)

    Retrieved November 7, 2026. Public government data. Counts are public government statistics; FactHub redistributes the counts it read.

    Reliability: Government. The county Medical Examiner's own public dashboard of the deaths it investigates; its notes say the deaths are not representative of all county deaths and that it does not take all natural deaths.

  2. Public Health - Seattle & King County, Methods Report: Documentation and Analysis of Fatal Overdose Data Definition of the housing service site category

    Retrieved November 7, 2026. Public government document. Linked; FactHub repeats only the definition it read.

    Reliability: Government. The county health department's description of how its death data assign a presumed living situation; it defines housing service site as permanent supportive housing, income-restricted units and recovery housing.

Limitations

  • Only deaths the Medical Examiner investigated, about 1 in 5 county deaths; natural deaths are undercounted.
  • Housing service site mixes permanent supportive housing with income-restricted and recovery housing.
  • Countywide only: no count by building, provider or city is published.
  • No count of residents is published, so no death rate can be computed.
Where this chart is used: version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this chart each cites.

  • Article king-county-housing-deaths-not-published — version 7 (published) cites version 1

Node: chart:kcme-housing-site-deaths-2025