List of counties in Washington

"List of Washington counties" redirects here. For counties named Washington, see Washington County (disambiguation). For the historical county in Washington, D.C., see Washington County, D.C.

"List of counties in WA" redirects here. For historical counties in Western Australia, see Counties of Western Australia.

The U.S. state of Washington has 39 counties. The Provisional Government of Oregon established Vancouver and Lewis Counties in 1845 in unorganized Oregon Country, extending from the Columbia River north to 54°40′ north latitude. After the region was organized within the Oregon Territory with the current northern border of 49° north, Vancouver County was renamed Clark, and six more counties were created out of Lewis County before the organization of Washington Territory in 1853; 28 were formed during Washington's territorial period, two of which only existed briefly. The final five were established in the 22 years after Washington was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889.^[1][2]

Counties of Washington
Adams Asotin Columbia Ferry Franklin Garfield Grant Lincoln Pend Oreille Spokane Stevens Walla Walla Whitman Benton Chelan Douglas Kittitas Klickitat Okanogan Yakima Clallam Clark Cowlitz Grays Harbor Island Jefferson King Kitsap Lewis Mason Pacific Pierce San Juan Skagit Skamania Snohomish Thurston Wahkiakum Whatcom
Location	State of Washington
Number	39
Populations	2,363 (Garfield) – 2,271,380 (King)
Areas	175 square miles (450 km2) (San Juan) – 5,268 square miles (13,640 km2) (Okanogan)
Government	County government
Subdivisions	cities, towns, townships, Indian reservations

Article XI of the Washington State Constitution addresses the organization of counties. New counties must have a population of at least 2,000 and no county can be reduced to a population below 4,000 due to partitioning to create a new county.^[3] To alter the area of a county, the state constitution requires a petition of the "majority of the voters" in that area. A number of county partition proposals in the 1990s interpreted this as a majority of people who voted, until a 1998 ruling by the Washington Supreme Court clarified that they would need a majority of registered voters.^[4] No changes to counties have been made since the formation of Pend Oreille County in 1911, except when the small area of Cliffdell was moved from Kittitas to Yakima County in 1970.^[5]

King County, home to the state's largest city, Seattle, holds almost 30 percent of Washington's population (2,271,380 residents of 7,812,880 in 2023), and has the highest population density, with more than 1,000 people per square mile (400/km²). Garfield County is both the least populated (2,363) and least densely populated (3.3/sq mi [1.3/km²]). Two counties, San Juan and Island, are composed only of islands. The average county is 1,830 square miles (4,700 km²), with 200,330 people.

Seventeen counties have Native American–derived names, including nine names of tribes whose land settlers would occupy. Another seventeen were named for political figures, only five of whom had lived in the region. The last five are named for geographic places.^[6]

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code links in the table point to U.S. Census data pages for each county. Washington's FIPS state code is 53.

Governance

See also: Government of Washington (state)

Population density map of Washington

Counties provide a broad scope of services, including court operation, parks and recreation, libraries, arts, social services, elections, waste collection, roads and transportation, zoning and permitting, as well as taxation.^[7][8] The extent of these vary, and some are administered by municipalities. Counties are not subdivided into minor civil divisions like townships; sub-county local government is only by incorporated cities and towns, as well as by 29 Indian reservations, while unincorporated areas are governed only by the county. There are 242 census county divisions for statistical purposes only.^[9]

The default form of county government is the non-charter commission, with three to five elected commissioners serving as both the legislature and executive. Seven counties have adopted charters providing for home rule distinct from state law: King, Clallam, Whatcom, Snohomish, Pierce, San Juan, and Clark. Of these, King, Whatcom, Snohomish, and Pierce, four major counties on Puget Sound, elect a county executive. Councils in the other three charter counties appoint a manager to administer the government.^[10] Voters may also elect a clerk, treasurer, sheriff, assessor, coroner, auditor (or recorder), and prosecuting attorney. Elections are nonpartisan in non-charter counties, but charter counties may choose to make some positions partisan, though all elections are by top-two primary.^[10]

List of counties

Counties of Washington

County	FIPS code	County seat[11]	Est.[11][12]	Formed from[12][13]	Etymology	Population (2023)[14]	Land area[11]	Map
Adams County	001	Ritzville	1883	Whitman County	John Adams (1735–1826), 2nd U.S. President[15]	20,820	1,925 sq mi (4,986 km2)
Asotin County	003	Asotin	1883	Garfield County	The Nez Percé name for Eel Creek[16]	22,549	636 sq mi (1,647 km2)
Benton County	005	Prosser	1905	Yakima and Klickitat Counties	Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858), a U.S. Senator from Missouri[17]	215,219	1,700 sq mi (4,403 km2)
Chelan County	007	Wenatchee	1899	Okanogan and Kittitas Counties	A Native American word meaning "deep water", referring to Lake Chelan[18]	79,997	2,920 sq mi (7,563 km2)
Clallam County	009	Port Angeles	1854	Jefferson County	A Klallam word meaning "brave people" or "the strong people"[19]	77,616	1,738 sq mi (4,501 km2)
Clark County	011	Vancouver	1845	Original County	William Clark (1770–1838), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition[19]	521,150	629 sq mi (1,629 km2)
Columbia County	013	Dayton	1875	Walla Walla County	The Columbia River[19]	4,053	869 sq mi (2,251 km2)
Cowlitz County	015	Kelso	1854	Lewis County	Cowlitz, an Indian tribe[20]	112,864	1,139 sq mi (2,950 km2)
Douglas County	017	Waterville	1883	Lincoln County	Stephen A. Douglas (1813–1861), U.S. Senator from Illinois[21]	44,798	1,819 sq mi (4,711 km2)
Ferry County	019	Republic	1899	Stevens County	Elisha P. Ferry (1825–1895), 1st Governor of Washington[22]	7,497	2,204 sq mi (5,708 km2)
Franklin County	021	Pasco	1883	Whitman County	Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), writer, orator, inventor, and U.S. Founding Father[23]	99,034	1,242 sq mi (3,217 km2)
Garfield County	023	Pomeroy	1881	Columbia County	James A. Garfield (1831–1881), 20th U.S. President[23]	2,363	710 sq mi (1,839 km2)
Grant County	025	Ephrata	1909	Douglas County	Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), 18th U.S. President[24]	102,678	2,680 sq mi (6,941 km2)
Grays Harbor County	027	Montesano	1854	Thurston County	Grays Harbor, a body of water named after explorer and merchant Robert Gray (1755–1806)[24]	77,290	1,902 sq mi (4,926 km2)
Island County	029	Coupeville	1852	Thurston County	Consists solely of islands, including Whidbey and Camano islands[25]	86,267	209 sq mi (541 km2)
Jefferson County	031	Port Townsend	1852	Thurston County	Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), 3rd U.S. President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence[25]	33,714	1,804 sq mi (4,672 km2)
King County	033	Seattle	1852	Thurston County	William R. King (1786–1853), U.S. Vice President under Franklin Pierce; officially renamed in 2005 after civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (no relation) (1929–1968)[26]	2,271,380	2,115 sq mi (5,478 km2)
Kitsap County	035	Port Orchard	1857	King and Jefferson Counties	Chief Kitsap (d. 1860), leader of the Suquamish tribe[27]	277,658	395 sq mi (1,023 km2)
Kittitas County	037	Ellensburg	1883	Yakima County	Yakama word of uncertain meaning, with popular translations ranging from "white chalk" to "land of the plenty"[27]	45,508	2,297 sq mi (5,949 km2)
Klickitat County	039	Goldendale	1859	Walla Walla County	Klickitat tribe, also meaning "robber" and "beyond"[27]	23,589	1,872 sq mi (4,848 km2)
Lewis County	041	Chehalis	1845	Clark County	Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809), the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition[28]	86,154	2,403 sq mi (6,224 km2)
Lincoln County	043	Davenport	1883	Whitman County	Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), 16th U.S. President[28]	11,738	2,311 sq mi (5,985 km2)
Mason County	045	Shelton	1854	King County	Charles H. Mason (1830–1859), 1st Secretary of Washington Territory[29]	68,389	959 sq mi (2,484 km2)
Okanogan County	047	Okanogan	1888	Stevens County	A Salish word meaning "rendezvous"[30]	43,712	5,268 sq mi (13,644 km2)
Pacific County	049	South Bend	1851	Lewis County	The Pacific Ocean[31]	24,200	933 sq mi (2,416 km2)
Pend Oreille County	051	Newport	1911	Stevens County	The Pend d'Oreille tribe, named by French traders for their "ear bobs"[32]	14,361	1,400 sq mi (3,626 km2)
Pierce County	053	Tacoma	1852	Thurston County	Franklin Pierce (1804–1869), 14th U.S. President[32]	928,696	1,670 sq mi (4,325 km2)
San Juan County	055	Friday Harbor	1873	Whatcom County	San Juan Islands, itself derived from Juan Vicente de Güemes[33]	18,566	174 sq mi (451 km2)
Skagit County	057	Mount Vernon	1883	Whatcom County	The Skagit tribe[34]	131,417	1,731 sq mi (4,483 km2)
Skamania County	059	Stevenson	1854	Clark County	A Chinookan word meaning "swift water"[34]	12,640	1,656 sq mi (4,289 km2)
Snohomish County	061	Everett	1861	Island and King Counties	The Snohomish tribe, word origin disputed[35]	844,761	2,087 sq mi (5,405 km2)
Spokane County	063	Spokane	1879	Stevens County	The Spokane tribe	551,455	1,764 sq mi (4,569 km2)
Stevens County	065	Colville	1863	Walla Walla County	Isaac Stevens (1818–1862), 1st Governor of the Washington Territory[36]	48,837	2,478 sq mi (6,418 km2)
Thurston County	067	Olympia	1852	Lewis County	Samuel Thurston (1815–1851), the Oregon Territory's first delegate to U.S. Congress[37]	299,003	722 sq mi (1,870 km2)
Wahkiakum County	069	Cathlamet	1854	Cowlitz County	Wakaiakam, chief of the Kathlamet tribe[38]	4,765	264 sq mi (684 km2)
Walla Walla County	071	Walla Walla	1854	Skamania County	The Walla Walla tribe, also a Nez Percé name for running water[38]	61,568	1,270 sq mi (3,289 km2)
Whatcom County	073	Bellingham	1854	Island County	Whatcom, chief of the Nooksack tribe and named for a Nooksack word meaning "noisy water"[39]	231,919	2,107 sq mi (5,457 km2)
Whitman County	075	Colfax	1871	Stevens County	Marcus Whitman (1802–1847), a Methodist missionary[40]	48,012	2,159 sq mi (5,592 km2)
Yakima County	077	Yakima	1865	Ferguson County (defunct)	The Yakama tribe, meaning "runaway [waters]" or "big belly"[41]	256,643	4,296 sq mi (11,127 km2)

Former county names

Four counties changed their name between 1849 and 1925.

• Chehalis County, originally named for the Chehalis people, was renamed Grays Harbor County in 1915.^[42][43]
• Sawamish County, originally named for the Sahewamish Native American tribe, was renamed Mason County in 1864.^[44]
• Slaughter County, originally named for Lieutenant William A. Slaughter who was killed during the Indian Wars, was renamed Kitsap County shortly after its formation in 1857.^[45] The initial proposals for this county called it Madison County or Kitsap County.^[46]
• Vancouver County, originally named for George Vancouver, was renamed Clarke County in 1849^[47][48] and corrected to Clark in 1925.^[49]

Former counties

During Washington's territorial period, Washington split off from an Oregon county, three counties were disestablished, and three split into separate territories.

• Clackamas County, Oregon was established in 1844 and included the land south and east of the Columbia River until Washington Territory was formed in 1853, when the area was no longer organized as a county.^[50]
• Spokane County was established in Washington Territory in 1858 until it merged into Stevens County in 1864; it was reestablished in 1879.^[51]
• Missoula County was established in Washington Territory in 1860 until it split off with the Idaho Territory in 1863.^[51]
• Shoshone County, Idaho County, and Nez Perce County were established in Washington Territory in 1861, and Boise County in 1863, until they split off into the Idaho Territory in March 1863, leaving the current borders of Washington.^[51]
• Ferguson County, named for Washington legislator James L. Ferguson, was established on January 23, 1863, from Walla Walla County and dissolved on January 18, 1865. Yakima County was established in its place.^[52][53]
• Quillehuyte County was split from Jefferson and Clallam counties in 1868 and returned to those counties a year later before it could be organized.^[54]

Proposed counties

Several counties were proposed prior to or during the existence of Washington Territory and nine counties were proposed within the first 16 years of Washington's statehood, but none were established.

• The representatives at the Cowlitz Convention of 1851 discussed a proposal to form Columbia Territory, which included a number of new counties in what later became Washington. The next session of the Oregon Territorial Legislature created only one of these counties: Thurston County (which was originally proposed as Simmons County).^[55][56]
• Buchanan County was proposed in 1856 as a division of Clark County.^[57]
• Proposed counties during Washington's early statehood included Big Bend (1891), Palouse (1891 and 1903), Sherman (1891), Washington (1891), Wenatchee (1893), McKinley (1903), Steptoe (1903), and Coulee (1905).^[6]

• Since the 1990s, there have been several proposals for county secession in Washington, largely from rural areas in the major counties of Western Washington. Cedar, Freedom, and Skykomish counties submitted petitions to secede from King and Snohomish counties in 1995 and 1996, with some support in the state legislature to put them to a public referendum.^[4][58][59]

See also

• List of United States counties and county equivalents
• Government of Washington

References

1. "Washington: Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries". Washington Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. Newberry Library. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
2. Smith 1913, p. 1 (As noted on p. 15, Pend Oreille County was not included in this tally because it was organized after the article was first published in 1909.)
3. "Article XI, Section 3: New Counties". Washington State Constitution. Washington State Office of the Code Reviser. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
4. Spencer, Hal (February 6, 1998). "New counties dealt major blow". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. p. B8. Retrieved March 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
   Cedar County Committee v. Munro, 134 Wash. 2d 377 (Supreme Court of Washington 1998).
5. "Area Transferred". Longview Daily News. Associated Press. September 22, 1970. p. 3. Retrieved February 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Smith 1913, pp. 13–15
7. "Services". King County. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
8. "County Services". Spokane County. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
9. "Washington: Basic Information". 2010 Census Gazetteer Files. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
10. "County Forms of Government". Municipal Research and Services Center. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
11. National Association of Counties. "NACo – Find A County". Retrieved March 26, 2020.
12. "Washington: Historical Borders". Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. Newberry Library. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
13. "Washington Counties". HistoryLink. Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
14. "County Population Totals: 2020-2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
15. Phillips 1971, p. 4
16. Phillips 1971, p. 9
17. Phillips 1971, p. 14
18. Phillips 1971, p. 25
19. Phillips 1971, pp. 27–30
20. Phillips 1971, p. 33
21. Phillips 1971, p. 41
22. Phillips 1971, p. 49
23. Phillips 1971, pp. 52–53
24. Phillips 1971, p. 57
25. Phillips 1971, pp. 66–67
26. Brodeur, Nicole (January 20, 2020). "Remembering fight to change county namesake". The Seattle Times. p. A1. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
27. Phillips 1971, pp. 72–73
28. Phillips 1971, pp. 77–79
29. Phillips 1971, p. 87
30. Phillips 1971, p. 100
31. Phillips 1971, p. 105
32. Phillips 1971, pp. 107–108
33. Phillips 1971, p. 124
34. Phillips 1971, pp. 130–131
35. Phillips 1971, p. 133
36. Phillips 1971, p. 138
37. Phillips 1971, p. 144
38. Phillips 1971, pp. 153–154
39. Phillips 1971, p. 158
40. Phillips 1971, p. 159
41. Phillips 1971, p. 163
42. Ott, Jennifer (July 1, 2008). "Chehalis – Thumbnail History". HistoryLink. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
43. "Chapter 77 (S.B. 297), Changing Name of Chehalis County". Session Laws of the State of Washington. 1915. p. 250. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
44. Wilma, David (April 19, 2006). "Washington Territorial Legislature creates Sawamish (Mason) County on April 15, 1854". HistoryLink. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
45. Wilma, David (July 27, 2006). "Slaughter County is renamed Kitsap County on July 13, 1857". HistoryLink. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
46. Smith 1913, pp. 7–8
47. Smith 1913, pp. 1–2
48. Holman 1910, pp. 3–5
49. Hanable, William S. (February 4, 2004). "Clark County — Thumbnail History". HistoryLink. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
50. "Oregon: Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries". Oregon Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. Newberry Library. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
51. "Washington: Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries". Newberry Library. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
52. Becker, Paula (September 20, 2005). "Ferguson County is established on January 23, 1863". HistoryLink. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
53. "Milestones for Washington State History – Part 2: 1851 to 1900". HistoryLink. March 6, 2003. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
54. Smith 1913, p. 11
55. Smith 1913, pp. 3–4
56. Meany 1922, pp. 11–12
57. Smith 1913, p. 7
58. Robertson, Kipp (March 8, 2019). "Splitting King County? Citizens fought to secede in the 90s". KING 5 News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
59. Brooks, Diane (March 21, 1997). "House OKs Nov. vote on Skykomish County". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 3, 2020.

Works

• Holman, Frederick V. (March 1910). "History of the Counties of Oregon". Oregon Historical Quarterly. XI (1). Portland, Oregon: Ivy Press.
• Meany, Edmond S. (January 1922). "The Cowlitz Convention: Inception of Washington Territory". The Washington Historical Quarterly. XIII (1). Seattle, Washington: University of Washington.
• Phillips, James W. (1971). Washington State Place Names. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-95158-3. OCLC 1052713900 – via The Internet Archive.
• Smith, Charles W. (October 1913) [1909]. "The Naming of Counties in the State of Washington". Seattle: University of Washington. OCLC 8676092.

External links

• Washington State Association of Counties
• Washington County Profiles – Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington
• County officials – Washington Association of County Officials
• National Association of Counties – Find A County