Kitsap County, Washington
Kitsap County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard; its largest city is Bremerton. The county, formed out of King County and Jefferson County on January 16, 1857, is named for Chief Kitsap of the Suquamish Tribe. Originally named Slaughter County, it was soon renamed.
Kitsap County comprises the Bremerton–Silverdale–Port Orchard, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Seattle–Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area.
The United States Navy is the largest employer in the county, with installations at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport, and Naval Base Kitsap.
Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore of Puget Sound by Washington State Ferries routes, including the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry, Southworth to West Seattle via Vashon Island, Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and from Kingston to Edmonds, Washington. Kitsap Transit provides passenger-only fast ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, Kingston and Seattle, and Southworth and Seattle.
History
The Kitsap Peninsula was originally acquired by the U.S. Government in three pieces by three treaties negotiated with the Native American tribes:- The Treaty of Medicine Creek, signed December 26, 1854, ratified March 3, 1855
- The Treaty of Point Elliott, signed January 22, 1855, ratified April 11, 1859
- Point No Point Treaty, signed January 26, 1855, ratified March 8, 1859.
When the Washington Territory was organized in 1853, the Kitsap Peninsula was divided between King County to the east and Jefferson County to the west. Official public papers were required to be filed at the county seat, which meant Peninsula business people had to travel to either Seattle or Port Townsend to transact business. On the understanding that they would "bring home a new county," area mill operators George Meigs and William Renton supported the candidacies to the Territorial Legislature of two employees from their respective mills: Timothy Duane Hinckley from Meigs' and S.B. Wilson from Renton's.
Upon arrival in Olympia, the two men introduced bills to create a new county, to be named "Madison". Representative Abernathy from Wahkiakum County proposed an amendment to name it "Slaughter", in recognition of Lt. William Alloway Slaughter, who had been killed in 1855 in the Yakima War. The bill passed as amended. It was signed by Governor Isaac Stevens on January 16, 1857. The county seat would be located in Meigs's mill town at Port Madison.
In Slaughter County's first election on July 13, 1857, voters were given the opportunity to rename the county. The options were "Mill", "Madison" or "Kitsap". Slaughter was not one of the options. Kitsap won by an overwhelming majority.
Kitsap County is home to several major United States Navy facilities, collectively named Naval Base Kitsap, and grew in response to wars and conflicts in the 20th century. Bremerton, the site of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, peaked at 80,000 residents during World War II. Naval Submarine Base Bangor was developed in the 1980s to store nuclear weapons for submarines and contributed to the county's population growth during the decade from 147,000 to 190,000.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Washington by land area and third-smallest by total area.In addition to occupying most of the Kitsap Peninsula, the county includes both Bainbridge Island and Blake Island. Kitsap County has approximately of shoreline.
The portion of the county north of Silverdale is often referred to as North Kitsap, and the portion south of Bremerton as South Kitsap.
Geographic features
- Bainbridge Island
- Blake Island
- Buck Lake
- Colvos Passage
- Dyes Inlet
- Hood Canal
- Kitsap Peninsula
- Liberty Bay
- Port Gamble
- Port Madison
- Port Orchard
- Puget Sound
- Sinclair Inlet
- Blue Hills
- Seattle Fault Zone
- Kitsap Lake
- Ostrich Bay
- Horseshoe Lake
Adjacent counties
- Island County - northeast
- Snohomish County - east
- King County - east/southeast
- Pierce County - south/southeast
- Mason County - southwest
- Jefferson County - northwest
Notable parks
- Blake Island Marine State Park,
- Bloedel Reserve
- Camp Yeomalt
- Eagledale Park
- Fay Bainbridge Park
- Fort Ward Park
- Illahee State Park
- Kitsap Memorial State Park
- Manchester State Park
- Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park,
- Pritchard Park
- Scenic Beach State Park
Economy
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 275,611 people, 105,803 households, and 71,548 families living in the county. Of the residents, 20.3% were under the age of 18 and 19.0% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 39.8 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 101.9 males. 82.4% of residents lived in urban areas and 17.6% lived in rural areas.| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2000 | Pop 2010 | % 2000 | % 2010 | ||
| White alone | 190,751 | 198,745 | 199,020 | 82.23% | 79.14% | 72.21% |
| Black or African American alone | 6,495 | 6,329 | 7,338 | 2.80% | 2.52% | 2.66% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone | 3,462 | 3,524 | 3,491 | 1.49% | 1.40% | 1.27% |
| Asian alone | 10,034 | 12,082 | 14,015 | 4.33% | 4.81% | 5.08% |
| Pacific Islander alone | 1,699 | 2,177 | 2,814 | 0.73% | 0.87% | 1.02% |
| Other race alone | 647 | 423 | 1,782 | 0.28% | 0.17% | 0.65% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial | 9,272 | 12,167 | 22,967 | 4.00% | 4.84% | 8.33% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 9,609 | 15,686 | 24,184 | 4.14% | 6.25% | 8.77% |
| Total | 231,969 | 251,133 | 275,611 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
The racial makeup of the county was 74.9% White, 2.8% Black or African American, 1.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.2% Asian, 2.9% from some other race, and 11.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.8% of the population.
There were 105,803 households in the county, of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 22.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 113,248 housing units, of which 6.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 69.3% were owner-occupied and 30.7% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%.
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 251,133 people, 97,220 households, and 65,820 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 107,367 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 82.6% white, 4.9% Asian, 2.6% black or African American, 1.6% American Indian, 0.9% Pacific islander, 1.6% from other races, and 5.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.3% were German, 14.4% were Irish, 13.8% were English, 7.1% were Norwegian, and 4.2% were American.Of the 97,220 households, 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.3% were non-families, and 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 39.4 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $59,549 and the median income for a family was $71,065. Males had a median income of $52,282 versus $38,499 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,755. About 6.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
Cities
- Bainbridge Island
- Bremerton
- Port Orchard
- Poulsbo
Census-designated places
- Bangor Base
- Bethel
- Burley
- Chico
- East Port Orchard
- Enetai
- Erlands Point
- Gorst
- Hansville
- Indianola
- Keyport
- Kingston
- Kitsap Lake
- Lofall
- Manchester
- Navy Yard City
- Parkwood
- Port Gamble Tribal Community
- Rocky Point
- Seabeck
- Silverdale
- Southworth
- Suquamish
- Tracyton
Other unincorporated communities
- Annapolis
- Bay Vista
- Breidablick
- Brownsville
- Camp Union
- Central Valley
- Clear Creek
- Crosby
- Eglon
- Fernwood
- Fragaria
- Gilberton
- Glenwood
- Harper
- Holly
- Horseshoe Lake
- Illahee
- Island Lake
- Kariotis
- Lofall
- Lone Rock
- Long Lake
- Nellita
- Olalla
- Olalla Valley
- Port Gamble
- Scandia
- South Colby
- South Park Village
- Twin Spits
- Virginia
- Waterman
- Wautauga Beach
- Wildcat Lake
- Wye Lake