34 articles
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen, Washington: city at the Chehalis-Wishkah confluence on Grays Harbor, founded 1884 by Samuel Benn, incorporated 1890; once a world lumber capital, now 17,013 residents, flood-protection projects, Lady Washington, Nirvana hometown.
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington: fifth-largest city in Washington on the east side of Lake Washington, incorporated 1953, population about 154,000-158,000, a high-tech Eastside hub with median household income $165,576 and light rail to Seattle since 2026.
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington: county seat of Whatcom County on Bellingham Bay, formed by the 1903 merger of Whatcom and Fairhaven. Population about 96,000; home of Western Washington University; high housing costs.
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington, a Kitsap County city on Port Orchard Bay founded in 1891 by William Bremer around Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Population 43,505 (2020); ferry links to Seattle; shipyard undergoing a multi-billion-dollar Navy modernization.
Ellensburg, Washington
Ellensburg, county seat of Kittitas County in central Washington, sits near the state's geographic center and is home to Central Washington University and the Ellensburg Rodeo.
Everett, Washington
Everett, Washington: largest city in Snohomish County on Port Gardner Bay, founded 1890s by the Everett Land Company, a lumber mill town, now home to Boeing's Paine Field plant and the Port of Everett.
Federal Way
Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, between Seattle and Tacoma, incorporated February 28, 1990, population about 101,000, known for parks, cultural diversity, and Link light rail.
Forks, Washington
Forks, Washington: small city in Clallam County on the Olympic Peninsula, incorporated 1945, population 3,335 (2020). Former logging capital turned timber, government, and Twilight-tourism town near the Hoh Rain Forest.
Gig Harbor, Washington
Gig Harbor, Washington: a maritime city in Pierce County on Puget Sound, incorporated 1946, named for the Wilkes Expedition's captain's gig, population about 12,600, known for commercial fishing heritage and the Tacoma Narrows bridges.
Index, Washington
Index, Washington: a town of about 173 people in Snohomish County on the North Fork Skykomish River, platted by the Gunn family in 1893, incorporated 1907, now a recreation and climbing gateway.
Issaquah, Washington
Issaquah, Washington, a King County city about 17 miles east of Seattle, incorporated as Gilman in 1892 and renamed 1899; former coal, lumber, and dairy town, now a fast-growing Eastside city of about 40,000.
Kennewick, Washington
Kennewick, Washington: largest of the Tri-Cities, on the Columbia River in Benton County. Incorporated 1904; 2020 population 83,921; retail hub; site of the 9,200-year-old Kennewick Man find.
Kent, Washington
Kent, Washington: Green River Valley city in King County, 6th largest in the state with 136,588 residents (2020). Aerospace hub home to Boeing and Blue Origin; incorporated 1890 after Kent County, England.
Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland, Washington: Eastside King County city on Lake Washington's northeast shore, founded 1888, incorporated 1905, named for steel entrepreneur Peter Kirk. Population 92,175 (2020); annexed Houghton, Totem Lake, Juanita, Finn Hill, and Kingsgate.
Leavenworth, Washington
Leavenworth, Washington, a Cascade Mountain city of about 2,000, is a former logging and Great Northern Railway town rebuilt in Bavarian style from 1965 as a private tourism strategy, drawing over a million annual visitors.
Medina, Washington
Medina, Washington: small affluent residential city in King County on Lake Washington's eastern shore, northwest of Bellevue; incorporated 1955, ZIP 98039 is the state's priciest, home to Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Mercer Island, Washington
Mercer Island, Washington: an affluent residential city on an island in Lake Washington between Seattle and Bellevue, incorporated 1960, population 25,748 (2020), accessed only via Interstate 90.
Mount Vernon, Washington
Mount Vernon, Washington: Skagit County's largest city (35,219 in 2020), incorporated 1890, on the Skagit River. Known for its 2018 downtown floodwall, record December 2025 flood, and the Tulip Festival.
Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington: state capital and Thurston County seat at the southern tip of Puget Sound on Budd Inlet. Population 55,605 (2020); territorial capital since 1853; 287-foot capitol dome.
Port Angeles, Washington
Port Angeles, Washington: Clallam County city on the northern Olympic Peninsula, gateway to Olympic National Park and ferry link to Victoria, BC. Population about 20,000; incorporated 1890; timber, port, and Coast Guard history.
Port Townsend, Washington
Port Townsend, Washington: county seat of Jefferson County on the Quimper Peninsula, founded 1851, incorporated 1860, a Victorian seaport boom town whose railroad hopes ended in 1893; population about 10,000, home to Fort Worden State Park.
Pullman, Washington
Pullman, Washington: largest city in Whitman County and home of Washington State University's main campus, incorporated 1888, population about 33,756 (2025 estimate), set in the Palouse's four-hill college town.
Redmond, Washington
Redmond, Washington: King County city in the Sammamish Valley, incorporated December 31, 1912, once a logging town called Salmonberg, now home to Microsoft's headquarters with about 80,040 residents in 2023.
Renton, Washington
Renton, Washington: King County city on the southeast shore of Lake Washington, south of Seattle. Incorporated 1901, named for Captain William Renton; home of Boeing 737 production, about 105,000 residents, mayor Armondo Pavone.
Richland, Washington
Richland, Washington: a Tri-Cities city at the Columbia-Yakima river confluence, founded 1892, incorporated 1910, rebuilt in 1943 as the government town for the Hanford plutonium project, self-governing since 1958, population 60,560 (2020).
Seattle
Seattle, largest city in Washington State (pop. est. 784,777, 2025), lies between Puget Sound and Lake Washington on Duwamish and Suquamish land; incorporated 1869, rebuilt after the 1889 Great Fire, reshaped by regrades and annexations.
Sequim, Washington
Sequim (sxʷčkʷíyəŋ), Washington, a Clallam County city of about 8,200 in the Olympic rain shadow near Dungeness, known for dry climate, lavender farms, and the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe.
Spokane Valley
Spokane Valley, Washington: a city of about 108,000 in Spokane County, incorporated March 31, 2003 as the largest incorporation in state history; a suburban city on I-90 east of Spokane.
Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington: largest city of the Inland Northwest on the Spokane River falls; founded 1873 as Spokan Falls by James N. Glover, incorporated 1881; 228,989 residents (2020); hub for trade, health care, and education.
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington: third-largest city in Washington and seat of Pierce County on Commencement Bay, Puget Sound. Northern Pacific terminus (1873), Port of Tacoma (1918), population 229,816 (2025 estimate).