Pickleball Equity Project — Great Seattle Youth

About This Project

The Pickleball Forward Foundation's mission is to empower youth and build community through accessible, high-quality pickleball programs that celebrate the joy and power of play.

The Pickleball Equity Project is a data-driven look at how accessible youth pickleball really is across the greater Seattle area. When we talk about accessibility, we think about it in two ways: coverage and affordability. Coverage asks: is there even a program near this kid? Affordability asks: can their family actually pay for it?

Coverage breaks down into three parts. Proximity — how far does a student have to travel to reach a program? Eligibility — many programs are limited by age or school enrollment. Seasonality — a summer camp is great, but year-round access is better.

Using data from the U.S. Census, HUD, Seattle Public Schools, and Google Maps, we scored pickleball coverage across the greater Seattle area for three program types (after-school, summer camp, and league play) broken down by elementary, middle school, and high school students.

Video coming soon

Select a Zip Code

Click any colored area on the map to see detailed coverage information for that zip code.

Program Locations

PFF After-School

PFF Summer Camp

Westside Pickleball

Youth Pickleball Initiative

Skyhawks Pickleball

Seattle Coverage Map

Click any zip code for details. Colored pins show program locations.

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Coverage vs Affordability by Zip Code

Each dot is a zip code. Dot size represents the number of underserved youth. Hover over any dot for details.

How to read this chart: The red shaded area (top-left) highlights priority zip codes that have both low coverage AND high poverty rates — these areas need new programs AND scholarship support. Orange dots are below the 70 target but in lower-poverty areas — they need programs but families may be able to afford them. Blue dots are meeting the coverage target. The 70-point threshold was set by PFF leadership as the minimum score for a zip code to be considered "well-served," reflecting a combination of adequate after-school, summer camp, and league play access.

Coverage vs Underserved Youth by Zip Code

Each dot is a zip code. This chart shows where the largest populations of underserved youth are concentrated. Hover over any dot for details.

How to read this chart: Zip codes in the top-left have both low coverage scores AND large numbers of underserved youth — these represent the biggest opportunities for impact. A single new program in these areas would reach the most kids. Red dots are the highest priority (below 70 coverage score AND 1,000+ underserved youth).

Underserved Youth vs Affordability by Zip Code

This chart shows where the most underserved youth live AND whether those areas have high poverty rates. Hover over any dot for details.

How to read this chart: Zip codes in the top-right are the highest priority — they have both large numbers of underserved youth AND high poverty rates, meaning new programs in these areas would need scholarship support. Red dots have 1,000+ underserved youth and 40%+ low-income households. Orange dots have high underserved numbers but lower poverty. Blue dots have smaller gaps.

Methodology

How the coverage scores are calculated

Total Coverage Score is a population-weighted average of Elementary, Middle School, and High School scores. Each age group's score is weighted by how many kids are in that group.

Each age group score combines three program types: After-School (30% weight), Summer Camp (20% weight), and League Play (50% weight).

After-School scores are enrollment-based — the percentage of students attending a school with a pickleball program, adjusted for months of operation.

Summer Camp and League Play scores are proximity-based — how close the nearest program is by drive time. Programs within 20 minutes score 100, 20-30 min scores 75, 30-40 min scores 50, over 40 min scores 0.

Headroom estimates the number of underserved youth by age group, calculated as (100 - coverage score) × population for each age tier.

Data sources: US Census ACS (youth population, income), Seattle Public Schools P223 (school enrollment), HUD FY2024 (income categories), Google Maps (drive times).