Tacoma is the second largest metropolitan area in the state. Pierce County as a whole is considered by the federal government to be a metropolitan division within the Seattle/Tacoma Consolidated Metropolitan Area. The Tacoma/Pierce County area provides jobs for just under 284,000 as of November 2007. This employment level is 27 percent larger than third-place Spokane County, but just 19 percent of the larger Seattle/Bellevue/Everett metropolitan area to the north of Tacoma.

Tacoma has a distinctly different economy compared with Seattle. Tacoma's strengths include many manufacturing industries clustered on lands adjacent to the Port of Tacoma and in "Nalley Va lley," just south of downtown Tacoma. In recent years, redevelopment of the waterfront near downtown has brought new museums, a university campus, condominiums, a conference center, and many refurbished buildings to downtown, along with a streetcar linking downtown to a transit center and the Tacoma Dome. Tacoma has fewer of the hightech industries characterizing the Seattle area and relatively more industrial companies. This industry composition has created a somewhat more stable economy in Tacoma as compared to Seattle. As the accompanying chart shows, Tacoma's growth slowed but did not turn negative early in this decade, while Seattle slipped into recession for two years. More recently, Seattle has surged ahead at faster rates than Tacoma as high-tech industries have revived. "Steady as she goes" could be Tacoma's motto.

Paul Sommers is a professor at the Institute of Public Service and Albers School of Business at Seattle University.