King 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. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 12th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is

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 ...

, also the state's most populous city. Originally named after US representative, senator, and then vice president-elect William R. King in 1852, the county government amended its designation in 1986 to honor

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, a prominent activist and leader during the civil rights movement. The change was approved by the state government in 2005. It is one of three Washington counties that are included in the

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding Satellite city, satellites and suburbs. The United States Census Bureau defines the Seattle–T ...

along with Snohomish County to the north and Pierce County to the south. About two-thirds of King County's population lives in Seattle's

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s, which largely developed in the late 20th century and early 21st century as bedroom communities before becoming job centers for the technology industry.

History

When Europeans arrived in the region that would become King County, it was inhabited by several

Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...

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 The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe ( ; ), also known as the Muckleshoot Tribe, is a federally-recognized tribe located in Auburn, Washington. The tribe governs the Muckleshoot Reservation and is composed of descendants of the Duwamish, Stkamish, ...

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 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 ...

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 The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

. Seattle was made the county seat on January 11, 1853. The area became part of the

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

when it was created later that year. King County originally extended to the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula in Western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...

. According to historian

Bill Speidel William C Speidel (February 11, 1912 – May 3, 1988) was a columnist for ''The Seattle Times'' and a self-made historian who wrote the books ''Sons of the Profits'' and ''Doc Maynard, The Man Who Invented Seattle'' about the people who settled and ...

, 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 Kitsap County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, Washington, Port Orchard; its ...

but preserved its entertainment industry.

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

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 Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

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

(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 Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, 22nd governor of Washington, from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

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 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 (8.3%) is water. King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at above sea level. King County borders Snohomish County to the north,

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 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 ...

. The county has 760 lakes and of streams and rivers.

Geographic features

Granite Mountain King County Washington 2

Terrain

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

* Issaquah Alps * Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest * Mount Daniel, the highest point * Mount Si * Harbor Island * Maury Island * Mercer Island * Sammamish Plateau * Vashon Island

Water

* Cedar River * Green/Duwamish River *

Elliott Bay Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s ...

* Greenwater River * Issaquah Creek * Lake Sammamish * Lake Union *

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

* Lake Youngs * Pratt River *

Raging River The Raging River is a tributary of the Snoqualmie River in western Washington state in the United States. It is located in the western foothills of the Cascade Mountains in east central King County, Washington. It gets its name from the large ...

* Skykomish River * Snoqualmie Falls *

Snoqualmie River The Snoqualmie River is a long river in King County, Washington, King County and Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The river's three main tributaries are the North, Middle, and So ...

* Taylor River * Tolt River * White River

National protected areas

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is a national historical park operated by the National Park Service that seeks to commemorate the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. Though the gold fields that were the ultimate goal of the stampe ...

(part, also in Skagway, Alaska) * Snoqualmie National Forest (part)

Climate change

King County has been identified as vulnerable to higher risks of flooding caused by

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

due to the number of waterways in the area. The county's oceanic ecosystems are predicted to face harmful chemical changes, while the mountainous ecosystems could experience a decrease in ice and snow. Since the mid-2000s, the county government has adopted policies to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the region.

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

* Interstate 405 * U.S. Route 2 * State Route 18 * State Route 99 * State Route 167 * State Route 520 * State Route 522

Public transit

The

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

serves the county with local routes,

paratransit Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...

vanpool Vanpools or vanpooling is an element of the transit system that allow groups of people to share the ride similar to a carpool, but on a larger scale with concurrent savings in fuel and vehicle operating costs and thus usually a lower cost to the ...

s, and rideshare in select areas. It also operates an electric trolleybus network in Seattle as well as the city streetcar system. Metro was the seventh-largest transit bus agency in the United States by ridership in 2019, with 121.3 million annual passenger trips and 400,000 per weekday. Sound Transit manages

Link light rail Link light rail is a light rail system with some rapid transit characteristics that serves the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit pro ...

, Sounder commuter rail, and Sound Transit Express buses in King County that provide connections to adjacent counties. The Community Transit of Snohomish County and the Pierce Transit of Pierce County also operate routes that serve portions of King County. Most transit modes in the county use the ORCA card, a smart fare card system introduced in 2009. The county is home to three major

ferry terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferry, ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for e ...

s that are served by

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget ...

, a state-run passenger and automobile ferry system.

Colman Dock Colman Dock, also called Pier 52, is the primary ferry terminal in Seattle, Washington, United States. The original pier is no longer in existence, but the terminal, now used by the Washington State Ferries system, is still called "Colman Dock ...

in Downtown Seattle is served by routes from Bainbridge Island and Bremerton; Vashon Island is connected to West Seattle at Fauntleroy and also has service to Southworth in Kitsap County. The county government's Marine Division operates the King County Water Taxi, a passenger ferry service that connects Downtown Seattle to West Seattle and Vashon Island. The passenger-only Kitsap Fast Ferries system operated by Kitsap Transit connects a terminal near Colman Dock to communities on the Kitsap Peninsula.

Demographics

The

center of population In Demography, demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to dif ...

of the state of Washington in 2010 was located in eastern King County (). King County's own center of population was located on Mercer Island (). 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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,269,675 people, 917,764 households, and 537,466 families residing 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 969,234 housing units. The racial makeup of the county was 56.1%

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 ...

(54.2%

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

), 6.7%

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 ...

(6.5% Non-Hispanic Black), 19.9% Asian (19.8% Non-Hispanic Asian), 0.9%

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 ...

(0.8% Non-Hispanic Pacific Islander), 0.5% Native American, 5.2% from other races, and 10.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 10.7% of the population.

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 . There were 851,261 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 68.7%

(64.8%

), 6.2%

, 14.6% Asian, 0.8%

, 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 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 12.5% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Native American tribes

King County is home to two federally-recognized tribes, the

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.

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 A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

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 Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

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.

Homelessness

King County has the third largest population of

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

or unsheltered people in the United States according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The agency's January 2023 report, based on the point-in-time count system, estimates 14,149 people in the county have experienced homelessness; the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) 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. 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. 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. The number of unsheltered individuals increased significantly in the late 2010s, leading to clearing of encampments and other structures by local governments. The county has 5,115 emergency shelter beds and tiny house villages, of which 67 percent are in the city of Seattle. According to data from the KCRHA, since late 2022 over 90 percent of shelter beds have been occupied on a consistent basis. Additional shelters, parking lots, and encampment sites are operated by charity organizations and churches in the area; during severe weather events such as heat waves and cold snaps, local governments open additional shelter spaces, but these often reach capacity. In 2021, a total of $123 million was spent on homelessness services by local governments in King County, including cities and the regional authority. 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.

Government

The King County Executive heads the county's executive branch; the position has been held by Shannon Braddock since 2025. 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.

houses the

King County Courthouse The King County Courthouse is the administrative building housing the judicial branch of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington's government. It is located in downtown Seattle, just north of Pioneer Square, Seattle, ...

. The county government manages elections, records, licensing, parks, wastewater treatment, and public health, among other duties. It also handles the criminal legal and incarceration system for all cities and unincorporated areas within King County. It has a sheriff's department that also provides basic policing to unincorporated areas. The Department of Local Services, established in 2019, serves as the local government for populated unincorporated areas. King County is part of four

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

s that each elect a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

; the boundaries are redrawn every 10 years based on the results of the decennial census. The 1st district comprises the Eastside cities north of Bellevue; the 7th district includes northern Seattle, West Seattle, Burien, Normandy Park, and Vashon Island; the 8th district includes areas east of Lake Sammamish and the immediate Green River Valley; and the 9th district comprises the southern areas of the county from Federal Way to Seattle, Mercer Island, and part of Bellevue. In the state legislature, the county has 17 districts that each elect two

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

members and one

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

. The majority of state legislators from King County are Democrats; only four House members and two senators are from the Republican Party. The people of King County voted on September 5, 1911, to create a Port District. King County's

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a public agency that is in King County, Washington. It oversees the seaport of Seattle as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to ...

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

, 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 A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

terminals; two

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

terminals; the largest grain export terminal in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; three public

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

s; 22 public parks; and nearly 5,000 acres of industrial lands in the Ballard- Interbay and Lower Duwamish industrial centers.

County council

The King County Council was established in 1969 and consists of nine members elected by districts to four-year terms. * District 1 – Rod Dembowski * District 2 – Girmay Zahilay * District 3 – Sarah Perry * District 4 – Jorge Barón * District 5 – Dave Upthegrove * District 6 – Claudia Balducci * District 7 – Pete von Reichbauer * District 8 – Teresa Mosqueda * 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 carried the county votes since

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

's landslide reelection victory in 1984. In the 2008 election,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

defeated

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

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 election, 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 The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. In 2004, King County gave a lead to Democrat

in her 2004 victory

gubernatorial election A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

, 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 Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

defeated

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 ...

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 ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'', four different geographic borders were considered. Additional plans (see ''

Skykomish County, Washington Skykomish County was a County (United States), county proposed to be carved out of Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish and King County, Washington, King Counties in Washington (state), Washington state, United States. The name comes from the ...

'') also exist or have existed.

Education

K–12 schools

School districts in the county include: * Auburn School District * Bellevue School District * Enumclaw School District * Federal Way Public Schools * Fife Public Schools * Highline School District *

Issaquah School District Issaquah School District No. 411 is a public school district in King County, Washington. It is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington. As of the 2018–2019 school year, the district has an enrollment of 20,965 students with 24 total schools. ...

* Kent School District * Lake Washington School District * Mercer Island School District * Northshore School District * Renton School District * Riverview School District *

Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools is the largest Public school (government funded), public school district in the state of Washington (state), Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Par ...

* Shoreline School District * Skykomish School District * Snoqualmie Valley School District * Tahoma School District * Tukwila School District * Vashon Island School District

Public libraries

Most of King County is served by the

King County Library System The King County Library System (KCLS) is a public library system serving most residents of King County, Washington, United States. It has 49 locations in the areas of the county around Seattle, which has a separate Seattle Public Library, city l ...

, with the exception of Seattle, Hunts Point, and Yarrow Point. The city of Seattle is served by the Seattle Public Library system, which has 27 branches compared to King County's 49 locations.

Communities

Cities

* Algona * Auburn (partial) * Bellevue * Black Diamond * Bothell (partial) * Burien *

Carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,00 ...

* Clyde Hill * Covington *

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

* Duvall * Enumclaw * Federal Way * Issaquah * Kenmore *

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

* Kirkland * Lake Forest Park * Maple Valley *

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

* Mercer Island * Milton (partial) *

* Normandy Park * North Bend *

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

(partial) * Redmond * Renton * Sammamish * SeaTac *

(county seat) *

Shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

* Snoqualmie * Tukwila * Woodinville

Towns

* Beaux Arts Village * Hunts Point * Skykomish * Yarrow Point

Census-designated places

* Ames Lake * Baring * Boulevard Park * Bryn Mawr-Skyway * Cottage Lake * East Renton Highlands * Fairwood * Fall City *

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

* Inglewood-Finn Hill (former) * Klahanie (former) * Lake Holm * Lake Marcel-Stillwater * Lake Morton-Berrydale * Lakeland North * Lakeland South * Maple Heights-Lake Desire * Mirrormont * Ravensdale * Riverbend * Riverpoint * Riverton (former) * Shadow Lake * Union Hill-Novelty Hill * Vashon * White Center * Wilderness Rim

Other unincorporated communities

* Cedar Falls *

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

* Denny Creek * Ernie's Grove *

Grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

* Kanaskat * Kangley * Lake Joy * Naco *

Novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

* Palmer * Preston * Selleck * Spring Glen * Wabash

Former cities and towns

* East Redmond * Foster * Houghton

Ghost towns

* Bayne * Cedar Falls (aka Moncton) * Edgewick * Franklin *

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

* Krain * Lester * Monohon * Nagrom * O'Brien *

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Muscogee language, Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfa ...

* Taylor *

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

References

External links

King County website

presents King County, Washington, through 12,000 historical images carefully chosen from twelve cultural heritage organizations' collections. These catalogued 19th and 20th century images portray people, places, and events in the county's urban, suburban, and rural communities. {{Authority control 1852 establishments in Oregon Territory Populated places established in 1852 Seattle metropolitan area Western Washington Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr. Naming controversies William R. King