Franklin County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 96,749. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and most populous city is Pasco. The county was formed out of Whitman County on November 28, 1883, and is named for

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. Franklin County is included in the Tri-Cities metropolitan area. Together, Kennewick, Richland and Pasco comprise Washington's Tri-Cities.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.8%) is water.

Geographic features

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

* Hanford Nuclear Reservation * Juniper Dunes Wilderness *

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

Major highways

SR 260 *

Interstate 182 * US 12

U.S. 12 *

U.S. 395

Adjacent counties

* Adams County - north * Whitman County - east * Walla Walla County - southeast * Columbia County - southeast * Benton County - southwest *

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States * Grant County, Arkansas * Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky Grant County is a county located in the northern pa ...

- northwest

National protected areas

* Hanford Reach National Monument (part) * Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

Census-designated places

* Basin City * West Pasco

Census findings

Franklin County, along with Adams County, have the highest per capita percentage of Latino residents in the state.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 96,749 people, 28,748 households, and 22,355 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 78,163 people, 23,245 households, and 18,163 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 24,423 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 60.5% white, 1.9% black or African American, 1.8% Asian, 0.7% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 31.8% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 51.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 13.1% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 6.8% were English, 6.5% were Irish, and 3.3% were American. Of the 23,245 households, 49.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.9% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 21.9% were non-families, and 16.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 3.28 and the average family size was 3.68. The median age was 28.4 years. The median income for a household in the county was $47,749 and the median income for a family was $52,218. Males had a median income of $40,604 versus $29,517 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,660. About 16.5% of families and 19.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 25.6% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over. The 2019 county population is estimated to be 95,222, a 21.8% increase since 2010. This far outpaces Washington State's overall growth of 13.2% over the same time interval, and puts Franklin County among the fastest-growing counties in the nation. In 2018 the county contained 28,647 housing units.

Communities

Cities

* Connell * Kahlotus *

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...

* Pasco (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Eltopia * Farrington * Harder

Former communities

Sperry Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County * Sperry, Missouri *Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County * Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana * Sperry Glaci ...

Government

Franklin County has a Board of County Commissioners which is the governmental authority of the county. The board consists of three commissioners; they are elected by the voters and serve four-year terms. Other elected county officials include Assessor,

Auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

Prosecuting Attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

, and

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

Politics

Franklin is a strongly Republican county in Presidential elections. No Democratic presidential candidate has carried Franklin County since

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

’s 1964 landslide, and the last Democratic gubernatorial candidate it backed was Dixy Lee Ray in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

References

External links

Franklin County, Washington
at HistoryLink.org
Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control 1883 establishments in Washington Territory Populated places established in 1883 Tri-Cities, Washington Eastern Washington