How to Handle Water Damage in Kentrs Historic Homes
How to Handle Water Damage in Kentrs Historic Homes
Dealing with water damage in historic homes in Kent can be a daunting task for any homeowner. Water Damage Restoration in Kent: A Homeownerrs Guide . These homes, with their unique charm and character, deserve special attention and care when it comes to repairs and restorations. The first thing you should do when faced with water damage is to not panic! (Easier said than done, right?) Its important to assess the situation calmly and methodically.
Now, the structure of historic homes can be quite delicate. Their walls, floors, and ceilings (not to mention those beautiful wooden beams) were built with materials that arent as resilient to water as modern ones. So, its crucial to act quickly to prevent further damage. First, identify the source of the water. Whether its a leaky roof or a burst pipe, you need to stop the water from causing more havoc. If you cant find the source, dont hesitate to call in a professional. Its not worth risking further damage by waiting too long.
Once the source is under control, its time to dry out the affected areas. This part can be tricky in older homes, as excessive moisture can lead to mold growth, which is something you definitely dont want! Use fans and dehumidifiers to aid in the drying process. If its a sunny day, opening windows can also help to ventilate the space, but do keep an eye on the weather (Kent can be quite unpredictable).
While drying out the space, pay attention to the materials that have been affected. Historic homes often have original features that you'll want to preserve. For example, wooden floors and ornate plasterwork can be particularly vulnerable to water damage. Its not advisable to replace these with modern materials, as it can detract from the homes historic value. Instead, consider hiring a restoration specialist who understands the intricacies of older buildings and can restore these features with care.
Oh, and let's not forget about insurance! Make sure to document the damage with photos and notes. This will be invaluable when dealing with insurance companies. They can be a bit tricky, so having thorough documentation will help in getting the compensation youre entitled to.
In conclusion, handling water damage in Kents historic homes requires a careful approach. Don't rush the process, and prioritize preserving the integrity of the original structure. By acting swiftly and thoughtfully, you can ensure that your beloved historic home remains a testament to the past, while being well-prepared for the future.
About Seattle metropolitan area
"Seattle Metro" redirects here. For the public transit authority of Seattle and surrounding areas, see King County Metro.
Metropolitan statistical area in Washington, United States
The area is considered part of the greater Puget Sound region, which largely overlaps with the Seattle Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The Seattle metropolitan area is home to a large tech industry and is the headquarters of several major companies, including Microsoft and Amazon. The area's geography is varied and includes the lowlands around Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains; the highest peak in the metropolitan area is Mount Rainier, which has a summit elevation of 14,411 feet (4,392 m) and is one of the tallest mountains in the United States.
Based on commuting patterns, the adjacent metropolitan areas of Olympia, Bremerton, and Mount Vernon, along with a few smaller satellite urban areas, are grouped together in a wider labor market region known as the Seattle–Tacomacombined statistical area (CSA), which encompasses most of the Puget Sound region.[8][9] The population of this wider region was 4,953,389 at the 2020 census and estimated to be 5,105,721 in 2024;[3] the Puget Sound region is home to two-thirds of Washington's population.[10] The Seattle CSA is the 14th largest in the United States and the 13th largest primary census statistical area in the country.[3] The additional metropolitan and micropolitan areas included are:[8]
The Census Bureau adopted metropolitan districts in the 1910 census to create a standard definition for urban areas with industrial activity around a central city.[11] At the time, Seattle had the 22nd largest metropolitan district population at 239,269 people, a 195.8 percent increase from the population of the equivalent area in the 1900 census.[12] The Seattle metropolitan district was expanded to encompass the entirety of Lake Washington in the 1930 census and also included Edmonds in Snohomish County, Des Moines in southern King County, and portions of eastern Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County.[13] The district covered 209.9 square miles (544 km2), of which two-thirds was outside of Seattle proper, and counted a population of 420,663.[14]
The Seattle metropolitan area, successor to the metropolitan district, was expanded in 1949 to encompass all of King County but lose its portions in Kitsap and Snohomish counties. The local chamber of commerce and other leaders had lobbied for a definition that also included all of Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in a manner similar to the Portland metropolitan area, which had been expanded to cover four counties in Oregon and southwestern Washington.[15][16] The Bureau of the Budget (now Office of Management and Budget) added Snohomish County to its definition of the Seattle metropolitan area in 1959. The definition had previously only encompassed King County; local leaders had sought to also include Pierce and Kitsap counties in a "Puget Sound metropolitan area".[17] Snohomish County had protested its inclusion and had sought a separate metropolitan area designation centered on Everett, which did not meet the population threshold of 50,000 residents.[18][19]
In the 1950 census, a separate metropolitan area for Tacoma was defined that encompassed all of Pierce County.[20][21] Kitsap County remained part of no metropolitan area despite its connections to both Seattle and Tacoma.[22] The Office of Management and Budget included the area in the Seattle–Tacoma standard consolidated statistical area in 1981;[23] it was replaced in 1983 by the Seattle–Tacoma consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA).[24] The CMSA was expanded to include Bremerton and Olympia after the 1990 census and was the 12th largest in the country at the time.[25][26] The Office of Management and Budget restructured its classification system in 2003 and created the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area to cover the tri-county region. A new Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area (CSA) replaced the CMSA and expanded to cover Island and Mason counties.[27][28] The Mount Vernon–Anacortes metropolitan area was created in 2003 to encompass Skagit County and added to the Seattle CSA in 2006;[29][30] the CSA was extended further south to Lewis County through the addition of the Centralia micropolitan area in 2013.[31]
The Seattle metropolitan area covers 6,309 square miles (16,340 km2) of land and water in Western Washington divided between the three counties;[1] King County is the largest county at over 2,115 square miles (5,480 km2), followed by Snohomish and Pierce counties.[32] The region includes portions of the Cascade Range and several active volcanoes, including Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak, which can generate lahars that reach populated areas.[33][34] The summit of Mount Rainier is the tallest point in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m) above mean sea level;[32] it has 26 glaciers that are visible from much of the region's lowlands.[33][35] To the west of the metropolitan area is Puget Sound, which forms the second-largest saltwater estuary in the United States and is part of the Salish Sea.[36]
The tribes have sovereign governments that have authority over their enrolled members and the Indian reservations that were established in the region.[38] The reservations were created through treaties with the federal government that were not consistently honored and often combined several tribes together;[39] they were also open to settlement by non-Indians.[40]
The region also has several major companies that serve as defense contractors for the U.S. military, comprising most of Washington's $6.9 billion awarded in fiscal year 2022. The largest contractors in the Seattle area include Boeing, PacMed, and Microsoft.[41][46] The Veterans Health Administration has 110,000 enrolled patients in the Puget Sound region, which includes a large population of retirees.[47]
Calculated from county totals;[48]
U.S. Census estimates[3]
As of the 2020 census, there were 4,018,762 people in the three counties that form the Seattle metropolitan area, which comprises 52 percent of Washington's population.[2][49] It is the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and among the fastest-growing in the country.[50] The overall population density was 685 inhabitants per square mile (264.5/km2). The population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female with a median age of 37.2 years old.[2]
The racial makeup of the metropolitan area was 60.1% White, 15.4% Asian, 6.1% Black, 1.1% Native American or Alaska Native, 1.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 11.0% from two or more races, and 5.3% from other races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 11.2% of the population.[2] From 2010 to 2020, the non-Hispanic White population of the Seattle metropolitan area declined from 68 percent to 58 percent—the largest decline in the U.S.[51] The region also has a large Asian American population that was among the fastest-growing in the country between 2010 and 2020.[51][52]
There were 1,564,432 total households in the metropolitan area at the time of the 2020 census, of which 47.8% included a married couple, 8.1% included an unmarried cohabiting couple, 19.7% had a single male with no spouse or partner, and 24.4% single female with no spouse or partner. Out of all households, 29.8% had people under the age of 18 and 25.3% had people 65 years or older.[2] Approximately 18.3% of household residents were opposite-sex spouses, while 0.3% were same-sex spouses.[2]
According to a 2022 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 17 percent of adult residents in the Seattle metropolitan area identified as LGBTQ.[53] The region has one of the highest percentages of same-sex couples in the United States at 1.3 percent of households in the metropolitan area as of 2022[update];[54] in 2023, Seattle itself had 3.2 percent of households with same-sex couples—the highest percentage in the United States.[55]
King County is the largest of the three counties in the metropolitan area with 2,269,675 people in 2020, or 56 percent of the population of the Seattle area.[56]
The Seattle metropolitan area has one of the largest populations of people in the United States who identify as nonreligious.[59] A 2024 Household Pulse Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 64 percent of adults in the area do not attend religious services more than once a year, the highest percentage among large U.S. metropolitan areas.[60] According to the Pew Research Center's 2023–24 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, the Seattle area was tied with Portland for the highest share of people without a religious affiliation at 44 percent. The share of non-religious people in the area had increased since the 2014 edition of the Pew study, while the share of people who identified as Christian declined from 52 percent to 44 percent.[61]
The cost of living in the Seattle area ranks among the highest in the United States among urban areas, particularly for housing, services, and retail goods.[62] In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that median household income for residents of the Seattle metropolitan area was $101,700, an 8.2 percent increase from 2019. It is the fourth-highest figure for any metropolitan area in the United States, behind San Jose, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.[63] The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated that the per-capita income of a Seattle metropolitan area resident was $92,113 in 2022;[64] the previous year, the region ranked tenth in the U.S. for per-capita income.[65]
The area is home to several of the wealthiest people in the United States and the world by net worth. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos both held the title of world's richest person, as determined by Forbes, while living in the Eastside city of Medina.[66][67] Another Eastside suburb, Sammamish, has a median household income of $201,370—the second-highest among cities in the United States.[68] According to a 2024 study by Henley & Partners, the city of Seattle has an estimated 54,200 millionaires—ranking seventh in the United States by number of millionaires—and 11 billionaires.[69]
The Seattle area has a housing shortage that has contributed to affordability issues in the early 21st century, particularly due to demand outpacing construction of new units.[70] The metropolitan area had the seventh highest number of new units built among large cities in 2016, of which 63 percent were in multifamily buildings.[71] The state legislature passed a new housing law in 2023 that allows for medium-density units in areas of all cities that supersede local zoning regulations; the new law could allow for 75,000 to 150,000 new units in the region, but exempts certain pre-existing homeowner associations and other contract-based communities.[72][73] As of April 2023[update], the median price for a single-family home was $722,000 and the median rent for a one-bedroom unit is $1,505 across the metropolitan area.[74][75] In King County, an estimated 309,000 new units are needed by 2044 to handle anticipated growth.[76] As of the 2020 census, the Seattle metropolitan area had 1,650,246 total housing units, of which 94.8% were occupied. Of the 85,814 vacant units, 41.1% were for rent, 4.4% were rented but not occupied, 10.1% were for sale, 5.1% had been sold but not yet occupied, and 16.9% were designated for seasonal or recreational use.[2]
King County has the third largest population of homeless or unsheltered people in the United States according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).[77] The agency's January 2023 report, based on the point-in-time count system, estimates 14,149 people in the county have experienced homelessness;[78] the King County Regional Homelessness Authority adopted a different methodology based on the number of people seeking services and estimated that 53,532 people in the county had been homeless at some point in 2022.[77][79] According to a survey collected by service providers for the county government, 68.5 percent of respondents said they last had stable housing in King County and 10.8 percent had lived elsewhere in the state.[80] Approximately 57 percent of the homeless population counted by HUD in King County was classified as unsheltered, either living in vehicles, encampments in public spaces, or other places.[81] The number of unsheltered individuals increased significantly in the late 2010s, leading to clearing of encampments and other structures by local governments.[82][83]
The county has 5,115 emergency shelter beds and tiny house villages, of which 67 percent are in the city of Seattle.[84] Additional shelters, parking lots, and encampment sites are operated by charity organizations and churches in the area;[85] during severe weather events such as heat waves and cold snaps, local governments open additional shelter spaces, but these often reach capacity.[86] In 2021, a total of $123 million was spent on homelessness services by local governments in King County, including cities and the regional authority.[84] The regional authority's five-year plan, released in 2023, estimates that $8 billion in capital costs would be required to build and staff 18,205 new units of temporary and transitional housing to address the homelessness crisis.[87]
The January 2023 point-in-time survey conducted in Pierce County identified 2,148 people who were experiencing homelessness, of whom 59 percent were in shelters and 21 percent were unsheltered—either outdoors or in vehicles.[88][89] The city of Tacoma has 1,225 shelter beds and 137 permanent housing units as of 2022[update]; the city government plans to temporarily increase shelter capacity while transitioning to more permanent and long-term housing for homeless people.[90] In Snohomish County, 1,285 homeless individuals in 1,028 households were identified in the January 2023 survey; of them, 594 were in shelters and 691 were unsheltered.[91] Approximately 1,500 students in the Everett School District, the county's largest school system, were identified as homeless in 2022.[92] The county has 683 year-round shelter beds and increases capacity during inclement weather; the county government purchased two former motels in 2022 to provide an additional 130 rooms.[93]
The region had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $566.74 billion in 2023, the tenth-highest in the United States and fastest-growing among large cities.[4][94] The Seattle area also had a GDP per capita of $128,316 in 2022, the third-highest figure among large metropolitan areas in the United States, behind San Jose and San Francisco.[95] As of October 2024[update], the largest employment sector is professional and business services, with approximately 388,700 employees, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities (361,100), education and health services (317,200), and government (279,300). A total of 2.13 million jobs are available in non-farm sectors in the Seattle metropolitan area; the unemployment rate was 4.4% in October 2024 and 4.2% in October 2023.[96] The average weekly wage was $2,188 across the metropolitan area in early 2024, compared to $1,527 nationally.[96] The region has some of the highest hourly minimum wages in the United States that exceed the state's minimum of $16.66; as of 2025[update], the minimum wage is $20.24 in Everett for large employers, $20.76 in Seattle, and $21.10 in Tukwila.[97][98]
Seattle is noted for its technology industry, which developed in the late 20th century and grew significantly with the development of Microsoft and Amazon.[99] The industry has 290,000 workers based in the Seattle area, ranking second nationally behind the San Francisco Bay Area, and comprises 13 percent of the regional workforce;[100][101] from 2005 to 2017, Seattle was one of five metropolitan areas that had 90 percent of the new technology jobs created in the United States.[102] Amazon is the largest private employer in the region, having grown from fewer than 5,000 local employees in 2009 to approximately 60,000 in 2020;[103] Microsoft, the second-largest tech employer in the region with 57,000 employees as of 2021[update],[104] has several subsidiary video game studios in the region. The Eastside is also home to game developers and distributors Valve, Bungie, and Nintendo of America.[105] Since the late 2000s, the area has also become home to satellite offices for Silicon Valley companies such as Google, Meta, and Salesforce.[106][107] Seattle has historically had few venture capital firms to invest in startups until the 2010s with the advent of new companies founded by alumni of older tech companies in the area;[108] in the early 2020s, several Seattle-area startups were labeled unicorns with a valuation of at least $1 billion.[109]
The region also has a large aerospace industry that is dominated by Boeing, historically the largest employer in Washington state with 60,244 workers as of 2022[update].[110] The company has major commercial jetliner assembly plants in Everett and Renton alongside testing facilities in Seattle and smaller component manufacturers in other areas.[111][112] The Boeing Everett Factory is the world's largest building by volume and is the assembly site of the 747, 767 and 777 programs, including their variants, alongside most 787s.[113] The company was headquartered in Seattle until its move to Chicago in 2001; in subsequent years, widebody production of the 787 was moved to Charleston, South Carolina.[112] The Seattle region is also home to several startup electric aircraft and component manufacturers, including Eviation and MagniX, who emerged in the 2010s.[114] The decade also saw the establishment of several space technology companies in the area, including Kent-based Blue Origin, Vulcan Aerospace, Kuiper Systems, and satellite offices for SpaceX;[115][116] the industry has 13,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region as of 2022[update], a two-fold increase since 2018.[116][117]
The region is a major hub for international trade and handles most of Washington's exports, which totaled $78 billion in 2018, through three major seaports on Puget Sound.[118] The Northwest Seaport Alliance was formed in 2015 to enable cooperation between the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma, rival public ports situated 32 miles (51 km) apart.[119] The two ports combine to form the seventh-largest container port in the United States and has the second-largest concentration of warehouse space on the West Coast.[120][121] The independent Port of Everett is a smaller port but handles exports of a similar value to Seattle and Tacoma due to its proximity to the Boeing Everett Factory.[122] Other maritime industries in the area include shipbuilding and commercial fishing,[32] particularly boat fleets based in Seattle that travel annually to the northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea near Alaska.[123][124]
The city has a major coffee retail industry that developed in the 1970s and 1980s and spawned several chains that remain headquartered in Seattle, including Starbucks and Tully's Coffee.[125] Seattle had the third-most coffee shops per capita in 2019 among U.S. cities, including independent shops and other roasters.[126] The city proper serves as the headquarters for other major companies in various industries, including online travel agency Expedia and wood producer Weyerhaeuser. National retailers REI and Nordstrom were also founded in Seattle and remain headquartered in the area.[118][127] Bellevue is home to the head offices of truck manufacturer Paccar, telecom network T-Mobile US, and clothing retailer Eddie Bauer.[128] Warehouse retailer Costco is headquartered in Issaquah and has more than a dozen locations in the Seattle area.[129] The region has several large shopping centers that range from traditional enclosed malls like Alderwood Mall and Westfield Southcenter to newer outdoor designs such as University Village.[130][131] While suburban areas have had few retail vacancies since the COVID-19 pandemic, Downtown Seattle has had a slower recovery with a vacancy rate of nearly 14 percent as of late 2023.[132][133] In the retail grocery sector, the most popular supermarket chains in the region are owned by Kroger (Fred Meyer and QFC) and the Albertsons Companies (Albertsons, Safeway), alongside warehouse retailers like Costco.[134]
Aerial view of Pike Place Market, the most-visited tourist attraction in Seattle
The Seattle area is a tourist destination, especially during the summer months, for domestic and international visitors. The metropolitan area's tourism industry employed 209,000 residents in early 2020, later reduced to 181,000 by 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[135] In 2022, an estimated 33.9 million visitors in Seattle and King County spent $7.4 billion;[136] the region had reached a peak of 41.9 million visitors in 2019.[137]Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle, a large public market with more than 220 shops and restaurants,[138] draws 10 million annual visitors and is among the most-visited tourist attractions in the world.[139] Other major attractions in Seattle include the Space Needle, the Seattle Center Monorail, Seattle Great Wheel, the Amazon Spheres, the Seattle Underground Tour, and the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood.[135][137] The city is also home to three cruise ship terminals operated by the Port of Seattle that serve excursions through the Inside Passage to Alaska.[140] An estimated 1.8 million passengers visited Seattle on 291 departures during the 2023 summer season with an estimated economic impact of $900 million.[141][142]
The areas outside of Seattle proper attract fewer tourists and draw largely from local and regional visitors. In Snohomish County, a majority of visitors in 2019 were from Western Washington and included a large number from within the metropolitan area.[149] Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the county's largest tourist attraction was the Future of Flight Aviation Center adjacent to Paine Field, which offered tours of the nearby Boeing Everett Factory and drew 300,000 annual visitors.[150] Pierce County had 8.8 million visitors in 2021 and estimated that they spent a total of $1.4 billion.[151]Mount Rainier National Park, located mostly in the county, had 2.3 million visitors in 2022—primarily between July and September.[152]
The Seattle MSA comprises three counties, nine federally recognized tribes, and 77 municipalities classified as cities or towns, each with their own governments.[153] These include 39 municipalities in King County, 23 in Pierce County, and 20 in Snohomish County; several cities also extend beyond the borders of a single county.[154] Approximately 71 percent of Puget Sound region residents live in an incorporated city or town; the rest are in unincorporated areas under the direct jurisdiction of counties, which act as the local government.[155][156] These developed unincorporated areas generally lie within the urban growth areas for existing cities that could annex them or in county-designated areas that would allow communities to vote for incorporation.[157][158] The incorporated city and town governments vary between mayor–council and council–manager systems, the latter using a council-appointed city manager to handle administration.[159]
All three counties have a home rule charter and are led by an elected county executive and a county council with members representing geographic districts.[160][161] The elections for the county executive and council, along with other major offices, are held in even-numbered years for Pierce County and odd-numbered years in King and Snohomish counties.[162][163] The county governments are responsible for various duties for all residents that are generally delegated to other elected and appointed officials, including the assessor, clerk, coroner and medical examiner, prosecuting attorney, and treasurer.[164] These duties include organization of elections and voter registration, enforcement of land use regulations, management of vital records, property assessment, tax collection, public health, and building inspections.[156][165] The counties also manage the criminal justice system, including the superior and district courts, public defenders, and jails.[166]
The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), the designated metropolitan planning organization for the Seattle MSA and Kitsap County, has voluntary membership from 82 municipalities, four tribes, four public ports, and six public transit operators.[155][167] It maintains a long-range plan for population growth, economic development, and regional transportation that is overseen by an executive board and general assembly of all members.[153][155] The organization also distributes state and federal funding for projects within the four-county area.[168] Other inter-county organizations include special districts and regional authorities for conservation, transit, libraries, and firefighting; as of 2007[update], there are over 220 special purpose districts in the Seattle metropolitan area.[154] Tax rates are set by local governments and can vary due to contributions to special districts; the combined sales tax ranges from 8.1% in parts of Pierce County to 10.6% in several Snohomish County cities, the highest rate in the state.[169][170]
The Seattle MSA is part of seven congressional districts (the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th) that each elect a member of the United States House of Representatives.[171] The boundaries are redrawn every 10 years by the state's independent redistricting commission based on the results of the decennial census.[172] The 8th district is the only one to span all three counties, taking the rural eastern portions and including areas east of the Cascade Mountains.[173] According to the 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index, six of the congressional districts lean towards Democratic candidates while the 8th district is even between both major parties.[174] In the state legislature, the metropolitan area is part of 28 districts that each elect two House members to a two-year term and one senator to a four-year term.[175][176] By the 2021 session, almost all legislative districts in the region were represented solely by Democrats in the Senate and House, with the exception of exurban districts.[177] According to a 2022 marketing survey by Nielsen, the Seattle metropolitan area is tied for the eighth highest percentage of adults who favored the Democratic Party, at nearly 55 percent—an 11-point increase from a similar survey conducted in 2004.[178] The area also decides most statewide elections due to their large population, which has contributed to an unbroken line of Democratic governors since 1984.[179]
Public K–12 education is managed by local school districts that are governed by elected boards and overseen by two of the state's nine regional educational service districts.[180] The Puget Sound Educational Service District covers 35 school districts and 416,000 students in King and Pierce counties, along with Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County, and includes 40 percent of the state's student population.[181] The Northwest Educational Service District encompasses 35 school districts in northwestern Washington, including all 14 in Snohomish County.[182] The public school districts are primarily funded by allocations from the state government and local property tax levies that are approved by voters.[180][183]
The largest school district in the metropolitan area is Seattle Public Schools, which has 51,000 students enrolled for the 2023–24 school year, a 9 percent decrease from its 2019 peak of 56,000 students.[184] The district has 106 schools and over 6,000 staff members;[185][186] most students attend their closest neighborhood schools, while option schools are able to enroll students from across the city.[186] Other large districts with more than 20,000 enrolled students include Lake Washington, Tacoma, Kent, Northshore, Puyallup, and Federal Way.[187] According to the U.S. News & World Report, the top high schools in the metropolitan area are primarily in the Eastside region, along with specialized industry and technical schools in Tukwila and Lakewood; the highest-ranked school in Washington is the Tesla STEM High School in the Lake Washington School District.[188] The smallest school district in the Seattle area is the Index School District, which has 19 students and no high school.[189]
The Seattle area has hundreds of registered private schools that serve over 50,000 students and offer alternative curriculums or religious education.[190][191][192] The largest private schools in the area are Cedar Park Christian School and King's Schools, both Christian programs.[193] Since a state referendum in 2012, charter schools have been approved to operate in the area using public funding while remaining privately-run.[194] These non-district schools are also overseen by the educational service district of their respective region;[195] they are also allowed to participate in the same athletics competitions as public schools under the management of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.[190]
The Seattle area has several universities and colleges that provide post-secondary education and are run by public or private institutions.[196] According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 45 percent of people in the Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia combined statistical area in 2019 had a bachelor's degree or higher—the tenth-highest rate in the United States.[197] This includes a high number of out-of-state adults who reside in the metropolitan area; according to a 2015 Brookings Institution study, 48% of out-of-state adults had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to 35% of in-state adults.[198]
All major national television networks have affiliates in the region who also produce local news broadcasts and other programming;[218] these include KOMO 4 (ABC), KING 5 (NBC), KIRO 7 (CBS), and KCPQ 13 (Fox).[219][220] The Seattle area has two non-profit stations that are members of PBS, the U.S. national public broadcaster: KCTS in Seattle and KBTC in Tacoma.[221] The region's largest Spanish-language television station, KUNS, lost its Univision affiliation in 2023 and was replaced by Bellingham-based KVOS, which did not produce local news content.[222] National news television network MSNBC was launched jointly by Microsoft and NBC in 1996; its online news operations were based in Redmond until 2012.[223]
The largest radio stations in the Seattle area by listenership are primarily music stations, including several owned by national network iHeart Radio, and talk stations with local ownership.[224][225] The first radio broadcasters in Seattle emerged in 1922, including the still-operating KJR, and grew through the decade; several radio broadcasters later established their own television stations following the first local broadcast in Seattle by KING predecessor KRSC-TV in 1948.[226][227] Among the most popular modern stations is KEXP-FM, a non-profit music station that has a worldwide following due to its early use of internet broadcasting.[228] The Seattle area has two NPR-affiliated public radio stations: KUOW-FM, founded at the University of Washington in 1952;[226] and KNKX-FM, founded at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma as KPLU. An attempted takeover of KPLU by KUOW in 2016 resulted in public outcry and the establishment of KNKX under independent ownership.[229]
The region has three major newspapers based in the largest cities of each county: The Seattle Times, the most-circulated newspaper in the Pacific Northwest, is a daily newspaper based in Seattle and had over 75,000 subscribers in 2022;[230]The News Tribune in Tacoma has approximately 54,000 subscribers and switched to a three-day publication schedule in 2024;[231] and The Daily Herald in Everett has 33,500 subscribers as of 2022[update] and prints six editions a week.[232][233] Seattle's oldest daily newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, ceased print publication in 2009 and became an online-only outlet.[234][235] The Seattle area also has weekly newspapers in smaller cities, including several owned by Sound Publishing or independent companies;[236][237] other hyperlocal publications, primarily in Seattle neighborhoods, have largely ceased publication in the early 21st century.[238]
The Seattle metropolitan area has several local public library systems that are funded primarily by property taxes that are set by voter-approved levies within a designated library district.[246] These include library districts that cover most of a county—either through direct annexation or contracted by local governments—or a department of the city government.[247][248] Some cities have opted out of having library systems after voters rejected the proposed property tax to fund services.[248] The earliest public libraries in the region were established in the late 19th century by private organizations that were later absorbed into city governments; the first was in Steilacoom in 1858 and was followed by a Seattle organization in 1868.[249] Several city libraries and local branches were constructed across the metropolitan area with grants from industrialist Andrew Carnegie beginning in 1901.[250] In addition to public libraries, the region also has informal public bookcases (part of the Little Free Library movement) and neighborhood tool libraries that lend tools and materials.[251][252]
The King County Library System is the largest library in the region, with 50 branches and a total circulation of nearly 18.9 million physical and digital items as of 2022[update].[253][254] It was established as a rural library district in 1943 and absorbed most of the city-operated systems in King County, with the exception of the Seattle Public Library, by 2012.[255] The independent Seattle system has 27 locations, including its Central Library in Downtown Seattle, and had a 2022 circulation of 11 million items.[254][256] The Sno-Isle Libraries system serves most of Snohomish and Island counties and has 23 locations that circulated 7.4 million items in 2022;[254] Sno-Isle does not serve the city of Everett, which operates the two locations of the Everett Public Library.[257] Pierce County has a county library system with 20 locations that circulated 4.8 million items in 2022 and separate, city-run libraries in Tacoma with eight locations and Puyallup with one location.[254] In 2016, the King County, Sno-Isle, and Seattle systems were among the three largest libraries in the United States by circulation.[258] The King County and Seattle systems were also among the heaviest users of digital lending platform OverDrive by circulation worldwide in 2023, each with more than 5 million checkouts.[259]
The first major-league sports team from the area was the Seattle Metropolitans, who played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924 and won the 1917 Stanley Cup.[264] They were followed by the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association, who entered as an expansion team in 1967 and won the 1979 NBA Finals. The team was relocated to become the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008.[260] The Seattle Pilots were the first Major League Baseball team to play in the city, but moved after their lone season in 1969 and were renamed the Milwaukee Brewers.[265] The 1976 opening of the Kingdome, an indoor multi-purpose stadium funded by the King County government, provided a suitable home for several new professional teams. The original Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League were the first to play at the Kingdome, followed by the new Seahawks in 1976 and Mariners in 1977.[260][266] Fans of these teams became known for their loud and passionate support, which carried over into the new venues that replaced the Kingdome: T-Mobile Park in 1999 and Lumen Field in 2002.[266][265] The Seahawks won their first Super Bowl in 2014, while the Sounders re-entered the major leagues in 2009 and won several honors, including the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019 and the CONCACAF Champions League in 2022.[265][267] The Storm were established in 2000 as a sister team to the SuperSonics and have won four WNBA Finals.[268]
The Seattle area also has specialized medical facilities that serve the Pacific Northwest or wider regions of the United States. Seattle Children's Hospital is a major pediatric hospital that serves Washington and four other states;[287] the area has several hospitals for military members and veterans in the area, including the Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis–McChord and the Department of Veterans Affairs' Puget Sound Health Care System.[288][289] The largest psychiatric hospital in the region is Western State Hospital in Lakewood, which has a capacity of 800 residents; the three-county region has a total of 64 beds at government facilities and is also home to several private behavioral health centers run by Universal Health Services.[290][291]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that about 5.7 percent of annual spending for residents in the Seattle metropolitan area was on healthcare.[292] According to a 2022 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, approximately 5.3 percent of people in the Seattle metropolitan area lack health insurance.[293] As of 2021[update], the largest insurer in the region is Mountlake Terrace-based Premera Blue Cross, followed by Cambia Health Solutions and Kaiser Permanente.[294] Nearly 900,000 people in the tri-county region are enrolled in Washington Apple Health, a no-cost health insurance program managed by the state government under the federal Medicaid system.[295] An additional 533,000 people in the area were enrolled in Medicare in 2018.[296]
The largest airport in the region is Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, a major international airport that serves as a commercial hub for Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines.[303] It is operated by the Port of Seattle and lies between Seattle and Tacoma; both cities contributed financially to its construction, which was completed in 1944 for military use and later expanded for commercial aviation.[304] Sea-Tac served 46 million passengers in 2023 and was the 11th busiest airport in the United States and 28th busiest in the world by passenger volume.[305] As of 2023[update], the airport has 91 domestic destinations and 28 international destinations in North America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.[306][307]
The area's other conventional passenger airport is Paine Field in Everett, 30 miles (48 km) north of Downtown Seattle. The airport is owned by the Snohomish County government and primarily used for general aviation and various industries, including the nearby Boeing Everett Factory. The passenger terminal, operated by a private company, opened in 2019 and serves domestic destinations, primarily in the Western United States.[308] As of 2023[update], Alaska Airlines is the sole airline at Paine Field and serves up to eleven destinations during peak seasons.[306]
Proposals to build a reliever airport for Sea-Tac were investigated in the 1990s prior to the decision to build a third runway at the airport to handle increased traffic.[309] The state legislature convened a new commission in 2019 to search for a suitable site for a reliever airport, which could include expansion of Paine Field or construction of an outlying airport by 2040.[310] The commission identified four sites in the southern Puget Sound region but was dissolved before a final recommendation due to public opposition to a new airport.[311]
The Seattle area has a grid-based road system that originates at designated points in each of the three counties; streets and roads are numbered from this origin point with cardinal directions as prefixes or suffixes.[318] The origin for the King County grid is 1st Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Seattle; from there, numbers increase outward until they reach the county border and reset.[318][319] The northernmost street in King County is Northeast 205th Street, which runs along the county line and is known as 244th Street Southwest in Snohomish County.[320][321] Cities are permitted to have separate numbering and naming systems for streets,[318] including retaining older names prior to the harmonization of street numbers following the adoption of a countywide 911 system in the late 20th century.[322][323]
In addition to streets and roads under the jurisdiction of the local and county governments, the state legislature designates a network of state highways that are maintained by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).[324][325] These highways are primarily funded by the state government through a fuel tax and annual fees on vehicle registration that are collected by other departments.[326][327] Several highways connect beyond the Puget Sound region, including crossings of the Cascade Mountains through mountain passes—of which three have winter access during normal weather.[328] Some city streets in the state highway system, such as Aurora Avenue North on State Route 99 (SR 99), have shared jurisdiction or ownership between WSDOT and local governments.[329][330]
The state highway system comprises undivided highways as well as controlled-access freeways,[331] which include several routes on the national Interstate Highway System that cover a total of 182 miles (293 km) in the Seattle metropolitan area.[332][333] These freeways were built by the state government in the 20th century to conform with standards set by the Federal Highway Administration and are numbered as part of a national scheme.[334][335] The main West Coast freeway, Interstate 5 (I-5), travels through the region and serves the cities of Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett; its busiest section in Downtown Seattle carried 274,000 vehicles on an average day in 2016, while approximately 2.6 billion person miles were traveled on the corridor between Federal Way and Everett in 2017.[336][337] The only east–west Interstate in the area is I-90, which connects Seattle to Bellevue, Issaquah, and Eastern Washington via Snoqualmie Pass.[328] I-5 has two auxiliary routes in the region: I-405, which serves the Eastside and functions as a bypass of Seattle;[338] and I-705, a short spur into Downtown Tacoma that opened in 1990.[339]
Other major freeways in the area include SR 16 from Tacoma to the Kitsap Peninsula; SR 18 from Federal Way to Snoqualmie; SR 167 from Puyallup to Renton; SR 509 from SeaTac to Seattle; SR 520 from Seattle to Redmond; SR 522 from Bothell to Monroe; and U.S. Route 2 (US 2) from Everett to Snohomish.[331][332] Plans for a larger network of freeways and expressways were drawn up in the 1950s and 1960s, but were later cancelled or downsized due to public outcry and budget issues. Among the cancelled projects were the R.H. Thomson Expressway in eastern Seattle, the Bay Freeway in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood, and an outer bypass of the Eastside unofficially named Interstate 605 that was proposed several times.[340] The highway system includes several of the longest floating bridges in the world due to the depth of local water bodies and their soft silt, which make conventional bridge designs more challenging.[341]Lake Washington has three of the bridges: a pair carries separate directions of I-90, while the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge carries SR 520 and is the world's longest floating bridge at 7,700 feet (2,300 m).[341][342] The SR 520 floating bridge is one of two toll bridges in the area, along with the eastbound span of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on SR 16, which was constructed with toll revenue.[343] The toll bridges and the State Route 99 tunnel in Seattle use the Good to Go electronic toll system, which charges based on a transponder or by reading a vehicle's license plate with fees collected by mail.[344]
The region's freeway system includes a network of high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes) to encourage use of mass transit and carpools during peak periods;[345] the lanes also include bypasses at ramp meters and special ramps at some interchanges.[346][347] As of 2018[update], 250 miles (400 km) of the planned 369 miles (594 km) in the network have been constructed and carry 38 percent of all freeway miles traveled.[336] it was the third-largest system of HOV lanes among U.S. metropolitan areas in 2008.[348] A 40-mile (64 km) section of HOV lanes on I-405 and SR 167 are planned to be converted to high-occupancy toll lanes (HOT lanes) by the late 2020s.[349] The Good to Go system is used to collect tolls for single-occupant vehicles in the lanes and are set by variable demand with a maximum of $15; vehicles carrying three or more people are exempt from the toll with a compatible transponder.[350]
The region is served by two Class I railroads primarily used for freight: BNSF Railway, which owns several lines that connect the north–south I-5 corridor and across the Cascade Mountains; and the Union Pacific Railroad, which owns a short section from Tukwila to Tacoma and has operating rights on other BNSF lines.[351]Amtrak operates intercity passenger trains on these railroads with stations in the Seattle metropolitan area. The Cascades serves the Portland–Seattle–Vancouver corridor with multiple trips per day; the Coast Starlight operates daily service to Oregon and California from King Street Station in Seattle; and the Empire Builder connects the region to Eastern Washington and Chicago.[351] The Cascades travels along the Pacific Northwest Corridor, a designated study corridor for potential high-speed rail service.[351][352]
The Seattle metropolitan area has seven major transit agencies that provide public transportation across several modes, including buses, light rail, commuter rail, and ferries. Most transit modes in the region use the ORCA card, a smart fare card system introduced in 2009.[353][354] Fares are discounted for people aged 65 or older or those with disabilities; since 2022, all fares for passengers 18 years old and younger have been waived as part of a state program.[355] According to 2019 estimates from the American Community Survey, approximately 10.7 percent of workers in the Seattle metropolitan area used public transit to commute—the sixth most per capita among the largest metropolitan areas in the United States.[356] The high ridership, particularly for buses in the 2010s, was attributed to subsidized fares and other benefits offered by large employers for commuters.[357]
Sound Transit is a regional authority that manages Link light rail, Sounder commuter rail, and Sound Transit Express buses on freeways.[358] It was created in 1993 and has a district that covers 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2) and 2.9 million people across 50 municipalities.[359] Link, the regional rapid transit system, carried 23.9 million passengers in 2022 on its two lines: the 1 Line from Seattle to SeaTac, and the T Line in Tacoma.[358][360] Sound Transit's major capital projects are funded by several sources, including property taxes and fees on motor-vehicle registrations, that are enabled by ballot initiatives approved by voters in 1996, 2008, and 2016.[359][361] The light rail system plans to expand to 116 miles (187 km) by 2045 and cover several major corridors at a total cost of $149 billion.[361] Other local rail systems include the Seattle Streetcar network, which comprises two lines,[362] and the Seattle Center Monorail, a popular tourist attraction that carries 2 million riders annually.[363]
The largest local transit agency is King County Metro, which operates buses, paratransit, vanpools, and rideshare in King County. It also operates an electric trolleybus network in Seattle as well as the city's streetcar system.[364] Metro is one of the largest bus agencies in the United States by ridership, carrying 63.6 million annual passengers in 2022.[360] Snohomish County has two transit providers: Community Transit, which serves most of the county and also operates commuter express service to Seattle; and Everett Transit, which serves the city.[365] Other providers include Pierce Transit in Tacoma and Pierce County; Kitsap Transit in Kitsap County;[366] and Intercity Transit in Olympia and Thurston County, which operates fare-free.[367]
The state-run Washington State Ferries system is the largest maritime transit system in the United States and carries both passengers and vehicles as an extension of the state highway system; it also serves as a tourist attraction in addition to its role as a commuter mode.[368][369] The ferries carried 17.4 million passengers and 8.6 million vehicles in 2022; prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and service cuts, it had carried 25 million annual passengers.[370][371] The system was created in 1951 after a state takeover of the Puget Sound Navigation Company's main lines in the region.[368]Colman Dock in Downtown Seattle is the system's main hub and is served by routes from Bainbridge Island and Bremerton.[372]Vashon Island has two terminals at opposite ends of the island: the north terminal is used by the Southworth–Vashon–Fauntleroy triangle service that connects east to West Seattle; and the south terminal at Tahlequah is part of the Point Defiance–Tahlequah route from Tacoma.[373] Two routes serve Snohomish County: the Edmonds–Kingston run connects to the Kitsap Peninsula and the Mukilteo–Clinton run travels to Whidbey Island.[374] The Pierce County government operates the Steilacoom–Anderson Island ferry with automobile service to two island communities in southern Puget Sound.[375]
The King County Marine Division operates the King County Water Taxi, a passenger ferry service that connects Downtown Seattle to West Seattle and Vashon Island.[376] The Vashon Island run was formerly a passenger ferry operated by Washington State Ferries from 1990 until 2006, when the state government cut its funding; the county government later acquired the service under a new ferry district.[377] The passenger-only Kitsap Fast Ferries system operated by Kitsap Transit connects a terminal near Colman Dock to three terminals on the Kitsap Peninsula.[378] Kitsap Transit launched the system's first route, Seattle–Bremerton, in 2017 to provide a faster alternative to the existing state ferry run; it expanded using a fleet of catamarans designed for low wakes.[379] The agency also runs a passenger-only foot ferry between Bremerton and two terminals in Port Orchard using the historic Carlisle II and other boats.[380][381] The Port of Everett runs a seasonal passenger ferry between Everett and Jetty Island in Possession Sound.[382] These services are similar to that of the historic Mosquito Fleet, a collective name for passenger ferries operated on Puget Sound from the 1880s to 1920s.[383]
In addition to public operators, several private ferry and excursion services are based in the Seattle area. The Victoria Clipper connects Downtown Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia, via an international passenger ferry.[384]Argosy Cruises operates sightseeing cruises in Elliott Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal; from 2009 to 2021, the company also operated Tillicum Village, a performance and culinary cruise on Blake Island.[385]
There are six electric utilities that distribute electricity to customers in a local market within the Seattle metropolitan area.[386] They draw most of their electric power from hydroelectric dams in the Pacific Northwest, along with wind, natural gas, and coal.[387][388] In 2020, these utilities generated or sold over 43,019,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity, of which 52 percent was from hydroelectric sources.[389] The largest utility, Puget Sound Energy, is a private company that covers most of King County and portions of Pierce County; as of 2022[update], it derives half of its electricity from coal and natural gas.[387][390] The company is one of two non-government providers alongside the Peninsula Light Company, a non-profit cooperative on the Key Peninsula.[386][391] The remaining local providers, Seattle City Light, the Snohomish County Public Utility District, and Tacoma Power, are public utilities who are also members of the Energy Northwest consortium.[392] They generate their own electricity and also purchase it from the federal Bonneville Power Administration, which operates 31 hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.[393] The cost of electricity in the metropolitan area is approximately 25 percent below the average for the United States due to its reliance on hydroelectricity;[394] as of 2019[update], the average price of electricity ranged from 7.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in Tacoma to 10.2 cents for Puget Sound Energy customers.[395]
The region derives most of its tap water from sources in the Cascade Mountains that are fed by melted snowpack that accumulate during the autumn and winter and fill reservoirs as they melt.[396] The water is collected and treated by three major public utilities that distribute it for consumption: the City of Everett manages the water supply for most of Snohomish County, which is derived from Spada Lake on the Sultan River; Seattle Public Utilities serves 1.3 million people in King County and has two major water sources on the Cedar and Tolt rivers;[397] and Tacoma Public Utilities uses the upper Green River in King County to serve Pierce County and portions of southern King County.[386]: 7.6 [398] The utilities and other providers also rely on groundwater wells that draw from a series of underground aquifers in the region, but their use has diminished since the mid-20th century.[386]: 6.7 [399] The treatment process generally includes the addition of water fluoridation and the use of chlorine as well as ozone or ultraviolet light disinfection.[400][401]
Wastewater is collected locally and sent through sewers and pump stations to regional treatment facilities to be discharged into local waterways, primarily Puget Sound.[386]: 7.4 [402] The combined sewer system in older areas, including most of Seattle, also carries untreated stormwater that is dumped with wastewater during overflow events;[403] cities and utilities have undertaken projects to build separate stormwater tunnels and holding tanks to address the issue.[404]Solid waste is collected from curbside bins and dumpsters by local governments or contracted out to companies including Waste Management, Allied Waste, Republic Services, and Recology.[405][406] County and city governments also operate collection and distribution sites to sort waste before it is sent to a regional landfill or by rail to a waste-to-energy plant.[407][408] The curbside collection service also includes recycling pickup, which Seattle began in 1988,[409] which is sorted and processed locally and overseas.[410] In 2015, it became mandatory for providers to offer curbside collection of food waste for composting in Seattle after the program was expanded from commercial establishments to all households.[411] Various cities in the metropolitan area banned single-use plastic bags and began imposing charges on reusable or paper bags from 2009 onward,[412] ahead of a statewide ban that took effect in 2021.[413]
Residential and commercial central heating systems in the metropolitan area are primarily supplied by electricity or natural gas; some denser neighborhoods in Seattle also use steam district heating.[414][415] The region historically had the lowest number of households using air conditioning in their homes in the U.S. due to the temperate summer climate. A series of major heat waves in the late 2010s and 2020s contributed to an increase in the number of households with air conditioning from 31 percent to over 53 percent by 2021.[416][417] Puget Sound Energy provides natural gas to approximately 850,000 residents in the three metropolitan counties but has announced plans to transition to electric heating under new state regulations.[390][418] Natural gas, primarily sourced from Canada and the Mountain states,[419] and petroleum are transported through a series of pipelines that travel along the Interstate 5 corridor in Western Washington.[420] The region is also served by oil refineries that primarily receive crude oil transported by ship from Alaska and train from North Dakota.[421] The refineries in Western Washington produce gasoline and diesel fuel that is primarily used for transportation; prices for gasoline in the Seattle metropolitan area are among the highest in the United States, averaging 45 cents higher than the national average from 2017 to 2021, due to a more limited wholesale market.[422]
The Seattle metropolitan area has several broadband and fiber-optic internet service providers, including CenturyLink, Charter Spectrum, Comcast Xfinity, Wave Broadband, and Ziply Fiber;[423][424] approximately 85 percent of households in the metropolitan area had access to broadband internet service in 2014.[425] Comcast Xfinity has the largest market coverage in the area at an estimated 95 percent of households in 2015 and little overlap with competitors.[426] The Seattle area is also served by the three major cellular network companies in the U.S., including Bellevue-based T-Mobile US, and has had 5G coverage since the late 2010s.[427][428] The region is part of five area codes under the North American Numbering Plan: 206 in Seattle; 253 in Tacoma and the southern Puget Sound region; 360 for most of Western Washington; 425 in the Eastside and southern Snohomish County; and 564 as an overlay for the region introduced in 2017.[429] Area code 206 was originally assigned to all of Western Washington until it was split in the 1990s with the introduction of new local area codes.[430]
^"Population of Metropolitan Districts". Abstract of the Thirteenth Census, 1910(PDF) (Report). United States Census Bureau. 1913. pp. 61–62. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
^"Metropolitan Districts"(PDF). Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930 (Report). United States Census Bureau. 1932. p. 214. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
^Washington State K–12 School Districts(PDF) (Map). 1 inch = 25 miles. Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
^ abBagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's Newspapers as They Were, Are, and Will Be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. pp. 18, 27–30, 33–34. ISBN978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC861618089.
^ abWashington State Department of Transportation (2022). General Highway Map, State of Washington(PDF) (Map). Olympia: Washington State Department of Transportation. Puget Sound inset. Retrieved February 13, 2024.cite map: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ abWashington State Department of Transportation (2014). Washington State Highways, 2014–2015(PDF) (Map). 1:842,000. Olympia: Washington State Department of Transportation. Puget Sound inset. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
Washington is the 18th-largest state, with an area of 71,362 square miles (184,830 km2), and the 13th-most populous state, with a population of just less than 8 million.[7] The majority of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry on Puget Sound,[8][9] an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of numerous islands, deep fjords and bays carved out by glaciers. The remainder of the state consists of deep temperate rainforests in the west; mountain ranges in the west, center, northeast, and far southeast, and a semi-arid basin region in the east, center, and south, given over to intensive agriculture. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, after California. Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the state's highest elevation at 14,411 feet (4,392 meters), and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous U.S.
Washington is a leading lumber producer, the largest producer of apples, hops, pears, blueberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries in the U.S., and ranks high in the production of apricots, asparagus, dry edible peas, grapes, lentils, peppermint oil, and potatoes.[10][11] Livestock, livestock products, and commercial fishing—particularly of salmon, halibut, and bottomfish—are also significant contributors to the state's economy.[12] Washington ranks second only to California in wine production. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft, missiles, shipbuilding, and other transportation equipment, food processing, metals, and metal products, chemicals, and machinery.[13]
Confusion between the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D.C., led to renaming proposals during the statehood process for Washington in 1889, including David Dudley Field II's suggestion to name the new state "Tacoma"; these proposals failed to garner support.[25] Washington, D.C.'s, own statehood movement in the 21st century has included a proposal to use the name "State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth", which would conflict with the current state of Washington.[5] Residents of Washington (known as "Washingtonians") and the Pacific Northwest simply refer to the state as "Washington", and the nation's capital "Washington, D.C.", "the other Washington",[26] or simply "D.C."
A farm and barren hills near Riverside, in north-central Washington
The 9,300-year-old skeletal remains of Kennewick Man, one of the oldest and most complete human remains found in North America, were discovered in Washington in the 1990s.[27] The region has been home to many established tribes of indigenous peoples for thousands of years. They are notable for their ornately carved welcome figures, canoes, long houses and masks. Prominent among their industries were salmon fishing and, notably among the Makah, whale hunting.[28][29] The peoples of the Interior had a different subsistence-based culture based on hunting, food-gathering and some forms of agriculture, as well as a dependency on salmon from the Columbia and its tributaries.
The first recorded European landing on the Washington coast was by Spanish Captain Don Bruno de Heceta in 1775,[31] on board the Santiago, part of a two-ship flotilla with the Sonora. He claimed the coastal lands up to Prince William Sound for Spain as part of their claimed rights under the Treaty of Tordesillas, which they maintained made the Pacific a "Spanish lake" and all its shores part of the Spanish Empire. Soon thereafter, the smallpox epidemic of the 1770s devastated the Native American population.[32]
The British–Spanish Nootka Convention of 1790 ended Spanish claims of exclusivity and opened the Northwest Coast to explorers and traders from other nations, most notably Britain and Russia as well as the fledgling United States.[38][39] American captain Robert Gray (for whom Grays Harbor County is named) then discovered the mouth of the Columbia River. He named the river after his ship, the Columbia.[40] Beginning in 1792, Gray established trade in sea otter pelts. The Lewis and Clark Expedition entered the state on October 10, 1805.[41]
Explorer David Thompson, on his voyage down the Columbia River, camped at the confluence with the Snake River on July 9, 1811,[42] and erected a pole and a notice claiming the territory for Great Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a trading post at the site.
Britain and the United States agreed to what has since been described as "joint occupancy" of lands west of the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean as part of the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which established the 49th parallel as the international boundary west from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains.[43] Resolution of the territorial and treaty issues west to the Pacific was deferred until a later time. In 1819, Spain ceded its rights north of the 42nd parallel to the United States.[44]
Negotiations with Great Britain over the next few decades failed to settle upon a compromise boundary and the Oregon boundary dispute was highly contested between Britain and the United States. Disputed joint occupancy by Britain and the U.S. lasted for several decades. With American settlers pouring into Oregon Country, Hudson's Bay Company, which had previously discouraged settlement because it conflicted with the fur trade, reversed its position in an attempt to maintain British control of the Columbia District.[45]
Fur trapper James Sinclair, on orders from Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, led some 200 settlers from the Red River Colony west in 1841 to settle on Hudson Bay Company farms near Fort Vancouver.[46] The party crossed the Rockies into the Columbia Valley, near present-day Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia, then traveled south-west down the Kootenai River and Columbia River. Despite such efforts, Britain eventually ceded all claims to land south of the 49th parallel to the United States in the Oregon Treaty on June 15, 1846.[47]
In 1836, a group of missionaries, including Marcus Whitman, established several missions and Whitman's own settlement Waiilatpu, in what is now southeastern Washington state, near present-day Walla Walla County, in the territory of both the Cayuse and the Nez Perce Indian tribes.[48] Whitman's settlement would in 1843 help the Oregon Trail, the overland emigration route to the west, get established for thousands of emigrants in the following decades. Whitman provided medical care for the Native Americans, but when Indian patients—lacking immunity to new, "European" diseases—died in striking numbers, while at the same time many white patients recovered, they held "medicine man" Marcus Whitman personally responsible, and executed Whitman and twelve other white settlers. This was called the Whitman massacre in 1847.[49] This event triggered the Cayuse War between settlers and Indians.
Fort Nisqually, a farm and trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company and the first European settlement in the Puget Sound area, was founded in 1833.[50] Black pioneer George Washington Bush and his Caucasian wife, Isabella James Bush, from Missouri and Tennessee, respectively, led four white families into the territory and founded New Market, now Tumwater, in 1846.[51] They settled in Washington to avoid Oregon's black exclusion law, which prohibited African Americans from entering the territory while simultaneously prohibiting slavery.[52][53] After them, many more settlers, migrating overland along the Oregon Trail, wandered north to settle in the Puget Sound area.
Spanish and Russian claims to the region were ceded in the early 19th century through a series of treaties. The Spanish signed the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, and the Russians the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and 1825.
The Oregon Question remained contested between the United Kingdom and the United States until the 1846 Oregon Treaty established the border between British North America and the United States along the 49th parallel until the Strait of Georgia.[47] Vague wording in the treaty left the ownership of the San Juan Islands in doubt; during the so-called Pig War, both nations agreed to a joint military occupation of the islands.[54] Kaiser Wilhelm I of the German Empire was selected as an arbitrator to end the dispute, with a three-man commission ruling in favor of the United States in 1872. The border established by the Oregon Treaty and finalized by the arbitration in 1872 remains the boundary between Washington and British Columbia.
The growing population of Oregon Territory north of the Columbia River formally requested a new territory. As a result of the Monticello Convention, held in present-day Cowlitz County, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to create Washington Territory. It was signed into law by PresidentMillard Fillmore on March 2, 1853.[55][23] The boundary of Washington Territory initially extended farther east than the present state, including what is now the Idahopanhandle and parts of western Montana, and picked up more land to the southeast that was left behind when Oregon was admitted as a state; the creation of Idaho Territory in 1863 established the final eastern border. A Washington state constitution was drafted and ratified in 1878, but it was never officially adopted.[56] Although never approved by the United States Congress, the 1878 constitution is an important historical document that shows the political thinking of the time; it was used extensively during the drafting of Washington state's 1889 constitution, the one and only official Constitution of the State of Washington. Washington became the 42nd state of the United States on November 11, 1889.[57]
Early prominent industries in the new state included agriculture and lumber. In Eastern Washington, the Yakima River Valley became known for its apple orchards,[58] while the growth of wheat using dry farming techniques became particularly productive. Heavy rainfall to the west of the Cascade Range produced dense forests, and the ports along Puget Sound prospered from the manufacturing and shipping of lumber products, particularly the Douglas fir. Other industries that developed in the state included fishing, salmon canning and mining.[12][59]
For a long period, Tacoma had large smelters where gold, silver, copper, and lead ores were treated.[60]Seattle was the primary port for trade with Alaska and the rest of the country, and for a time, it possessed a large shipbuilding industry. The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including World War I and World War II, and the Boeing company became an established icon in the area.[61]
During the Great Depression, a series of hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia River as part of a project to increase the production of electricity. This culminated in 1941 with the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest concrete structure in the United States and the largest dam in the world at its construction.[62]
During World War II, the state became a focus for war industries. While the Boeing Company produced many heavy bombers, ports in Seattle, Bremerton, Vancouver, and Tacoma were available for the manufacture of warships. Seattle was the point of departure for many soldiers in the Pacific, several of whom were quartered at Fort Lawton, which later became Discovery Park.[63] In Eastern Washington, the Hanford Worksatomic energy plant was opened in 1943 and played a major role in the construction of atomic bombs.[64]
After the end of World War II, and with the beginning of the civil rights movement, the state's growing Black or African-American population's wages were 53% above the national average. The early diversification of Washington through the Great Migration led to successful efforts at reducing discrimination in the workplace.[65][66] In 1950, Seattle's first black representative for the state's legislature was elected. At the 1970 U.S. census, the black population grew to 7.13% of the total population.[67]
In 1970, the state was one of only four U.S. states to have been providing legal abortions before the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade which loosened abortion laws nationwide.[18][68]
Washington is the northwesternmost state of the contiguous United States. It borders Idaho to the east, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the Snake River and Clearwater River (about 117°02'23" west), except for the southernmost section where the border follows the Snake River. Oregon is to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part and the 46th parallel forming the eastern part of the Oregon–Washington border. During Washington's partition from Oregon, the original plan for the border followed the Columbia River east until the confluence with the Snake, and then would have followed the Snake River east; this was changed to keep Walla Walla's fertile farmland in Washington.
Washington is part of a region known as the Pacific Northwest, a term which always refers to at least Washington and Oregon, and may or may not include some or all the following, depending on the user's intent: Idaho, western Montana, northern California, British Columbia, and Alaska.
The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north–south, bisecting the state. In addition to Western Washington and Eastern Washington, residents call the two parts of the state the "Westside" and the "Eastside", "Wet side" and "Dry side", or "Timberland" and "Wheatland", the latter pair more commonly in the names of region-specific businesses and institutions. These terms reflect the geography, climate, and industry of the land on both sides of the Cascades.
Mount Rainier—the tallest mountain in the state[74]—is 50 miles (80 km) south of the city of Seattle, from which it is prominently visible. The United States Geological Survey considers 14,411-foot-tall (4,392 m) Mount Rainier the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range, due to its proximity to the Seattle metropolitan area, and most dangerous in the continental U.S. according to the Decade Volcanoes list.[75] It is also covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states.[76]
Western Washington also is home of the Olympic Mountains, far west on the Olympic Peninsula, which support dense forests of conifers and areas of temperate rainforest. These deep forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest, are among the only rainforests in the continental United States.[77] While Western Washington does not always experience a high amount of rainfall as measured in total inches of rain per year, it does consistently have more rainy days per year than most other places in the country.[78]
Eastern Washington—the part of the state east of the Cascades—has a relatively dry climate, in distinct contrast to the west side. It includes large areas of semiarid steppe and a few truly arid deserts in the rain shadow of the Cascades; the Hanford reservation receives an average annual precipitation of 6 to 7 inches (150 to 180 mm). Despite the limited amount of rainfall, agriculture is an extremely important business throughout much of Eastern Washington, as the soil is highly productive and irrigation, aided by dams along the Columbia River, is fairly widespread.[79] The spread of population in Eastern Washington is dominated by access to water, especially rivers. The main cities are all located alongside rivers or lakes; most of them are named after the river or lake they adjoin.
Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east to 21.2 inches (540 mm) in Pullman, near the Washington–Idaho border.[80] The Okanogan Highlands and the rugged Kettle River Range and Selkirk Mountains cover much of the state's northeastern quadrant. The Palouse southeast region of Washington was grassland that has been mostly converted into farmland, and extends to the Blue Mountains.[81]
The state of Washington has a temperate climate. The eastern half of Washington has a semi-arid to warm-summer mediterranean climate, while the western side of Washington as well as the coastal areas of the state have a cool oceanic climate or warm-summer mediterranean climate. Major factors determining Washington's climate include the large semi-permanent low pressure and high pressure systems of the north Pacific Ocean, the continental air masses of North America, and the Olympic and Cascade mountains. In the spring and summer, a high-pressure anticyclone system dominates the north Pacific Ocean, causing air to spiral out in a clockwise fashion. For Washington, this means prevailing winds from the northwest bring relatively cool air and a predictably dry season.[83][failed verification]
In the autumn and winter, a low-pressure cyclone system, the Aleutian Low, takes over in the north Pacific Ocean. The air spiraling inward in a counter-clockwise fashion causes Washington's prevailing winds to come from the southwest, and bring cool and overcast weather and a predictably wet season. The term "Pineapple Express" is used colloquially to describe atmospheric river events, where repeated storm systems are directed by this persistent cyclone from the tropical Pacific regions a great distance into the Pacific Northwest. Western Washington is very cloudy during much of fall, winter, and early spring. Seattle averages the least sunshine hours of any major city in the United States.[84]
Despite Western Washington's marine climate similar to many coastal cities of Europe, there are exceptions such as the "Big Snow" events of 1880, 1881, 1893, and 1916,[85][86] and the "deep freeze" winters of 1883–1884, 1915–1916, 1949–1950, and 1955–1956, among others.[87] During these events, Western Washington experienced up to 6 feet (1.8 m) of snow, sub-zero (−18 °C) temperatures, three months with snow on the ground, and lakes and rivers frozen over for weeks.[86] Seattle's lowest officially recorded temperature is 0 °F (−18 °C) set on January 31, 1950, but low-altitude areas approximately three hours away from Seattle have recorded lows as cold as −48 °F (−44 °C).[88]
The Southern Oscillation greatly influences weather during the cold season. During the El Niño phase, the jet stream enters the U.S. farther south through California, therefore late fall and winter are drier than normal with less snowpack. The La Niña phase reinforces the jet stream through the Pacific Northwest, causing Washington to have more rain and snow than average.[89]
In 2006, the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington published The Impacts of Climate Change in Washington's Economy, a preliminary assessment of the risks and opportunities presented given the possibility of a rise in global temperatures and their effects on Washington state.[90]
Washington experiences extensive variation in rainfall.
Rainfall in Washington varies dramatically going from east to west. The Olympic Peninsula's western side receives as much as 160 inches (4,100 mm) of precipitation annually, making it the wettest area of the 48 conterminous states and a temperate rainforest. Weeks may pass without a clear day. The western slopes of the Cascade Range receive some of the heaviest annual snowfall (in some places more than 200 inches or 5,100 millimeters water equivalent) in the country. In the rain shadow area east of the Cascades, the annual precipitation is only 6 inches (150 mm). Precipitation then increases again eastward toward the Rocky Mountains (about 120 miles (190 km) east of the Idaho border).
The Olympic mountains and Cascades compound this climatic pattern by causing orographic lift of the air masses blown inland from the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the windward side of the mountains receiving high levels of precipitation and the leeward side receiving low levels. This occurs most dramatically around the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range. In both cases, the windward slopes facing southwest receive high precipitation and mild, cool temperatures. While the Puget Sound lowlands are known for clouds and rain in the winter, the western slopes of the Cascades receive larger amounts of precipitation, often falling as snow at higher elevations.[91]Mount Baker, near the state's northern border, is one of the snowiest places in the world. In 1999, it set the world record for snowfall in a single season—1,140 inches (95 ft; 29 m).[92]
East of the Cascades, a large region experiences strong rain shadow effects. Semi-arid conditions occur in much of Eastern Washington with the strongest rain shadow effects at the relatively low elevations of the central Columbia Plateau—especially the region just east of the Columbia River from about the Snake River to the Okanagan Highland. Thus, instead of rain forests, much of Eastern Washington is covered with dry grassland, shrub-steppe, and dunes.
The average annual temperature ranges from 51 °F (11 °C) on the Pacific coast to 40 °F (4 °C) in the northeast. The lowest temperature recorded in the state was −48 °F (−44 °C) in Winthrop and Mazama. The highest recorded temperature in the state was 120 °F (49 °C) at Hanford on June 29, 2021.[93][94] Both records were set east of the Cascades. Western Washington is known for its mild climate, considerable fog, frequent cloud cover, long-lasting drizzles in the winter and warm, temperate summers. The eastern region, which does not benefit from the general moderating effect of the Pacific Ocean, occasionally experiences extreme climate. Arctic cold fronts in the winter and heat waves in the summer are not uncommon. In the Western region, temperatures have reached as high as 118 °F (48 °C) in Maple Valley[95] during the June 2021 heat wave, and as low as −6 °F (−21 °C) in Longview,[96] and even −8 °F (−22 °C) in Sammamish.[97]
Forests cover about half the state's land area, mostly west of the northern Cascades. Approximately two-thirds of Washington's forested area is publicly owned, including 64 percent of federal land.[108] Common trees and plants in the region are camassia, Douglas fir, hemlock, penstemon, ponderosa pine, western red cedar, and many species of ferns.[109] The state's various areas of wilderness offer sanctuary, with substantially large populations of shorebirds and marine mammals. The Pacific shore surrounding the San Juan Islands is heavily inhabited by killer, gray, and humpback whales.[110]
In Eastern Washington, the flora is vastly different. Tumbleweeds and sagebrush dominate the landscape throughout large parts of the countryside. Russian olives and other trees are common alongside riverbanks; however, apart from the riversides, large swaths of Eastern Washington have no naturally existing trees at all (though many trees have been planted and are irrigated by people, of course). A wider variety of flora can be found in both the Blue Mountains and the eastern sides of the Cascades.
Mammals native to the state include the bat, black bear, bobcat, cougar, coyote, deer, elk, gray wolf, hare, moose, mountain beaver, muskrat, opossum, pocket gopher, rabbit, raccoon, river otter, skunk, and tree squirrel.[111] Because of the wide range of geography, the state of Washington is home to several different ecoregions, which allow for a varied range of bird species. This range includes raptors, shorebirds, woodland birds, grassland birds, ducks, and others.[112] There have also been a large number of species introduced to Washington, dating back to the early 18th century, including horses and burros.[113] The channel catfish, lamprey, and sturgeon are among the 400 known freshwater fishes.[114][115] Along with the Cascades frog, there are several forms of snakes that define the most prominent reptiles and amphibians.[116][117] Coastal bays and islands are often inhabited by plentiful amounts of shellfish and whales. There are five species of salmon that ascend the Western Washington area, from streams to spawn.[110]
There are 39 counties within the state, and 281 incorporated municipalities which are divided into cities and towns.[122] The majority of the state's population lives within Western Washington, in the Seattle metropolitan area; the city of Seattle is the principal city of the metropolitan area, and Western Washington, with a 2020 census population of 737,015.[123]
Washington's population was 7,705,281 in the 2020 census,[129] a 14.6% increase since the 2010 census.[130] In 2020, the state ranked 13th overall in population, and was the third most populous, after California and Texas, west of the Mississippi River.[131] Washington has the largest population among states in the Pacific Northwest, followed by Oregon and Idaho. The Washington State Office of Financial Management estimated the state population to be 7,951,150 as of April 1, 2023.[132]
In 2020, Washington's proportion of residents under the age of five was 5.7%, 21.8% under 18, and 16.3% 65 or older.[135]
Four-fifths of the state's population identifies as White or European American. Washington has some of the largest Native American and Asian populations among states in the U.S.; the state also has a small proportion of African Americans. Washington's Hispanic community began growing rapidly in the late 20th century.[110] In 2018, the top countries of origin for Washington's immigrants were Mexico, India, China, the Philippines and Vietnam.[136] There are 29 federally recognized Native American tribes in the state, mostly in Western Washington, and other unrecognized groups.[137]
The racial composition of Washington's population as of the 2020 census was:
Race and Hispanic origin of Washington by county, showing race by color, and then breaking down non-Hispanic and Hispanic origin by color tone. The county population is shown by size and by the label. The same data on the map below shows non-Hispanic and Hispanic origin first and then breaks that down by race using color tone.[141]The same race and origin data as above, but the Hispanic origin is grouped first, then by race. The first emphasizes the racial diversity of people of Hispanic origin, while the second grouping gives a clearer indication of the total Hispanic population.[141]
Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one Hispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
While the population of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest is relatively scarce overall, they are mostly concentrated in the South End and Central District areas of Seattle, and in inner Tacoma.[160] The black community of Seattle consisted of one individual in 1858, Manuel Lopes, and grew to a population of 406 by 1900.[161] It developed substantially during and after World War II when wartime industries and the U.S. Armed Forces employed and recruited tens of thousands of African Americans from the Southeastern United States. They moved west in the second wave of the Great Migration, leaving a high influence on West Coast rock music and R&B and soul in the 1960s, including Seattle native Jimi Hendrix, a pioneer in hard rock, who was of African-American and alleged Cherokee descent.
Asian Americans are mostly concentrated in the Seattle−Tacoma metropolitan area of the state. Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond, which are all within King County, have sizable Chinese communities (including Taiwanese), as well as significant Indian and Japanese communities. The Chinatown–International District in Seattle has a historical Chinese population dating back to the 1860s, who mainly emigrated from Guangdong Province in southern China, and is home to a diverse East and Southeast Asian community. Koreans are heavily concentrated in the suburban cities of Federal Way and Auburn to the south, and in Lynnwood to the north. Tacoma is home to thousands of Cambodians, and has one of the largest Cambodian-American communities in the United States, along with Long Beach, California, and Lowell, Massachusetts.[162] The Vietnamese and Filipino populations of Washington are mostly concentrated within the Seattle metropolitan area.[163]
Washington state has the second highest percentage of Pacific Islander people in the mainland U.S. (behind Utah); the Seattle–Tacoma area is home to more than 15,000 people of Samoan ancestry, who mainly reside in southeast Seattle, Tacoma, Federal Way, and in SeaTac.[164][165]
The most numerous (ethnic, not racial, group) are Latinos at 11%, as Mexican Americans formed a large ethnic group in the Chehalis Valley, Skagit Valley, farming areas of Yakima Valley, and Eastern Washington. They were reported to at least date as far back as the 1800s.[166] But it was in the late 20th century, that large-scale Mexican immigration and other Latinos settled in the southern suburbs of Seattle, with limited concentrations in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties during the region's real estate construction booms in the 1980s and 1990s.
Additionally, Washington has a large Ethiopian community, with many Eritrean residents as well.[167] Both emerged in the late 1960s, and developed since 1980.[168] An estimated 30,000 Somali immigrants reside in the Seattle area.[169]
In 2010, 82.51% (5,060,313) of Washington residents age5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language, while 7.79% (477,566) spoke Spanish, 1.19% (72,552) Chinese (which includes Cantonese and Standard Chinese), 0.94% (57,895) Vietnamese, 0.84% (51,301) Tagalog, 0.83% (50,757) Korean, 0.80% (49,282) Russian, and 0.55% (33,744) German. In total, 17.49% (1,073,002) of Washington's population age5 and older spoke a mother language other than English.[170]
Washington has a relatively strong economy, with a total gross state product of $801.5 billion in 2023, placing it eleventh in the nation and growing by 8.6 percent per year—among the fastest rates in the United States.[176] In the late 2010s, the state had the fastest-growing economy in the United States and was tenth-largest in the nation.[177] The minimum wage was set at $11 in 2017 and has increased annually based on a cost-of-living index; since January 1, 2024, it has been $16.28 an hour, the highest of any state.[178] Several cities have higher minimum wages as of 2024[update], such as Seattle at $19.97 for large employers and Tukwila at $20.29 for large employers.[179][180] As of September 2023[update], the state's unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, ranked 36th among states.[181]
With the passage of Initiative 1183, the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) ended its monopoly of all-state liquor store and liquor distribution operations on June 1, 2012. The board transitioned into licensing and regulating the sale of alcohol, tobacco, and later cannabis after the passage of Initiative 502.[184][185]
The state of Washington is one of seven states that do not levy a personal income tax. The state does not collect a corporate income tax or franchise tax either. Washington businesses are responsible for various other state levies, including the business and occupation tax (B & O), a gross receipts tax which charges varying rates for different types of businesses.
Washington's state base sales tax is 6.5%, which is combined with a local sales tax that varies by locality. The combined state and local retail sales tax rates increase the taxes paid by consumers, depending on the variable local sales tax rates, generally between 7.5% and 10%.[187] As of 2024[update], the combined sales tax rate in Seattle was 10.25%. The Snohomish County cities of Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Mukilteo are tied for the highest sales tax rate in the state at 10.6%.[188] These taxes apply to services as well as products, but not most foods due to a 1977 ballot measure.[189][190] However, prepared foods, dietary supplements, and soft drinks remain taxable.[191]
An excise tax applies to certain products such as gasoline, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages. Property tax was the first tax levied in the state of Washington, and its collection accounts for about 30% of Washington's total state and local revenue. It continues to be the most important revenue source for public schools, fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation, and other special-purpose districts.
All real property and personal property are subject to tax unless specifically exempted by law. Most personal property owned by individuals is exempt from tax. Personal property tax applies to personal property used when conducting business, or to other personal property not exempt by law. All property taxes are paid to the county treasurer's office where the property is located. Neither does the state assess any tax on retirement income earned and received from another state. Washington does not collect inheritance taxes. However, the estate tax is de-coupled from the federal estate tax laws, and therefore, the state imposes its estate tax.
Washington state has the 18th highest per capita effective tax rate in the United States, as of 2017.[citation needed] As of June 2023[update], Washington has the highest gasoline prices in the United States, at an average of $4.97, in part due to the third-highest gasoline tax in the country.[192] Their tax policy differs from neighboring Oregon's, which levies no sales tax, but does levy a personal income tax. This leads to border economic anomalies in the Portland–Vancouver metropolitan area.[193] Additional border economies with tax disparities exist with neighboring Idaho, which has a lower sales tax rate;[194] and British Columbia, which has higher costs for goods and has residents who commute into Washington for shopping.[195] These include remote mailbox and courier services for American online retailers, which became ubiquitous in border communities in the 21st century.[196]
Washington is a leading agricultural state. For 2018, the total value of Washington's agricultural products was $10.6 billion.[11] In 2014, Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red raspberries (90.5 percent of total U.S. production), hops (79.3 percent), spearmint oil (75 percent), wrinkled seed peas (70.4 percent), apples (71.1 percent), sweet cherries (62.3 percent), pears (45.6 percent), Concord grapes (55.1 percent), carrots for processing (30.6 percent), and green peas for processing (32.4 percent).[197]
Washington also ranked second in the nation in the production of fall potatoes (a quarter of the nation's production), nectarines, apricots, asparagus, all raspberries, grapes (all varieties taken together), sweet corn for processing (a quarter of the nation's production), and summer onions (a fifth of the nation's production). Washington also ranked third in the nation in the production of dried peas, lentils, onions, and peppermint oil.[11]
The apple industry is of particular importance to Washington. Because of the favorable climate of dry, warm summers and cold winters of central Washington, the state has led the U.S. in apple production since the 1920s.[198] Two areas account for the vast majority of the state's apple crop: the Wenatchee–Okanogan region (comprising Chelan, Okanogan, Douglas, and Grant counties), and the Yakima region (comprising Yakima, Benton, and Kittitas counties).[199] Washington produces seven principal varieties of apples which are exported to more than sixty countries.[200]
Washington ranks second in the United States in the production of wine, behind only California.[201] By 2006, the state had over 31,000 acres (130 km2) of vineyards, a harvest of 120,000 short tons (109,000 t) of grapes, and exports going to more than forty countries around the world from the state's 600 wineries. By 2021, that number had grown to 1,050 wineries. While there are some viticultural activities in the cooler, wetter western half of the state, almost all (99%) of wine grape production takes place in the desert-like eastern half.[202] The rain shadow of the Cascade Range leaves the Columbia River Basin with around 8 inches (200 mm) of annual rain fall, making irrigation and water rights of paramount interest to the Washington wine industry. Viticulture in the state is also influenced by long sunlight hours (on average, two more hours a day than in California during the growing season) and consistent temperatures.[203]
As of 2022[update], Washington has 108,542 total U.S. Department of Defense personnel, including active duty members of the military and civilian workers at United States Armed Forces bases.[204] It ranks seventh among states for most active duty personnel, at over 60,000, and seventeenth for reserve members.[205] The U.S. Navy and Marines comprise the largest branch in Washington with 45 percent of personnel, followed by the Army at 40 percent and the Air Force at 11 percent.[204] The state is also home to the 11th-largest population of retirees and veterans at over 560,000 as of 2019[update].[206]
From 2009 to 2014, the Washington State Broadband Project was awarded $7.3 million in federal grants, but the program was discontinued in 2014.[212] For infrastructure, another $166 million has been awarded since 2011 for broadband infrastructure projects in Washington state.[213]
U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington second nationally for household internet access, and sixth for online download speed, based on data from 2014 and 2015.[214]
In 2019, Washington State Legislature established the Washington State Broadband Office with two key mandates: high-speed internet access for 100% of WA residents by 2024 and an increase to 150/150 Mbit/s by 2028.[citation needed]
In March 2021, the Washington State Department of Commerce issued their first biennial report on the progress of these key mandates throughout 2020.[215]
The report includes five sections: public survey results, digital adoption disparities as they relate to federal census data, a Partner-Plan-Fund-Build-Adopt model for continued progress, success stories, and a policy discussion conclusion.
According to the report, "...over 42,000 survey responses from nearly 32,000 unique locations, showing that 6.4 percent of respondents reported having no broadband service, and 57 percent reported service at download speeds under 25 Mbps..."
The Cascade Mountain Range also impedes transportation. Washington operates and maintains roads over seven[vague] major mountain passes and eight minor passes. During the winter months, some of these passes are plowed, sanded, and kept safe with avalanche control. Not all stay open through the winter. The North Cascades Highway, State Route 20, closes every year due to snowfall and avalanches in the area of Washington Pass. The Cayuse and Chinook passes east of Mount Rainier also close in winter.[221]
Washington is crossed by several freight railroads, and Amtrak's passenger Cascade route between Eugene, Oregon, and Vancouver, BC is the eighth busiest Amtrak service in the U.S. Seattle's King Street Station, the busiest station in Washington, and the 15th busiest in the U.S.,[222] serves as the terminus for the two long-distance Amtrak routes in Washington, the Empire Builder to Chicago and the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles. The Sounder commuter rail service operates in Seattle and its surrounding cities, between Everett and Lakewood. The intercity network includes the Cascade Tunnel, the longest railroad tunnel in the United States, which is part of the Stevens Pass route on the BNSF Northern Transcom.[223]
Sound Transit Link light rail currently operates in the Seattle area at a length of 24 miles (39 km), and in Tacoma at a length of 4 miles (6.4 km). The entire system has a funded expansion plan that will expand light rail to a total of 116 miles by 2041. Seattle also has a 3.8-mile (6.1 km) streetcar network with two lines and plans to expand further by 2025. 32 local bus transit systems exist across the state,[217] the busiest being King County Metro, located in Seattle and King County, with just above 122 million riders in 2017.[224] Clark County has historically resisted proposals to extend Portland's MAX Light Rail into Vancouver, including the rejection of two ballot measures, but light rail is slated to be included in a future replacement of the Interstate Bridge.[225]
Hanford Nuclear Reservation is currently the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States[229] and is the focus of the nation's largest environmental cleanup.[230] The radioactive materials are known to be leaking from Hanford into the environment.[231] Another major cleanup site is the Duwamish River basin in Seattle, among the most contaminated bodies of water in the United States due to industrial runoff.[232]
In 2007, Washington became the first state in the nation to target all forms of highly toxic brominatedflame retardants known as PBDEs for elimination from the many common household products in which they are being used. A 2004 study of 40 mothers from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Montana found PBDEs in the breast milk of every woman tested.
Three recent studies by the Washington State Department of Ecology showed toxic chemicals banned decades ago linger in the environment and concentrate in the food chain. In one of the studies, state government scientists found unacceptable levels of toxic substances in 93 samples of freshwater fish from 45 sites. The toxic substances included PCBs, dioxins, two chlorinated pesticides, DDE, dieldrin and PBDEs. As a result of the study, the department will investigate the sources of PCBs in the Wenatchee River, where unhealthy levels of PCBs were found in mountain whitefish. Based on the 2007 information and a previous 2004 Ecology study, the Washington State Department of Health advises the public not to eat mountain whitefish from the Wenatchee River from Leavenworth downstream to where the river joins the Columbia, due to unhealthy levels of PCBs. Study results also showed high levels of contaminants in fish tissue that scientists collected from Lake Washington and the Spokane River, where fish consumption advisories are already in effect.[233]
On March 27, 2006, Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law the recently approved House Bill 2322. This bill would limit phosphorus content in dishwashing detergents statewide to 0.5 percent over the next six years. Though the ban would be effective statewide in 2010, it would take place in Whatcom County, Spokane County, and Clark County in 2008.[234] A recent discovery had linked high contents of phosphorus in water to a boom in algae population. An invasive amount of algae in bodies of water would lead to a variety of excess ecological and technological issues.[235]
In 2020, the electricity sold by public and private suppliers for use in Washington was primarily sourced from hydroelectric dams (55%), followed by natural gas (12%), coal (8.5%), wind (6%), and nuclear (4%). A total of 86.7 million Megawatt-hours of electricity was generated statewide in 2020.[236] Washington has the second-highest rate of renewable energy generation among U.S. states, behind Texas, and accounted for 31 percent of national hydroelectric generation.[237]
The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the state and meets in Olympia. Nine justices serve on the bench and are elected statewide or appointed by the governor to fill vacancies.[238] There are 30 judicial districts, each with a superior court; these districts roughly correspond to counties, with some districts that combine rural or closely-related counties.[239]
Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election
The state is typically thought of as politically divided by the Cascade Mountains, with Western Washington being liberal (particularly the I-5 Corridor) and Eastern Washington being conservative.
Although the eastern half of the state votes heavily Republican, the overwhelming Democratic dominance in the Seattle metropolitan area has turned Washington into a reliably blue state. It is considered part of the Blue wall of states that have voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992. This voting streak began with Democrat Michael Dukakis narrowly capturing Washington in 1988. The state has since turned much more solidly blue, beginning with Obama's landslide victory in 2008, and Democrats winning the state by double digits in every subsequent presidential election.
Washington was considered a key swing state in 1968, and it was the only western state to give its electoral votes to Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey over his Republican opponent Richard Nixon. Washington was considered a part of the 1994 Republican Revolution, and had the biggest pick-up in the house for Republicans, who picked up seven of Washington's nine House seats.[242] However, this dominance did not last for long, as Democrats picked up one seat in the 1996 election,[243] and two more in 1998, giving the Democrats a 5–4 majority.[244]
In 2013 and 2014, both houses of the Washington State Legislature (the Washington Senate and the Washington House of Representatives) were controlled by Democrats. The state senate was under Republican control, due to two Democrats' joining Republicans to form the Majority Coalition Caucus. After the 2014 elections, the Democrats retained control of the House, while Republicans took a majority in the Senate without the need for a coalition. In November 2017, a special election gave Democrats a one-seat majority in the Senate and complete control over state government. Since then, in the 2018 election, the Democrats have only expanded their majorities.
The governorship is currently held by Democrat Bob Ferguson. No state has gone longer without a Republican governor than Washington. Democrats have controlled the Washington Governor's Mansion for 40 years; the last Republican governor was John Spellman, who left office in 1985. Washington has not voted for a Republican senator, governor, or presidential candidate since 1994, tying with Delaware for the longest streak in the country.[245]
Washington uses the non-partisan blanket primary system after the approval of Initiative 872 in 2004.[246] All candidates run on the same ballot during primary elections and the top two candidates advance to the general election in November, regardless of party affiliation. This has resulted in several same-party general election match-ups. In a 2020 study, Washington was ranked as the second easiest state for citizens to vote in.[247]
In November 2009, Washington voters approved full domestic partnerships via Referendum 71, marking the first time voters in any state expanded recognition of same-sex relationships at the ballot box. Three years later, in November 2012, same-sex marriage was affirmed via Referendum 74, making Washington one of only three states to have approved same-sex marriage by popular vote.
Also in November 2012, Washington was one of the first two states to approve the legal sale and possession of cannabis for both recreational and medical use with Initiative 502. Although marijuana is still illegal under U.S. federal law, persons 21 and older in Washington state can possess up to one ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused product in solid form, 72 ounces of marijuana-infused product in liquid form, or any combination of all three, and can legally consume marijuana and marijuana-infused products.[249]
In November 2016, voters approved Initiative 1433, which among other things requires employers to guarantee paid sick leave to most workers. On January 1, 2018, the law went into effect, with Washington becoming the seventh state with paid sick leave requirements.[250]
With the passage of Initiative 1639 in the 2018 elections, Washington adopted stricter gun laws.
Washington enacted a measure in May 2019 in favor of sanctuary cities, similar to California and Oregon laws which are among the strongest statewide mandates in the nation.[251]
In 2019, the legislature passed the Clean Energy Transformation Act, which requires all electricity sales to be from zero-carbon sources by 2045 and net-zero by 2030.[252]
High school juniors and seniors in Washington have the option of using the state's Running Start program. Begun by the state legislature in 1990, it allows students to attend institutions of higher education at public expense, simultaneously earning high school and college credit.[256] The state has 141 schools that offer dual language programs in 14 languages, primarily Spanish, beginning in kindergarten.[257]
The state is divided into four Designated Market Areas by Nielsen Media Research: Seattle–Tacoma, which also extends east to Wenatchee; Portland, which includes most of Southwestern Washington; Spokane, which also includes northern Idaho; and Yakima–Pasco–Richland–Kennewick.[265] The Seattle–Tacoma market is the largest in the Pacific Northwest and has been the 13th largest in the United States since 2009.[266] As of 2009[update], Washington had 39 full-power television stations and an additional 11 from Portland, Oregon; most are affiliated with a national or regional broadcasting network.[267] The state is home to 383 stations licensed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[268][269] These radio stations broadcast to local markets as well as online, where Seattle-based music station KEXP-FM has found a worldwide following.[270]
The state adopted the Washington Healthplanfinder system in 2014 after the passage of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as "ObamaCare").[273] The system is used by approximately 90 percent of Washington residents who purchase or acquire their health insurance directly rather than through an employer.[274] The state's Medicaid program, named Washington Apple Health, provides healthcare coverage to people with disabilities or low incomes.[275]
The state of Washington reformed its health care system in 1993 through the Washington Health Services Act. The legislation required individuals to obtain health insurance or face penalties, and required employers to provide insurance to employees. In addition, health insurance companies were required to sell policies to all individuals, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and cover basic benefits.[276] The act was mostly repealed in 1995 before it could go into full effect.
Pickleball, a racquet sport invented on Bainbridge Island in 1965, was designated as Washington's official state sport in 2022.[280] For three years in a row, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the sport was named the fastest growing sport in the United States by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA).[281]
Four ships of the United States Navy, including two battleships, have been named USS Washington in honor of the state. Previous ships had held that name in honor of George Washington.[citation needed]
The state's nickname, "The Evergreen State",[1][282] was proposed in 1890 by Charles T. Conover of Seattle. The name proved popular as the forests were full of evergreen trees and the abundance of rain keeps the shrubbery and grasses green throughout the year.[283] Although the nickname is widely used by the state, appearing on vehicle license plates for instance, it has not been officially adopted.[1] A 2023 bill in the state legislature to formally recognize it as the state nickname was passed by the senate but was returned to committee.[284][285]The Evergreen State College, a state-funded institution in Olympia, also takes its name from this nickname.
^Capitalization varies depending on whether or not "state" is considered part of the name of the state, a proper noun. For example, the AP Stylebook prefers the lowercase version, but The Chicago Manual of Style prefers the uppercase version.
^Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin are not distinguished between total and partial ancestry.
^"Word list and common terms". University of Washington. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021. Lowercase state: state of Washington or Washington state. Note that Washington State refers to the university in Pullman, Washington.
^"History". City of Longview, WA. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
^ ab"Territorial Timeline". Washington History. Washington Secretary of State. Archived from the original on June 19, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
^"House Resolution No. 2016–4662"(PDF). Washington State Legislature. February 15, 2016. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
^McClintock, Thomas C. (Summer 1995). "James Saules, Peter Burnett, and the Oregon Black Exclusion Law of June 1844". Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 86 (3): 122. JSTOR40491550.
^"The Pig War". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
^"Washington State Records". Office of the Washington State Climatologist. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^"NOWData". Spokane Area monthly summarized data for 1981–2010: mean maximum, mean average, and mean minimum temperature. National Weather Service Forecast Office, Spokane, Washington, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
^"Washington Herp Atlas". Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. June 1, 2009. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
^"Washington". United States National Park Service. 2013. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
^Washington was not yet a legally recognized territory in 1850. This figure is derived from areas that later became Washington Territory. "Washington". Guide to State and Local Census Geography. United States Census Bureau. 2010. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^Martin, Joyce A.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Curtin, Sally C.; Mathews, T. J. (January 15, 2015). "Births: Final Data for 2013"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 64 (1): 1–68. PMID25603115. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
^Hamilton, Brady E.; Martin, Joyce A.; Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Curtin, Sally C.; Mathews, T. J. (December 23, 2015). "Births: Final Data for 2014"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 64 (12): 1–64. PMID26727629. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
^Martin, Joyce A.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Driscoll, Anne K.; Mathews, T. J. (January 5, 2017). "Births: Final Data for 2015"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 66 (1): 1–70. PMID28135188. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
^Martin, Joyce A.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Driscoll, Anne K.; Drake, Patrick (January 31, 2018). "Births: Final Data for 2016"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 67 (1): 1–55. PMID29775434. Archived(PDF) from the original on June 3, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
^Martin, Joyce A.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Driscoll, Anne K.; Drake, Patrick (November 2018). "Births: Final Data for 2017"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 67 (8): 1–50. PMID30707672. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
^Martin, Joyce A.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Driscoll, Anne K. (November 27, 2019). "Births: Final Data for 2018"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 68 (13): 1–47. PMID32501202. Archived(PDF) from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
^Martin, Joyce A.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Driscoll, Anne K. (March 23, 2021). "Births: Final Data for 2019"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 70 (2): 1–51. doi:10.15620/cdc:100472. PMID33814033. Archived(PDF) from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
^Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Martin, Joyce A.; Driscoll, Anne K.; Valenzuela, Claudia P. (February 7, 2022). "Births: Final Data for 2020"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 70 (17): 1–50. doi:10.15620/cdc:112078. PMID35157571. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
^Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Martin, Joyce A.; Driscoll, Anne K.; Valenzuela, Claudia P. (January 31, 2023). "Births: Final Data for 2021"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 72 (1): 1–53. doi:10.15620/cdc:122047. PMID36723449. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
^Osterman, Michelle J. K.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Martin, Joyce A.; Driscoll, Anne K.; Valenzuela, Claudia P. (April 4, 2024). "Births: Final Data for 2022"(PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. 73 (2): 1–56. doi:10.15620/cdc:145588. PMID38625869. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
^"Data"(PDF). www.cdc.gov. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
^Schwantes, Carlos (2000). The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History (Revised and enlarged ed.). University of Nebraska Press. p. 155. ISBN978-0-8032-9228-4.
^"Seattle Population and Demographics". Seattle City, Washington Statistics and Demographics (2000 U.S. Census). areaConnect. Archived from the original on May 22, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
^"Tokul – Washington State Soil"(PDF). National Resources Conservation Service – United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 23, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
Hardina, Nicole (2020). Little Washington: A Nostalgic Look at the Evergreen State's Smallest Towns. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications. ISBN978-1-59193-845-3.
Ritter, Harry (2018). Washington's History: The People, Land, and Events of the Far Northwest (Revised ed.). Berkeley, CA: WestWinds Press. ISBN978-1-5132-6169-0.
![[icon]](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3AWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
