King County subsidized housing deaths rose 23% since 2021, all in accidents

What this chart asks

Are more people dying at King County's subsidized housing sites than in 2021, and of what?

Why it is shown this way

• Stacked bars from zero show each year's total and what it is made of.
• Three colored series let readers see that accidents other than traffic, mostly overdoses, grew while natural deaths stayed flat.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

2023 peak: 487

2023

Why this is marked: Shows the trend has fallen since its peak, so readers don't read a steady climb.

Data and accessibility

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

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

Sources

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

Deaths the King County Medical Examiner investigated at housing service sites, 2021-2026, 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.

3. King County Medical Examiner's Office, KCMEO Annual Report dashboard: Overview and Notes tabs (last updated October 29, 2026) All deaths the Medical Examiner investigated countywide by year, and COVID-19 surveillance counts

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public government data. Counts are public government statistics; FactHub redistributes the counts it read.

   Reliability: Government. The Medical Examiner's own dashboard. The Overview tab gives all deaths it investigated by year; the Notes tab gives how many of those were COVID-19 surveillance cases and says it does not take all natural deaths.

4. Public Health - Seattle & King County, King County fatal overdose dashboard Overdose deaths by year, countywide and at housing service sites

   Retrieved November 6, 2026. Public government data. Counts are public government statistics; FactHub redistributes the counts it read.

   Reliability: Government. The county's dashboard of overdose deaths investigated by the Medical Examiner, by presumed living situation. The county funds much of the housing in the housing service site category.

5. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2007-2025 Housing Inventory Count by CoC Permanent supportive housing and other permanent housing beds for Seattle/King County (WA-500)

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Public domain.

   Reliability: Government. A one-night inventory of beds reported each year by the local homelessness system to HUD; it counts beds, not occupants, and excludes most income-restricted and recovery housing.

Limitations

• Only deaths the Medical Examiner investigated; it does not take all natural deaths.
• The category mixes permanent supportive housing, income-restricted apartments and recovery housing.
• Counts, not rates: no count of residents is published, and the housing supply grew over these years.
• 2021 is the earliest year the dashboard offers.