Washington State Data Book: The people, the economy, and the government of Washington State State of Washington Office of Financial Management

Population of Counties, 1890 to 2000

Source:  Office of Financial Management

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DECENNIAL POPULATION OF COUNTIES: 1890 TO 1940
County Year of Formation1 18902 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940
Adams County1883--4,84010,9209,6237,7196,209
Asotin County1883--3,3665,8316,5398,1368,365
Benton County1905----7,93710,90310,95212,053
Chelan County1899--3,93115,10420,90631,63434,412
Clallam County1854--5,6036,75511,36820,44921,848
Clark County11849--13,41926,11532,80540,31649,852
Columbia County1875--7,1287,0426,0935,3255,549
Cowlitz County1854--7,87712,56111,79131,90640,155
Douglas County1883--4,9269,2279,3927,5618,651
Ferry County1899--4,5624,8005,1434,2924,701
Franklin County1883--4865,1535,8776,1376,307
Garfield County1881--3,9184,1993,8753,6623,383
Grant County1909----8,6987,7715,66614,668
Grays Harbor County1854--15,12435,59044,74559,98253,166
Island County1853--1,8704,7045,4895,3696,098
Jefferson County1852--5,7128,3376,5578,3468,918
King County1852--110,053284,638389,273463,517504,980
Kitsap County1857--6,76717,64733,16230,77644,387
Kittitas County1883--9,70418,56117,73718,15420,230
Klickitat County1859--6,40710,1809,2689,82511,357
Lewis County1845--15,15732,12736,84040,03441,393
Lincoln County1883--11,96917,53915,14111,87611,361
Mason County1854--3,8105,1564,91910,06011,603
Okanogan County1888--4,68912,88717,09418,51924,546
Pacific County1851--5,98312,53214,89114,97015,928
Pend Oreille County1911------6,3637,1557,156
Pierce County1852--55,515120,812144,127163,842182,081
San Juan County1873--2,9283,6033,6053,0973,157
Skagit County1883--14,27229,24133,37335,14237,650
Skamania County1854--1,6882,8872,3572,8914,633
Snohomish County1861--23,95059,20967,69078,86188,754
Spokane County11879--57,542139,404141,289150,477164,652
Stevens County1863--10,54325,29721,60518,55019,275
Thurston County1852--9,92717,58122,36631,35137,285
Wahkiakum County1854--2,8193,2853,4723,8624,286
Walla Walla County1854--18,68031,93127,53928,44130,547
Whatcom County1854--24,11649,51150,60059,12860,355
Whitman County1871--25,36033,28031,32328,01427,221
Yakima County1865--13,46241,70963,71077,40299,019
POPULATION OF COUNTIES: 1950 TO 2000
County 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Adams County6,5849,92912,01413,26713,603 16,428 
Asotin County10,87812,90913,79916,82317,605 20,551 
Benton County51,37062,07067,540109,444112,560 142,475 
Chelan County39,30140,74441,10345,06152,250 66,616 
Clallam County26,39630,02234,77051,64856,210$64,525 
Clark County85,30793,809128,454192,227238,053 345,238 
Columbia County4,8604,5694,4394,0574,024 4,064 
Cowlitz County53,36957,80168,61679,54882,119 92,948 
Douglas County10,81714,89016,78722,14426,205 32,603 
Ferry County4,0963,8893,6555,8116,295 7,260 
Franklin County13,56323,34225,81635,02537,473 49,347 
Garfield County3,2042,9762,9112,4682,248 2,397 
Grant County24,34646,47741,88148,52254,798$74,698 
Grays Harbor County53,64454,46559,55366,31464,175 67,194 
Island County11,07919,63827,01144,04860,195 71,558 
Jefferson County11,6189,63910,66115,96520,406$25,953 
King County732,992935,0141,159,3751,269,8981,507,305$1,737,034 
Kitsap County75,72484,176101,732147,152189,731 231,969 
Kittitas County22,23520,46725,03924,87726,725 33,362 
Klickitat County12,04913,45512,13815,82216,616 19,161 
Lewis County43,75541,85845,46756,02559,358 68,600 
Lincoln County10,97010,9199,5729,6048,864 10,184 
Mason County15,02216,25120,91831,18438,341 49,405 
Okanogan County29,13125,52025,86730,66333,350 39,564 
Pacific County16,55814,67415,79617,23718,882 20,984 
Pend Oreille County7,4136,9146,0258,5808,915 11,732 
Pierce County275,876321,590412,344485,667586,203 700,820 
San Juan County3,2452,8723,8567,83810,035 14,077 
Skagit County43,27351,35052,38164,13879,545$102,979 
Skamania County4,7885,2075,8457,9198,289 9,872 
Snohomish County111,580172,199265,236337,720465,628$606,024 
Spokane County 221,561 278,333 287,487 341,835 361,333 $ 417,939  
Stevens County18,58017,88417,40528,97930,948 40,066 
Thurston County44,88455,04976,894124,264161,238 207,355 
Wahkiakum County3,8353,4263,5923,8323,327 3,824 
Walla Walla County40,13542,19542,17647,43548,439 55,180 
Whatcom County66,73370,31781,983106,701127,780 166,814 
Whitman County32,46931,26337,90040,10338,775 40,740 
Yakima County135,723145,112145,212172,508188,823 222,581 

1In many cases the formation date of counties is the date when they were created by the Oregon Territorial legislature. Clark County was originally created as Vancouver District in 1845. However, the board of county government was first organized in 1850 after the 1849 Oregon Territorial legislature changed the name to Clark from Vancouver. The formation date for Spokane County is the date when it regained separate county status after having been merged with Stevens County.
2The date for the 1890 and 1900 censuses was June 1; for 1910, April 15; for 1920, January 1; and for 1930 through 2000, April 1.

"$" Indicates a correction to the federal 1990 census count. Corrected 2000 federal census counts were not available at the time this table was prepared.