King County, Washington

King County
King County
County
	City Hall Park and King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle
	Flag Logo
	Location within the U.S. state of Washington
	Washington's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 47°28′N 121°50′W
Country	United States
State	Washington
Founded	December 22, 1852
Named for	William R. King (1852–2005); Martin Luther King Jr. (since 2005);
Seat	Seattle
Largest city	Seattle
Area
• Total	2,307 sq mi (5,980 km2)
• Land	2,116 sq mi (5,480 km2)
• Water	191 sq mi (490 km2) 8.3%
Population (2020)
• Total	2,269,675
• Estimate (2022)	2,266,789
• Density	980/sq mi (380/km2)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
Congressional districts	1st, 7th, 8th, 9th
Website	www.kingcounty.gov
ASN	2544 ;

King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the state's most populous city.

Originally named after US representative, senator, and then Vice President-Elect William R. King in 1852, in 1985 the county amended its designation and logo to honor Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent civil rights activist during the Civil Rights Movement. It is one of three Washington counties that are included in the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area. (The others are Snohomish County to the north, and Pierce County to the south.) About two-thirds of King County's population lives in Seattle's suburbs.

History

When Europeans arrived in the region that would become King County, it was inhabited by several Coast Salish groups. Villages around the site that would become Seattle were primarily populated by the Duwamish people. The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe occupied the area that would become eastern King County. The Green River and White River were home for the Muckleshoot tribal groups. In the first winter after the Denny Party landed at Alki Point, the settlement at the point consisted of a few dozen settlers and over a thousand Native Americans. The local tribes provided the settlers with construction labor, domestic service, and help with subsistence activities.

On December 22, 1852 the Oregon Territory legislature formed King County out of territory from within Thurston County. The county was named after Alabamian William R. King, who had just been elected Vice President of the United States under President Franklin Pierce. Seattle was made the county seat on January 11, 1853. The area became part of the Washington Territory when it was created later that year.

King County originally extended to the Olympic Peninsula. According to historian Bill Speidel, when peninsular prohibitionists threatened to shut down Seattle's saloons, Doc Maynard engineered a peninsular independence movement; King County lost what is now Kitsap County but preserved its entertainment industry.

Coal was discovered in 1853 by M. Bigelow along the Black River, and in subsequent decades several companies formed to mine coal around Lake Washington and deliver it to Seattle. The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad started servicing the Renton coal fields in 1877, and the Newcastle fields in 1878. By 1880, King County produced 22% of the coal mined on the West Coast, most of that coal being found within the Renton Formation's Muldoon coal seam.

Name

On February 24, 1986, the King County Council approved a motion to rename the county to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (no relation to William R. King), preserving the name "King County" while changing its namesake. The motion stated, among other reasons for the change, that "William Rufus DeVane King was a slaveowner" who "earned income and maintained his lifestyle by oppressing and exploiting other human beings," while Martin Luther King's "contributions are well-documented and celebrated by millions throughout this nation and the world, and embody the attributes for which the citizens of King County can be proud, and claim as their own."

Because only the state can charter counties, the change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law Senate Bill 5332, which provided that "King county is renamed in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr." effective July 24, 2005.

The County Council voted on February 27, 2006, to adopt the proposal sponsored by Councilmember Larry Gossett to change the county's logo from an imperial crown to an image of Martin Luther King Jr. On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled. The new logo design was developed by the Gable Design Group and the specific image was selected by a committee consisting of King County Executive Ron Sims, Council Chair Larry Gossett, Prosecutor Norm Maleng, Sheriff Sue Rahr, District Court Judge Corrina Harn, and Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey. The same logo is used in the flag.

Martin Luther King Jr. had visited King County once, for three days in November 1961.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,307 square miles (5,980 km²), of which 2,116 square miles (5,480 km²) is land and 191 square miles (490 km²) (8.3%) is water. King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at 7,959 feet (2,426 meters) above sea level.

King County borders Snohomish County to the north, Kitsap County to the west, Kittitas County to the east, and Pierce County to the south. It also shares a small border with Chelan County to the northeast. King County includes Vashon Island and Maury Island in Puget Sound.

Geographic features

Terrain

Water

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Snohomish County – north
Pierce County – south
Chelan County – east/northeast
Kittitas County – east/southeast
Kitsap County – west

National protected areas

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (part, also in Skagway, Alaska)
Snoqualmie National Forest (part)

Public Transit

King County Metro is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in the United States. Sound Transit manages Link light rail, Sounder commuter rail, and Sound Transit Express buses in King County that provide connections to adjacent counties. King County also runs passenger ferry service, the King County Water Taxi, to West Seattle & Vashon Island from downtown Seattle. Washington State Ferries provide vital connection to Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Peninsula. Washington State Ferries connection Bremerton and Bainbridge island from Colman Dock in Seattle. Kitsap Fast Ferries operated by Kitsap Transit from Pier 50 to Kitsap Peninsula.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	302	—
1870	2,120	602.0%
1880	6,910	225.9%
1890	63,989	826.0%
1900	110,053	72.0%
1910	284,638	158.6%
1920	389,273	36.8%
1930	463,517	19.1%
1940	504,980	8.9%
1950	732,992	45.2%
1960	935,014	27.6%
1970	1,156,633	23.7%
1980	1,269,749	9.8%
1990	1,507,319	18.7%
2000	1,737,034	15.2%
2010	1,931,249	11.2%
2020	2,269,675	17.5%
2022 (est.)	2,266,789	−0.1%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

The center of population of the state of Washington in 2010 was located in eastern King County (47.330750°N 121.619994°W / 47.330750; -121.619994 (Washington center of population, 2010)). King County's own center of population was located on Mercer Island (47.548320°N 122.229983°W / 47.548320; -122.229983 (King County center of population, 2010)).

As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the median home value in King County was $817,547, an increase of 19.6% from the prior year.

In 2021 King County experienced its first population decline in 50 years.

Racial and ethnic composition since 1960

Racial composition	2020	2010	2000	1990	1980	1970	1960
White (non-Hispanic)	54.2%	64.8%	73.4%	83.2%	87.2%	-	-
Asian (non-Hispanic)	19.8%	14.5%	10.8%	7.8%	-	-	2.0%
Hispanic or Latino	10.7%	8.9%	5.4%	2.9%	2.1%	1.8%	-
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	6.5%	6.0%	5.4%	5.0%	4.4%	3.5%	2.9%
Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	0.9%	0.7%	0.5%	-	-	-	-
Native American (non-Hispanic)	0.5%	0.7%	0.9%	1.1%	-	-	0.3%
Mixed (non-Hispanic)	6.8%	4.1%	4.0%	-	-	-	-

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,931,249 people, 789,232 households, and 461,510 families residing in the county. The population density was 912.9 inhabitants per square mile (352.5/km²). There were 851,261 housing units at an average density of 402.4 per square mile (155.4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 68.7% White (64.8% Non-Hispanic White), 6.2% African American, 14.6% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 0.8% Native American, 3.9% from other races, and 5.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 17.1% were German, 11.6% were English, 11.1% were Irish, 5.5% were Norwegian, and 2.9% were American.

Of the 789,232 households, 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 41.5% were non-families, and 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.05. The median age was 37.1 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $68,065 and the median income for a family was $87,010. Males had a median income of $62,373 versus $45,761 for females. The per capita income for the county was $38,211. About 6.4% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Native American tribes

King County is home two federally-recognized tribes, the Muckleshoot tribe and the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe tribe, and other unrecognized groups. The Muckleshoot Indian Reservation is located southeast of Auburn and is home to a resident population of 3,606 as of the 2000 census.

The Snoqualmie tribe's casino property was federally recognized as their reservation in 2006, however few tribe members live near the reservation.

Government

The King County Executive heads the county's executive branch; the position has been held by Dow Constantine since 2009. The King County Prosecuting Attorney (Leesa Manion since 2023), Elections Director, and the King County Assessor are elected executive positions. The King County Sheriff is appointed by the county executive and approved by the county council. It was previously an elected position from 1996 until 2020 and has been held by Patti Cole-Tindall since 2022. Judicial power is vested in the King County Superior Court and the King County District Court. Seattle houses the King County Courthouse.

King County is represented in the United States Congress through a near-entirety of the population in the 7th and 9th Congressional Districts, a majority of the population in the 8th Congressional District and a plurality of the population in the 1st Congressional District. In the state legislature, King contains the entirety of the 5th, 11th, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 37th, 41st, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th legislative districts as well as the near-entirety of the 30th legislative district, about one-half of the 32nd legislative district, about one-third of the 1st and 31st legislative district, and a mere 627 people in the 39th legislative district. The only legislative districts represented by Republicans that include any part of King County are the 31st and 39th districts.

The people of King County voted on September 5, 1911, to create a Port District. King County's Port of Seattle was established as the first Port District in Washington State. The Port of Seattle is King County's only Port District. It is governed by five Port Commissioners, who are elected countywide and serve four-year terms. The Port of Seattle owns and operates many properties on behalf of King County's citizens, including Sea-Tac International Airport; many seaport facilities around Elliott Bay, including its original property, publicly owned Fishermen's Terminal, home to the North Pacific fishing fleet and the largest homeport for fishermen in the U.S. West Coast; four container ship terminals; two cruise ship terminals; the largest grain export terminal in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; three public marinas; 22 public parks; and nearly 5,000 acres of industrial lands in the Ballard-Interbay and Lower Duwamish industrial centers.

Council members

District 1 – Rod Dembowski
District 2 – Girmay Zahilay
District 3 – Sarah Perry
District 4 – Jeanne Kohl-Welles
District 5 – Dave Upthegrove
District 6 – Claudia Balducci
District 7 – Pete von Reichbauer
District 8 – Joe McDermott
District 9 – Reagan Dunn

Politics

King County and Seattle are strongly liberal; the area is a bastion for the Democratic Party. No Republican presidential candidate has garnered the majority of the county's votes since Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory in 1984. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the county by 42 percentage points, a larger margin for the Democrats than that seen in any previous election up to that point in time. Slightly more than 29% of Washington state's population reside in King County, making it a significant factor for the Democrats in a few recent close statewide elections. In the 2000 Senate elections, King County's margin of victory pushed Maria Cantwell's total over that of incumbent Republican Slade Gorton, defeating and unseating him in the United States Senate. In 2004, King County gave a lead to Democrat Christine Gregoire in her 2004 victory gubernatorial election, pushing her ahead of Republican Dino Rossi, who led by 261 votes after the initial count. Rossi resided in the county at the time of the election, in Sammamish. In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by earning 75% of King County votes. Governor Jay Inslee also defeated Republican challenger Loren Culp with 74% of the King County vote in the concurrent gubernatorial election. These were the largest margins by any candidate in a presidential race and a gubernatorial race since the county's creation.

In 2004, voters passed a referendum reducing the size of the County Council from 13 members to 9. This resulted in all council seats ending up on the 2005 ballot.

Some residents of eastern King County have long desired to secede and form their own county. This movement was most vocal in the mid-1990s (see Cedar County, Washington). It has recently been revived as Cascade County. According to a map published by the Seattle Times, four different geographic borders are being considered. Additional plans (see Skykomish County, Washington) also exist or have existed.

United States presidential election results for King County, Washington
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	269,167	22.24%	907,310	74.95%	34,030	2.81%
2016	216,339	21.04%	718,322	69.85%	93,789	9.12%
2012	275,700	28.36%	668,004	68.72%	28,317	2.91%
2008	259,716	28.03%	648,230	69.97%	18,511	2.00%
2004	301,043	33.65%	580,378	64.87%	13,307	1.49%
2000	273,171	34.40%	476,700	60.02%	44,325	5.58%
1996	232,811	31.41%	417,846	56.38%	90,447	12.20%
1992	212,986	27.36%	391,050	50.23%	174,557	22.42%
1988	290,574	44.78%	349,663	53.88%	8,720	1.34%
1984	332,987	52.09%	298,620	46.71%	7,654	1.20%
1980	272,567	45.42%	235,046	39.16%	92,544	15.42%
1976	279,382	50.79%	248,743	45.22%	21,994	4.00%
1972	298,707	56.39%	212,509	40.12%	18,478	3.49%
1968	218,457	46.00%	223,469	47.05%	33,009	6.95%
1964	177,598	39.41%	268,216	59.52%	4,826	1.07%
1960	224,150	50.85%	208,756	47.36%	7,904	1.79%
1956	213,504	55.28%	167,443	43.35%	5,276	1.37%
1952	200,507	53.93%	165,583	44.54%	5,681	1.53%
1948	131,039	44.93%	143,295	49.14%	17,301	5.93%
1944	118,719	41.42%	165,308	57.68%	2,577	0.90%
1940	95,504	39.50%	143,134	59.19%	3,165	1.31%
1936	66,544	31.68%	138,597	65.98%	4,904	2.33%
1932	63,346	34.42%	108,738	59.09%	11,947	6.49%
1928	96,263	65.63%	46,604	31.77%	3,811	2.60%
1924	60,438	53.51%	7,404	6.56%	45,098	39.93%
1920	58,584	54.69%	17,369	16.21%	31,171	29.10%
1916	38,959	40.71%	52,362	54.71%	4,387	4.58%
1912	15,579	21.85%	20,088	28.17%	35,642	49.98%
1908	22,297	55.75%	14,644	36.62%	3,052	7.63%
1904	20,434	70.39%	5,266	18.14%	3,329	11.47%
1900	10,218	54.26%	7,804	41.44%	810	4.30%
1896	6,413	44.83%	7,733	54.06%	159	1.11%
1892	6,520	44.17%	4,974	33.69%	3,268	22.14%

Religion

In 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in King County was the Archdiocese of Seattle, with 278,340 Catholics worshipping at 71 parishes, followed by 95,218 non-denominational adherents with 159 congregations, 56,985 LDS Mormons with 110 congregations, 25,937 AoG Pentecostals with 63 congregations, 25,789 ELCA Lutherans with 68 congregations, 24,909 PC-USA Presbyterians with 54 congregations, 18,185 Mahayana Buddhists with 39 congregations, 18,161 UMC Methodists with 50 congregations, 14,971 TEC Episcopalians with 35 congregations, and 12,531 ABCUSA Baptists with 42 congregations. Altogether, 37.6% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information. In 2014, King County had 944 religious organizations, the 8th most out of all US counties.

Education

K–12 schools

School districts include:

Public libraries

Most of King County is served by the King County Library System, while the city of Seattle is served by its own system.