Thurston 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 294,793. 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 ...

is Olympia, the state

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. Thurston County was created out of Lewis County by the government of Oregon Territory on January 12, 1852. At that time, it covered all of the

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 ...

region and 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 ...

. On December 22 of the same year, Pierce,

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, and Jefferson counties were split off from Thurston County. It is named after Samuel R. Thurston, 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 ...

's first delegate to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Today, the county includes the southernmost part of the South Puget Sound and areas south along the I-5 corridor. Thurston County comprises the Olympia– Lacey– Tumwater, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area and is 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 Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

, WA Combined Statistical Area.

History

The southern end of Puget Sound is the homeland of several indigenous

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, including the

Nisqually Nisqually, Niskwalli, or Nisqualli may refer to: People * Nisqually people, a Coast Salish ethnic group * Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually Reservation, federally recognized tribe ** Nisqually Indian Reservation, the tribe's reservation in ...

, Squaxin, and Upper Chehalis. Archeological remains at

Tumwater Falls The Tumwater Falls are a series of cascades on the Deschutes River in Tumwater, Washington, United States. They are located near where the river empties into Budd Inlet, a southerly arm of Puget Sound in Olympia. Geology The Deschutes River ...

date back to 2,500 to 3,000 years before present; the area around the falls included a settlement with several

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from lumber, timber and ...

s. The first European exhibition to the southern Puget Sound was conducted by

Peter Puget Peter Puget (1765 – 31 October 1822) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound, which is named for him. Midshipman Puget Puget's ancestors had fled France for Britain during Louis XIV's persecution of the ...

and

Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first Eu ...

on the British-led

Vancouver Expedition The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...

in May 1792. The

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

established a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

Fort Nisqually Fort Nisqually was an important fur trade, fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area, part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department. It was located in what is now DuPont, Washington. Today it is a ...

in 1833 on the east side of the Nisqually Delta while the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

was under joint administration by the British and American governments. Permanent European (and later American) settlement of modern-day Thurston County began with the arrival of a pioneer party led by Michael Simmons and Black pioneer George Bush in 1845. Several families settled near Tumwater Falls at a site they named "New Market", which became the first European settlement in

Western Washington Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as the area of Washington State west of the Cascade Mountains. This region is home to the state's largest city, Seattle, the state capital, Olympia, and most of the state's residents. ...

. The area north of the

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 ...

was originally under the jurisdiction of the Vancouver District (later renamed Clark County) until 1845, when Lewis County was created from the area west of the Cowlitz River. The entire region was ceded to the United States with the signing of the

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty was a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...

in 1846 and organized into

two years later. A petition by 54 residents of Olympia and surrounding communities was submitted to the

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Represent ...

in December 1851 to create a new county from Lewis County. The proposed name of Simmons County, named for Michael Simmons, was changed to Thurston County by the legislature at the suggestion of Asa Lovejoy to honor

Samuel Thurston Samuel Royal Thurston (April 15, 1816 – April 9, 1851) was an American pioneer, lawyer and politician. He was the first delegate from the Oregon Territory to the United States Congress and was instrumental in the passage of the Donation Land Cla ...

, the first delegate to the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

from Oregon Territory. Thurston himself had never visited the area. Thurston County was created on January 12, 1852, by the Oregon Territorial Legislature and Olympia was designated as its

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

. It included the entire

and

Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the ...

up to the northern border with

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

and went as far east as the

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

. On December 22, the northern areas of Thurston County were divided to form

, Jefferson,

, and Pierce counties. A portion of the county south of the Chehalis River was ceded to Lewis County in February 1853, a month before

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 ...

was created with its capital in Olympia. Sawamish County (now Mason County) was created in March 1854 from the northwestern portions of Thurston County and Chehalis County (now Grays Harbor County) was established a month later from the remaining western half of Thurston County. Several exchanges of land between Thurston and neighboring counties were made during the 1860s and settled into the modern boundaries by 1873. An attempt to move the county seat from Olympia to Tumwater or West Olympia was defeated by voters in 1861. Olympia was retained as capital of Washington after it was granted statehood in 1889; the city did not win a majority in the first referendum after Ellensburg and North Yakima, but defeated both in a second vote. Local residents built a branch line to connect with the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

and approved a harbor-dredging operation to promote Olympia as a trade hub as the area fell behind Seattle and Tacoma in population growth. The Old Capitol Building was completed in 1892 and was purchased by the state government in 1901 for use to replace a temporary wooden structure built in 1856. The modern Washington State Capitol commenced construction in 1923 and was completed in 1928 alongside a campus of government buildings and monuments. Thurston County remained predominantly dependent on the logging industry until the state government became the county's largest employment sector in the 1950s. Several state government agencies had attempted to move their offices to Seattle until a 1954

Washington Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. ...

ruling mandated that their headquarters remain in the Olympia area. The first section of

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 ...

built in Thurston County was the Olympia Freeway, which opened in December 1958 to bypass the city's downtown. Other sections opened over the following decade, extending access through Lacey and Tumwater, where it destroyed portions of the historic downtown; a proposal to build the freeway further away from Olympia was rejected to preserve rural areas. The completion of Interstate 5 enabled the growth of bedroom communities around Thurston County, which saw its population rapidly increase from the 1950s to 1970s. The first suburban shopping center in the county, the South Sound Center in Lacey, opened in October 1966; it was followed by Lacey's incorporation as a city. The

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...

, a public

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

in western Olympia, opened in 1972. Thurston County, like many of the other counties in Western Washington, has a racially restrictive past. Racial

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

in Washington was different from the well-known accounts of Southern segregation during the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

era. While Southern states required racial segregation in public facilities by law, much of the racial segregation in Washington was accomplished through racial restrictive covenants which were legally binding agreements between private parties. These covenants were often included in property deeds between individual buyers and sellers, who agreed to never sell the property to specified racial or religious groups. In some cases, large groups of property owners would come together to implement racial restrictive covenants on entire subdivisions or neighborhoods, which are called petitions. In Thurston County specifically, many covenants excluded any Black, mixed race, Chinese, Japanese, or Indian individuals from purchasing, renting, leasing, or occupying specified properties. In rarer cases, Italians and Jewish individuals were also excluded from homeownership. The late 1930s to the early 1950s saw the largest number of racial restrictive covenants enacted. This history of segregation has had generational effects that are still felt today as people of color were systematically denied the ability to purchase homes and in turn were denied the ability to accrue

generational wealth Old money is a social class of the rich who have been able to maintain their wealth over multiple generations, in contrast with new money whose wealth has been acquired within its own generation. The term often refers to perceived members of t ...

that comes with owning a home.

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 (6.7%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Pierce County – northeast * Lewis County – south * Grays Harbor County – west * Mason County – north/northwest

Major highways

U.S. 12 *

U.S. 101 * WA-8

SR 8 *

SR 507 *

SR 510

Geographic features

Major watersheds: Black River, Budd/Deschutes, Chehalis River, Eld Inlet,

Henderson Inlet Henderson Inlet is a small, southern inlet of Puget Sound, Washington state, situated between Budd Inlet to the west and Nisqually Reach to the east. It is located in Thurston County, and the nearest city is Olympia, the state capital. Henderson I ...

Nisqually River The Nisqually River is a river in west central Washington in the United States, approximately long. It drains part of the Cascade Range southeast of Tacoma, including the southern slope of Mount Rainier, and empties into the southern end of ...

, Skookumchuck River, Totten Inlet and West Capitol Forest. *

Alder Lake Alder Lake is Intel's codename for the 12th generation of Intel Core processors based on a hybrid architecture utilizing Golden Cove performance cores and Gracemont efficient cores. It is fabricated using Intel's Intel 7 process, previously ...

* Bald Hill Lake * Barnes Lake * Bass Lake * Bigelow Lake * Black Lake * Black River *

Budd Inlet Budd Inlet is an inlet located at the southern end of Puget Sound in Thurston County, Washington. It is the southernmost arm of Puget Sound. Etymology Budd Inlet was named by Charles Wilkes during the United States Exploring Expedition, to hono ...

Capitol Lake Capitol Lake is a 3 kilometer (1.9 mile) long, artificial lake at the mouth of Deschutes River in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. The Olympia Brewery sits on Capitol Lake in Tumwater, just downstream from where the Tumwater Falls meet the artif ...

* Capitol Peak * Capitol State Forest * Chambers Lake * Chehalis River * Clear Lake * Deep Lake *

Deschutes River The Deschutes River ( ) in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, easte ...

* Elbow Lake * Eld Inlet * Fifteen Lake * Gehrke Lake * Grass Lake *

* Hewitt Lake * Hicks Lake *

Lake Lawrence Lake Lawrence is a lake located near Yelm in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The lake is impounded by Lake Lawrence Dam. Lake Lawrence was named after Lindley and Sam Lawrence, businesspeople in the local logging industry. A notable ...

* Libby Creek * Lois Lake * Long Lake * McIntosh Lake * Mima Mounds * Munn Lake *

* Offut Lake * Patterson Lake *

* Reichel Lake * Rocky Prairie * Saint Clair Lake * Scott Lake * Simmons Lake * Skookumchuck River * Smith Lake * Southwick Lake * Springer Lake * Summit Lake * Susan Lake * Totten Inlet * Trails End Lake * Trosper Lake * Ward Lake

National protected areas

* Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

Ecology and environment

The habitat for the Golden Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) runs through the county. The plant was placed on the

Endangered Species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

list in 1997 but due to conservation efforts the tall prairie flower was delisted in 2023. Wildlife and land preserves in South Thurston County include the Black River Habitat Management Area, the Glacial Heritage Preserve, and the Scatter Creek Wildlife Area.

Economy

, Thurston County has over 131,000 non-farm jobs and an

unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...

of 4.8% without adjustments for seasonal labor. Over 32% of employed residents work in government, primarily for the state government; the second-largest employer is the healthcare and social assistance industry. The largest employer in Thurston County is the State of Washington, with over 25,600 employees in 2020; the largest private employers are Providence St. Peter Hospital with 2,850 employees and retailer

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

with 1,025 employees. The mean hourly wage in the county across all non-farm occupations was $33.12 in May 2023—above the national average.

Demographics

Thurston County has the sixth-largest population among Washington's counties and is among the fastest-growing in the state. From 2010 to 2020, the county's population became more ethnically diverse, with the number of residents who identify as Hispanic or Latino increasing by 63.2%. The county's largest city is Lacey, which has an estimated population of over 60,000 and surpassed Olympia's population in the early 2020s. The smallest incorporated place in Thurston County is the town of Bucoda, which has 620 residents. Over 145,000 people live in the unincorporated areas of the county, which are primarily concentrated between Olympia and Lacey. The entire county is designated as part of the Olympia–Lacey–Tumwater Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which only includes Thurston County. The MSA was among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. in the 2010s, with a year-to-year population increase of 2.24 percent. The county also had the highest population of

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

households among metropolitan areas in the U.S. according to a 2024

Pew Research The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It als ...

study, which determined that 66 percent of households had adults with an annual income near double the national median household income. Thurston County is also part of the

–

, WA Combined Statistical Area, which includes most of the Puget Sound region.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 294,793 people, 115,397 households, and 76,717 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 121,438 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 73.2%

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 ...

, 3.2%

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 ...

, 1.5% Native American, 5.9% Asian, 1.1%

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 ...

, 3.5% from some other races and 11.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 9.8% of the population. 20.5% of residents were under the age of 18, 5.1% were under 5 years of age, and 19.3% were 65 and older.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 252,264 people, 100,650 households, and 66,161 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 108,182 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 82.4% white, 5.2% Asian, 2.7% black or African American, 1.4% American Indian, 0.8% Pacific islander, 2.2% from other races, and 5.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.2% 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 ...

, 13.4% were English, 13.2% were Irish, 5.0% were Norwegian, and 4.7% were American. Of the 100,650 households, 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.3% were non-families, and 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 38.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $60,930 and the median income for a family was $71,833. Males had a median income of $53,679 versus $41,248 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,707. About 7.1% of families and 10.3% 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 13.0% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 207,355 people, 81,625 households and 54,933 families living in the county. The

was . There were 86,652 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 85.66%

, 2.35%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 1.52% Native American, 4.41% Asian, 0.52%

, 1.69% from other races, and 3.85% from two or more races. 4.53% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 17.1% were of

, 10.2% English, 9.8% Irish, 6.9%

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

or American and 5.5% Norwegian ancestry. There were 81,625 households, of which 33.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.10% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.70% were non-families. 25.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.99. Age distribution was 25.30% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $46,975, and the median family income was $55,027. Males had a median income of $40,521 versus $30,368 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $22,415. About 5.80% of families and 8.80% of the population were below the

, including 9.80% of those under age 18 and 5.00% of those age 65 or over.

Homelessness

Thurston County is a participant in the mandatory federal Point-In-Time Count, a

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of the local homeless population that is conducted by community organizations and volunteers. , there were 952 people in the county who were counted and classified as homeless, an increase of over 200 from the prior year. Most of the people who were identified as unsheltered lived in vehicles and 79percent were from Thurston County or an adjacent county. Based on the Point-In-Time Count, Thurston County had a sixth-highest rate of people experiencing homelessness per capita among Washington's counties.

Government

Thurston County is governed by a five-member board of county commissioners who are elected to four-year terms from proportional districts. The board of commissioners was enlarged from three members to five members in November 2023 following the approval of a ballot measure to expand the board that passed a year prior. The head of the Thurston County government's administration is the county manager, who is appointed by the board of commissioners. Since 2024, the county manager has been Leonard Hernandez, who was previously the CEO of

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...

. Thurston County has used its commissioner–manager form of government since it was formed in 1852. An attempt to adopt a home rule charter with an elected county executive and seven-member county council was rejected by voters in 1979. The county is split between two U.S.

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, which each elect a member to 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 3rd district, generally south of State Route 507; and the 10th district, which includes the urban areas of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater, as well as Yelm. Until the creation of the 10th district following the 2010 U.S. census, Olympia and Lacey were in separate congressional districts. At the state level, Thurston County is part of five legislative districts that each elect a state senator and two state representatives. The 2nd district encompasses the rural southeast of the county; the 19th district includes Grand Mound and the southwest corner of the county; the 20th district includes an area east of Grand Mound; the 22nd district includes Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater; and the 35th district encompasses western and central Thurston County.

Special districts

Special-purpose districts include cemetery, fire, hospital, library, school, and water and sewer districts. Each special district is governed by officials elected by voters within that jurisdiction.

Fire districts

Seven fire districts, three city fire departments, and two regional fire authorities provide fire prevention, fire fighting, and emergency medical services. Each fire district is governed by an elected board of commissioners. Most districts have three commissioners. Fire districts receive most of their revenue from property taxes. All of the fire districts and the regional fire authority have volunteer or paid-call firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs). The City of Olympia is an all-career department. Fire District 3 only allows volunteers to live within the City of Lacey city limits. Thurston County Fire Districts are: * Fire District 1 merged with Fire District 14 in 2002, then merging with Fire District 11 in 2010 to form West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. * Fire District 2 merged with Fire District 4 to form S.E. Thurston Fire Authority in 2010. * Fire District 3 serves the City of Lacey and surrounding areas. * Fire District 4 merged with Fire District 2 to form S.E. Thurston Fire Authority in 2010. * Fire District 5 consolidated with Fire District 9, forming McLane – Black Lake Fire Department in 2008, fully merging in 2018. * Fire District 6 serves East Olympia. * Fire District 7 merged with Fire District 8 in 2015. * Fire District 8 serves South Bay, Johnson Point, and North Olympia. * Fire District 9 operates as McLane – Black Lake Fire Department. * Fire District 10 merged with Fire District 9 in 1976. * Fire District 11 merged into Fire District 1 in 2010 to form West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. * Fire District 12 merged with Fire District 16 to form South Thurston Fire & EMS in 2017. * Fire District 13 serves Steamboat Island, south to Route 8. * Fire District 14 merged with Fire District 1 in 2002. * Fire District 15 contracted service with the City of Tumwater on January 4, 1967, being annexed into the city of 2016. * Fire District 16 merged into Fire District 12 to form South Thurston Fire & EMS in 2017. * Fire District 17 serves Bald Hills.

Politics

Thurston County leans Democratic in both national and local elections. The county has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate since 1988 and the candidates have consistently received a majority of the vote in the county. Democrat Bob Ferguson defeated Republican Dave Reichert in the 2024 gubernatorial election in Thurston County by an 11.7 percent margin, 55.7 percent to 44.0 percent. As of the 2024 election, all five Thurston County Commissioners are Democrats.

Education

Several school districts provide

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 ...

in Thurston County, including those that overlap with other counties: * Centralia School District * Griffin School District * North Thurston Public Schools *

Olympia School District Olympia School District is a school district (Washington school district number 111) serving 9,829 students (as of the 2020-2021 school year) in the city of Olympia in Thurston County, Washington. The school district has approximately 1200 sta ...

* Rainier School District * Rochester School District * Tenino School District * Tumwater School District * Yelm Community Schools Thurston County also has three post-secondary educational institutions: *

Saint Martin's University Saint Martin's University is a Private university, private Benedictine university in Lacey, Washington. It was founded in 1895 as a boys' boarding school run by monks of the Benedictines, Benedictine Order. Saint Martin's began offering college- ...

* South Puget Sound Community College

Parks and recreation

The county is home to several

rail trails A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corridor with active railways, lig ...

, including the

Chehalis Western Trail The Chehalis Western Trail is a rail trail in Thurston County, Washington, and is the longest shared-use path in the region. It occupies an abandoned railroad corridor that was once used by the historic Weyerhaeuser-owned Chehalis Western Rail ...

, which is the longest in the county, the Karen Fraser Woodland Trail, and the Yelm-Rainier-Tenino Trail.

Culture

Arts and music

Olympia is a noted countercultural hub in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in music. It gained national prominence for its

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by in ...

in the late 20th century, and was home to various

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

bands that achieved national recognition in the 1980s and 1990s, notably including

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pio ...

, and

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member Janet We ...

. Indie label

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

and the Evergreen State College's radio station KAOS, both founded by musician Calvin Johnson, brought many groups into the mainstream and wider success.

Media

The

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large newspaper circulation, circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and i ...

for Thurston County is ''

The Olympian ''The Olympian'' is a daily newspaper based in Olympia, Washington, in the United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and publishes a daily printed edition. History Olympia was home to the first newspaper to be published in modern-da ...

'', a newspaper based in Olympia that is owned by the

McClatchy Company McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's Delaware General Corporation Law, General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and kno ...

and publishes three print editions per week. , it has a circulation of 17,401. ''The Olympian'' was founded in 1891 and merged with several local newspapers in the early 20th century to become the sole daily newspaper in the county. Earlier newspapers included ''The Columbian'', founded in 1852, and ''The Washington Standard'', which was published weekly from 1860 to 1921. As the state capital, Olympia formerly had bureaus for newspapers across the state, including the two dailies in Seattle, and several reporters from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. By 2021, the Olympia bureaus had shrunk to only six reporters. The county also has several weekly and online news publications. The '' Nisqually Valley News'', founded in 1922, is published weekly in Yelm and has been a sister publication of '' The Chronicle'' of Centralia since 1994. Tenino had several competing newspapers during the 1910s that were succeeded by the '' Tenino Independent'', which has been published weekly since 1922. An alt weekly, the '' Weekly Volcano'' was published in Olympia from 2001 to 2013; it was later revived in 2023. '' The Journal of Olympia, Lacey & Tumwater'' (JOLT) is a non-profit online news organization that was founded in 2020.

Libraries

Thurston County is part of the Timberland Regional Library, a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

system that serves five counties in southwestern Washington and is headquartered in Tumwater. It has seven locations in the county and a dedicated

bookmobile A bookmobile, or mobile library, is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Boo ...

service. Thurston County is a founding member of the Timberland system, which was established as a pilot project in 1964 and made into a permanent intercounty rural library district in 1968. The county had previously been served by the South Puget Sound Regional Library, which was contracted to operate libraries in the cities of Lacey, Olympia, and Yelm. These cities were later annexed directly into the Timberland system by the 1980s. The oldest public library in the county was opened in 1896 by the Woman's Club of Olympia, who donated their collection of 900 books to the city government in 1909. A permanent Carnegie library in Olympia was opened in 1914 with 1,500 books and was used by the city and Timberland until a new library building opened in 1978.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Thurston County is bisected by

, the major north–south freeway on the U.S. West Coast that connects Washington,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The freeway travels through Grand Mound, Tumwater, Olympia, and Lacey and continues south to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, and north to Tacoma and Seattle. It was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s to replace U.S. Route 99, the original north–south highway in Western Washington. Interstate 5 intersects several other highways within Thurston County that provide connections to other areas of Washington state. These include U.S. Route 12, which travels west from Grand Mound to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

;

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

, which encircles most of the Olympic Peninsula and provides access to Aberdeen via State Route 8; and State Route 510, which travels along the Nisqually River to Yelm, where it intersects State Route 507. The county has two public transportation providers and connections to other systems that serve neighboring counties.

Intercity Transit Intercity Transit is a public transportation agency organized as a municipal corporation in Thurston County, Washington, United States. It serves Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, and Yelm and Lakewood: an area of approximately . It operates 19 bu ...

has 18 routes that serve the cities and urban growth areas of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Yelm. In addition to local service, the agency operates The One, a rapid bus service in Olympia and Lacey, and express buses to Lakewood that connect with Pierce Transit and

Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It manages the Link light rail system in Se ...

. All routes in the Intercity Transit system have been fare-free since 2020; the agency is funded by a local sales tax within its service area, which was formed in 1980. Rural Transit is operated by the Thurston Regional Planning Council between communities south of Olympia and Tumwater. It is also fare-free and connects with Lewis County Transit in Centralia. Passenger rail service through Thurston County is operated by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, which has two routes that serve

Centennial Station The Centennial Station (also known as Olympia–Lacey) is a train station located immediately south of Lacey, Washington, Lacey, Washington (U.S. state), Washington, United States, that also serves the capital city of Olympia, Washington, Olym ...

in southern Lacey, which opened in 1993 and is primarily run by volunteers. The '' Cascades'' has several daily trips to Seattle, Portland, and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

; the ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland, Oregon, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, ...

'' has one daily train that runs between Seattle,

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. These routes run on tracks owned by the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

, which primarily operates freight trains through the county on the Seattle Subdivision. Several branch railroads also pass through Thurston County, including the Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad and two lines owned by the Port of Olympia that were leased to Tacoma Rail until 2016. The county has one public airport, Olympia Regional Airport, which is owned by the Port of Olympia and used for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

, business flights,

air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

s, and government use. It has two runways, a passenger terminal, and an air traffic control tower. The airport and two other sites in Thurston County were among candidates considered by a state legislative commission for a new passenger airport to relieve crowding at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, the main passenger airport in the region.

Utilities

The county's customer

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

is provided by

Puget Sound Energy Puget Sound Energy, Inc. (PSE) is an energy utility company based in the U.S. state of Washington that provides electrical power and natural gas to the Puget Sound region. The utility serves electricity to more than 1.2 million customers in I ...

, a private company that serves most of 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 ...

. The company has of

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

and underground lines to serve over 131,000 total customers in Thurston County. Puget Sound Energy's natural gas infrastructure includes of mains in the county. Several public utilities, including city governments and county-owned rural systems, provide

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

to residents and businesses.

Healthcare

Thurston County has two major hospitals that have a combined 500-bed capacity. The largest is Providence St. Peter Hospital north of Lacey, which has 390 beds and is operated by

Providence Health & Services Providence Health & Services is a not-for-profit Catholic Church, Catholic healthcare system headquartered in Renton, Washington. The health system includes 51 hospitals, more than 800 non-acute facilities, and numerous assisted living faciliti ...

. It was founded in 1887 at a location in Olympia and moved to its current campus near Lacey in 1971. The Capital Medical Center in Olympia, operated by MultiCare Health since 2021, has 107 beds and an off-campus emergency room in Lacey. It was built in 1985 to address a shortage in hospital capacity in the South Puget Sound region.

Communities

Cities

* Lacey * Olympia (county seat) * Rainier * Tenino * Tumwater * Yelm

Towns

* Bucoda

Census-designated places

* Grand Mound *

Nisqually Reservation The Nisqually Reservation, also known as Nisqually Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 668 at the 2020 census. History Nisqually Indian Reservation wa ...

* North Yelm * Rochester * Tanglewilde-Thompson Place

Unincorporated communities

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

Driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

* East Olympia *

Gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root w ...

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or mor ...

* Kellys Corner *

* Littlerock * Maytown * Mushroom Corner * Offutt Lake * Saint Clair * Schneiders Prairie * Skookumchuck * South Bay * Steamboat Island *

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the nume ...

Ghost towns

Tono Tono, Tōno or Toño may refer to: Places * Tōnō, the southeastern portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan * Tōno, Iwate, a city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan * Tono, Washington, a ghost town in the state of Washington, United States * Tono Dam, agri ...

References

External links

*
Official county government website

Thurston Conservation District
{{coord, 46.93, -122.83, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-WA_source:UScensus1990 1852 establishments in Oregon Territory Populated places established in 1852 Seattle metropolitan area Western Washington

History

Geography

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Geographic features

National protected areas

Ecology and environment

Economy

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

2000 census

Homelessness

Government

Special districts

Fire districts

Politics

Education

Parks and recreation

Culture

Arts and music

Media

Libraries

Infrastructure

Transportation

Utilities

Healthcare

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

See also

References

External links