Kitsap County, Washington | |
|---|---|
 Kitsap County Courthouse | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofWashington | |
 Washington's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:47°38′N122°39′W / 47.64°N 122.65°W /47.64; -122.65 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Washington |
| Founded | January 16, 1857 |
| Named after | Chief Kitsap |
| Seat | Port Orchard |
| Largest city | Bremerton |
| Area | |
• Total | 566 sq mi (1,470 km2) |
| • Land | 395 sq mi (1,020 km2) |
| • Water | 171 sq mi (440 km2) 30% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 275,611 |
• Estimate (2024) | 281,420 |
| • Density | 644/sq mi (249/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| Congressional district | 6th |
| Website | https://www.kitsap.gov/ |
Kitsap County is acounty in theU.S. state ofWashington. As of the2020 census, its population was 275,611.[1] Itscounty seat isPort Orchard;[2] its largest city isBremerton. The county, formed out ofKing County andJefferson County on January 16, 1857, is named forChief Kitsap of theSuquamish Tribe. Originally named Slaughter County, it was soon renamed.[3]
Kitsap County comprises the Bremerton–Silverdale–Port Orchard, WAMetropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in theSeattle–Tacoma, WACombined Statistical Area.
TheUnited States Navy is the largest employer in the county, with installations atPuget Sound Naval Shipyard,Naval Undersea Warfare CenterKeyport, andNaval Base Kitsap (which comprises former NSB Bangor and NS Bremerton).
Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore ofPuget Sound byWashington State Ferries routes, including theSeattle-Bremerton Ferry,Southworth toWest Seattle viaVashon Island,Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and fromKingston to Edmonds, Washington.Kitsap Transit provides passenger-only fast ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, Kingston and Seattle, and Southworth and Seattle.
The Kitsap Peninsula was originally acquired by the U.S. Government in three pieces by three treaties negotiated with the Native American tribes:
Territorial GovernorIsaac Stevens represented the United States in all three negotiations.
When theWashington 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 operatorsGeorge Meigs andWilliam 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 theYakima War. The bill passed as amended. It was signed by GovernorIsaac Stevens on January 16, 1857. The county seat would be located in Meigs's mill town at Port Madison.[5]
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.[6]
Kitsap County is home to several majorUnited States Navy facilities, collectively namedNaval Base Kitsap, and grew in response to wars and conflicts in the 20th century. Bremerton, the site of thePuget Sound Naval Shipyard, peaked at 80,000 residents duringWorld 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.[7]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 566 square miles (1,470 km2), of which 395 square miles (1,020 km2) is land and 171 square miles (440 km2) (30%) is water.[8] It is the fourth-smallest county in Washington by land area and third-smallest by total area.
In addition to occupying most of theKitsap Peninsula, the county includes bothBainbridge Island andBlake Island. Kitsap County has approximately 250 miles (400 km) of shoreline.[9]
The portion of the county north ofSilverdale is often referred to asNorth Kitsap, and the portion south of Bremerton asSouth Kitsap.
The largest employer in Kitsap County isNaval Base Kitsap, which had a total of 38,187 workers in 2024; approximately 63 percent are civilian employees, while the rest are military personnel.[10] According to 2025 statistics from theWashington State Employment Security Department, 22.9 percent of the labor force in Kitsap County are employed by the federal government—the highest rate among Washington's counties.[11] Other major employers includeSt. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, local school districts, the county government, andOlympic College.[10]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 544 | — | |
| 1870 | 866 | 59.2% | |
| 1880 | 1,738 | 100.7% | |
| 1890 | 4,624 | 166.1% | |
| 1900 | 6,767 | 46.3% | |
| 1910 | 17,647 | 160.8% | |
| 1920 | 33,162 | 87.9% | |
| 1930 | 30,776 | −7.2% | |
| 1940 | 44,387 | 44.2% | |
| 1950 | 75,724 | 70.6% | |
| 1960 | 84,176 | 11.2% | |
| 1970 | 101,732 | 20.9% | |
| 1980 | 147,152 | 44.6% | |
| 1990 | 189,731 | 28.9% | |
| 2000 | 231,969 | 22.3% | |
| 2010 | 251,133 | 8.3% | |
| 2020 | 275,611 | 9.7% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 281,420 | [12] | 2.1% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[13] 1790–1960[14] 1900–1990[15] 1990–2000[16] 2010–2020[1] | |||
As of the2020 census, there were 275,611 people, 105,803 households, and 71,548 families living in the county.[17]
As of the2010 census, there were 251,133 people, 97,220 households, and 65,820 families residing in the county.[18] The population density was 635.9 inhabitants per square mile (245.5/km2). There were 107,367 housing units at an average density of 271.9 per square mile (105.0/km2).[19] 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.[18] In terms of ancestry, 21.3% wereGerman, 14.4% wereIrish, 13.8% wereEnglish, 7.1% wereNorwegian, and 4.2% wereAmerican.[20]
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.[18]
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 thepoverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.[21]
Kitsap County is generally considered to be a relativelyDemocratic area, owing to progressivism stemmed from the county'sScandinavian settlers. In the2016 U.S. presidential election, DemocratHillary Clinton received 49.0% of the vote toRepublicanDonald Trump's 38.1%.[22] This Democratic margin widened in 2020, with candidateJoe Biden receiving 56.9% of the vote versus incumbent Trump receiving 38.8%.[23] The Democratic margin widened ever further in 2024, withKamala Harris receiving 58.5% of the vote compared with Trump's 37.7%, the largest margin of victory for a presidential candidate in the county sinceLyndon B. Johnson in 1964.[24]
On mainland Kitsap County, politics are strongly influenced by working-classBremerton, which casts moderate margins for Democratic candidates. Unincorporated Kitsap County is a mix of battleground areas. Non-Bremerton parts of incorporated mainland Kitsap County vary, withSilverdale having become a Republican stronghold,Poulsbo marginally Democratic, andPort Orchard consistently electing Republican candidates.
Democrats typically carry theIndian reservations of the area by wide margins; the area aroundLittle Boston (part of theS'Klallam Indian Reservation) regularly votes for Democratic candidates.
The Kitsap County Auditor website has detailed election results from 1998 to the present. County area political trends can be tracked by analyzing the election precinct data.[25]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1892 | 438 | 34.60% | 370 | 29.23% | 458 | 36.18% |
| 1896 | 728 | 48.89% | 728 | 48.89% | 33 | 2.22% |
| 1900 | 880 | 58.43% | 489 | 32.47% | 137 | 9.10% |
| 1904 | 1,736 | 69.19% | 320 | 12.75% | 453 | 18.06% |
| 1908 | 1,819 | 56.12% | 850 | 26.23% | 572 | 17.65% |
| 1912 | 1,224 | 20.12% | 969 | 15.93% | 3,889 | 63.94% |
| 1916 | 2,638 | 37.83% | 3,479 | 49.89% | 857 | 12.29% |
| 1920 | 4,989 | 49.41% | 1,350 | 13.37% | 3,759 | 37.23% |
| 1924 | 3,954 | 45.19% | 490 | 5.60% | 4,306 | 49.21% |
| 1928 | 6,544 | 62.97% | 3,668 | 35.30% | 180 | 1.73% |
| 1932 | 3,465 | 24.45% | 10,002 | 70.57% | 706 | 4.98% |
| 1936 | 3,440 | 21.04% | 12,414 | 75.94% | 493 | 3.02% |
| 1940 | 5,525 | 28.19% | 13,861 | 70.73% | 210 | 1.07% |
| 1944 | 11,224 | 31.62% | 24,016 | 67.67% | 251 | 0.71% |
| 1948 | 9,869 | 32.17% | 19,538 | 63.69% | 1,271 | 4.14% |
| 1952 | 16,876 | 44.89% | 20,531 | 54.61% | 189 | 0.50% |
| 1956 | 17,986 | 47.73% | 19,641 | 52.12% | 58 | 0.15% |
| 1960 | 17,459 | 46.80% | 19,662 | 52.71% | 181 | 0.49% |
| 1964 | 10,702 | 28.38% | 26,904 | 71.34% | 108 | 0.29% |
| 1968 | 14,520 | 36.47% | 22,273 | 55.94% | 3,022 | 7.59% |
| 1972 | 25,831 | 56.84% | 17,011 | 37.43% | 2,604 | 5.73% |
| 1976 | 23,124 | 45.56% | 25,701 | 50.64% | 1,925 | 3.79% |
| 1980 | 29,420 | 48.79% | 20,893 | 34.65% | 9,983 | 16.56% |
| 1984 | 36,101 | 54.11% | 29,681 | 44.49% | 931 | 1.40% |
| 1988 | 34,743 | 49.88% | 33,748 | 48.45% | 1,158 | 1.66% |
| 1992 | 29,340 | 33.13% | 34,442 | 38.89% | 24,786 | 27.99% |
| 1996 | 35,304 | 38.59% | 44,167 | 48.28% | 12,016 | 13.13% |
| 2000 | 46,427 | 45.13% | 50,302 | 48.90% | 6,138 | 5.97% |
| 2004 | 55,608 | 46.86% | 60,796 | 51.23% | 2,266 | 1.91% |
| 2008 | 53,297 | 42.63% | 68,624 | 54.89% | 3,090 | 2.47% |
| 2012 | 52,846 | 42.58% | 67,277 | 54.21% | 3,978 | 3.21% |
| 2016 | 49,018 | 38.07% | 63,156 | 49.05% | 16,596 | 12.89% |
| 2020 | 61,563 | 38.80% | 90,277 | 56.90% | 6,832 | 4.31% |
| 2024 | 59,080 | 37.66% | 91,731 | 58.48% | 6,061 | 3.86% |
Bainbridge Island,East Bremerton,Poulsbo andSilverdale
Bremerton,Gig Harbor andPort Orchard
Bremerton,Shelton andMason County
Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore ofPuget Sound by severalWashington State Ferries routes, including theSeattle-Bremerton Ferry,Southworth toWest Seattle viaVashon Island,Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and fromKingston to Edmonds, Washington.
Kitsap Transit provides local transit service within Kitsap County and connects to other transit systems that continue onto the Olympic Peninsula. The agency launched itsfast ferry services to Seattle in July 2017, beginning initially with a Bremerton route and later expanding to Kingston in 2018.[34][35] Fast ferry service to Southworth is expected to begin in 2020.
The county is connected to Jefferson County and theOlympic Peninsula to the west by theHood Canal Bridge.
A 48-mile-long (77 km) government-owned rail line, the Bangor-Shelton-Bremerton Navy Railroad, runs through the county. It is a branch off thePuget Sound and Pacific Railroad, with its junction at Shelton. At the Bremerton Junction near Gorst a spur follows Highway 3 along the shore of the Sinclair Inlet terminating at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard, the other follows Highway 3 along the western shore of Dyes Inlet, servicing Bangor Naval Submarine Base. The Navy had originally intended to use armored trains to transport nuclear missiles to Bangor for the Trident submarines but protesters and a series of court decisions derailed the plan. Today the railroad is primarily used to transport scrap from PSNS.[36]
Walking Tall withThe Rock andJohnny Knoxville was based in Kitsap County, and the City of Port Orchard is the basis for the fictional community ofCedar Cove in the books byDebbie Macomber.
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Municipalities and communities ofKitsap County, Washington,United States | ||
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