King County, Washington


King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 12th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the state's most populous city.
Originally named after US representative, senator, and then vice president-elect William R. King in 1852, the county government amended its designation in 1986 to honor Martin Luther King Jr., 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 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 suburbs, 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 groups. Villages around the site that would become Seattle were primarily populated by the Duwamish people. The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe occupied the area that would become eastern King County. The Green River and White River were home for the Muckleshoot tribal groups. In the first winter after the Denny Party landed at Alki Point, the settlement at the point consisted of a few dozen settlers and over a thousand Native Americans. The local tribes provided the settlers with construction labor, domestic service, and help with subsistence activities.
On December 22, 1852, the Oregon Territory legislature formed King County out of territory from within Thurston County. The county was named after Alabamian William R. King, who had just been elected Vice President of the United States under President Franklin Pierce. Seattle was made the county seat on January 11, 1853. The area became part of the Washington Territory when it was created later that year.
King County originally extended to the Olympic Peninsula. According to historian Bill Speidel, when peninsular prohibitionists threatened to shut down Seattle's saloons, Doc Maynard engineered a peninsular independence movement; King County lost what is now Kitsap County but preserved its entertainment industry.
Coal was discovered in 1853 by M. Bigelow along the Black River, and in subsequent decades several companies formed to mine coal around Lake Washington and deliver it to Seattle. The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad started servicing the Renton coal fields in 1877, and the Newcastle fields in 1878. By 1880, King County produced 22% of the coal mined on the West Coast, most of that coal being found within the Renton Formation's Muldoon coal seam.

Name

On February 24, 1986, the King County Council approved a motion to rename the county to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., preserving the name "King County" while changing its namesake. The motion stated, among other reasons for the change, that "William Rufus DeVane King was a slaveowner" who "earned income and maintained his lifestyle by oppressing and exploiting other human beings," while Martin Luther King's "contributions are well-documented and celebrated by millions throughout this nation and the world, and embody the attributes for which the citizens of King County can be proud, and claim as their own."
Because only the state can charter counties, the change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law Senate Bill 5332, which provided that "King county is renamed in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr." effective July 24, 2005.
The County Council voted on February 27, 2006, to adopt the proposal sponsored by Councilmember Larry Gossett to change the county's logo from an imperial crown to an image of Martin Luther King Jr. On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled. The new logo design was developed by the Gable Design Group and the specific image was selected by a committee consisting of King County Executive Ron Sims, Council Chair Larry Gossett, Prosecutor Norm Maleng, Sheriff Sue Rahr, District Court Judge Corrina Harn, and Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey. The same logo is used in the flag.
Martin Luther King Jr. had visited King County once, for three days in November 1961. He had been invited by longtime friend Reverend Samuel B. McKinney for a set of lectures around the city, sponsored by the Mount Zion Baptist Church.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at above sea level.
King County borders Snohomish County to the north, Kitsap County to the west, Kittitas County to the east, and Pierce County to the south. It also shares a small border with Chelan County to the northeast. King County includes Vashon Island and Maury Island in Puget Sound.
The county has 760 lakes and of streams and rivers.

Geographic features

Terrain

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

The King County Metro serves the county with local routes, paratransit, vanpools, 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, 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 terminals that are served by Washington State Ferries, a state-run passenger and automobile ferry system. 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 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. Of the residents, 20.1% were under the age of 18 and 13.5% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 36.9 years. For every 100 females there were 100.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.1 males. 96.7% of residents lived in urban areas and 3.3% lived in rural areas.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 1,275,1271,251,3001,230,58873.41%64.79%54.22%
Black or African American alone 91,798116,326147,8315.28%6.02%6.51%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 14,27812,93111,8100.82%0.67%0.52%
Asian alone 186,615280,029449,72910.74%14.50%19.81%
Pacific Islander alone 8,73714,06819,3990.50%0.73%0.85%
Other race alone 4,5774,68813,5380.26%0.24%0.60%
Mixed race or Multiracial 60,66079,529153,7593.49%4.12%6.77%
Hispanic or Latino 95,242172,378243,0215.48%8.93%10.71%
Total1,737,0341,931,2492,269,675100.00%100.00%100.00%

There were 917,764 households in the county, of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 24.9% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The population density was. There were 969,234 housing units, of which 5.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 54.0% were owner-occupied and 46.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.1%.
The racial makeup of the county was 56.1% White, 6.7% Black or African American, 0.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 19.9% Asian, 5.2% from some other race, and 10.4% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 10.7% of the population.