Island County, Washington
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Island 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 ...
of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its
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 ...
is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. The county's name reflects the fact that it is composed entirely of islands. It contains two large islands, Whidbey and Camano, and seven smaller islands (Baby, Ben Ure, Deception, Kalamut, Minor, Smith, and
Strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...
). Island County was created out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of
Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...
, and is the eighth-oldest county in Washington. It originally encompassed what are now Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, and San Juan Counties. Island County comprises the Oak Harbor, Washington Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area.


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 (60%) is water. It is the second smallest county in Washington by land area after San Juan, and second smallest by total area after Wahkiakum.


Geographic features

*
Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...
*
Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...
*
Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...
* Camano Island * Saratoga Passage


National protected areas

* Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (part) * Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 86,857 people, 35,917 households, and 24,229 families living in the county. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 41,922 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 78.2%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.8%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.8% Native American, 4.6% Asian, 0.5%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 2.7% from some other races and 10.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 8.2% of the population. 17.0% of residents were under the age of 18, 4.5% were under 5 years of age, and 27.8% were 65 and older.


2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 78,506 people, 32,746 households, and 22,156 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 40,234 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 86.1% white, 4.4% Asian, 2.2% black or African American, 0.8% American Indian, 0.5% Pacific islander, 1.5% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 5.5% of the population. The largest ancestry groups were: *21.4% German *14.3% Irish *14.0% English *6.1% Norwegian *4.5% Scottish *4.3% French *4.1% Dutch *4.0% Swedish *4.0% American *3.6% Mexican *3.5% Italian *2.9% Filipino *2.5% Scotch-Irish *2.1% Polish *1.6% Welsh *1.5% Danish Of the 32,746 households, 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.3% were non-families, and 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.81. The median age was 43.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $57,190 and the median income for a family was $68,106. Males had a median income of $46,801 versus $35,189 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,079. About 5.7% of families and 8.0% 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 12.1% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.


Transportation

The primary islands of Island County,
Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...
and Camano Island are served by a total of 3 Washington State Routes, those being SR 20 and SR 525 on Whidbey Island, and SR 532 on Camano Island. SR 20 enters Island County via the Port Townsend- Coupeville ( Keystone) ferry route from the West, and departs via the Deception Pass Bridge in the North. SR 525 enters Island County from the East/South via the Mukilteo- Clinton ferry and terminates at an intersection with SR 20, South of Coupeville. SR 532 begins on Camano Island at Terry's Corner and departs Island County to the East via the Camano Gateway Bridge. These islands are also served by a fare-free/pre-paid bus service called Island Transit.


Government and politics

The county government is led by a board of commissioners with three elected members that represent geographical regions of Island County. Island County is divided politically between its north and south. While the north ( Oak Harbor) is conservative –
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
received almost 55 percent of the 2016 vote and carried most precincts – most southern and central precincts voted for
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
. The south-central area ( Coupeville, Langley) voted over 50 percent for Clinton, just over 30 percent for Trump.


Communities


Cities

* Langley * Oak Harbor


Town

* Coupeville (county seat)


Census-designated places

* Camano * Clinton * Freeland * Whidbey Island Station, formerly listed as Ault Field


Other unincorporated communities

* Austin * Baby Island Heights * Bayview * Bells Beach * Beverly Beach * Bretland * Camp Diana * Columbia Beach * Glendale * Greenbank * Juniper Beach * Keystone * Lagoon Point * Mabana * Maxwelton * Midvale Corner * Northgate Terrace * Pebble Beach * Penn Cove Park * Pioneer Blueberries * Possession * Rodena Beach * San De Fuca * Sandy Hook * Saratoga * Sheliegh Estates * Smith Prairie * Sunlight Beach * Sunny Shore Acres * Tyee Beach * Utsalady Juniper Beach, a wedding ceremony locale in past years, has given its name to the Juniper Beach Water District.


Education

Island County has four
school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...
s that provide public
K–12 education K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...
to areas of the county: Coupeville School District, Oak Harbor School District, South Whidbey School District, and Stanwood-Camano School District.


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Island County, Washington


References


External links

* {{Coord, 48.15, -122.58, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-WA_source:UScensus1990 Seattle metropolitan area 1852 establishments in Oregon Territory Populated places established in 1852 Western Washington