Burien is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 50,806 people and 12 associated neighborhoods, Burien is the 25th largest community in Washington.

Housing costs in Burien are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Washington.

Also of interest is that Burien has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 13.72% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Burien is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Burien is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Burien area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

The education level of Burien citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 29.90% of adults in Burien have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Burien in 2022 was $46,834, which is upper middle income relative to Washington, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $187,336 for a family of four. However, Burien contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Burien is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Burien home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Burien residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Burien also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 21.89% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Burien include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Norwegian.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Burien's cultural character, accounting for 23.59% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Burien is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Vietnamese.