Yakima County, Washington

Yakima County is a county in Washington, United States, about 140 miles southeast of Seattle. It had a population of 256,728 at the 2020 census, an estimated 259,185 by 2025, and covers 4,311 square miles (11,170 km2) centred near 46°28′N 120°44′W. Only Okanogan County covers more ground in Washington.

Yakima is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 98901. The county holds 12 cities, 2 incorporated towns and 26 smaller communities, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 53077. About half the county lies within the Yakama Nation reservation, established by treaty in 1855.

Towns & Villages in Yakima County

Yakima County has 40 named places on record: 14 incorporated cities and towns, 15 census designated places and 11 unincorporated communities. CDP stands for census designated place, a settlement the Census Bureau counts but which has no local government of its own; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary. Washington has no civil townships, so places are listed by county alone.

Eleven smaller unincorporated communities round out the list: Artesian, Brownstown, Byron, East Selah, Fruitvale, Goose Prairie, Gromore, Pomona, Rimrock, Wenas and Wiley City. None has a census count of its own; Brownstown keeps a PO box ZIP, 98920.

A few names invite confusion. Moxee was long written “Moxee City”, but the city’s official name today is simply Moxee. East Selah is a separate unincorporated community outside Selah’s city limits. Naches the town sits on the Naches River, which drains a much larger valley of the same name. And Union Gap, not Yakima, is the county’s original townsite — see the History section.

ZIP Codes

• 98901 — Yakima, east side (also serves Terrace Heights)
• 98902 — Yakima, central
• 98903 — Yakima (also serves Union Gap and the Ahtanum area)
• 98908 — Yakima, west side (also serves Summitview and Wiley City)
• 98942 — Selah (also serves East Selah and Wenas)
• 98944 — Sunnyside
• 98930 — Grandview
• 98948 — Toppenish
• 98951 — Wapato (also serves Donald)
• 98936 — Moxee
• 98953 — Zillah
• 98932 — Granger
• 98937 — Naches (also serves Cliffdell, Nile and Goose Prairie up the Naches valley)
• 98935 — Mabton
• 98947 — Tieton
• 98952 — White Swan
• 98938 — Outlook
• 98933 — Harrah
• 98923 — Cowiche

Six more ZIPs are PO box only: 98921 (Buena), 98939 (Parker), 98920 (Brownstown), and 98904, 98907 and 98909 in Yakima, for 25 in all. Terrace Heights, Ahtanum, Gleed, Summitview, Tampico, Eschbach, Satus and most rural communities have no ZIP of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest city’s code.

Geography

Yakima County stretches from the Cascade crest down to the irrigated floor of the Yakima Valley. Of its 4,311 square miles, 4,295 are land and 16 are water, about 0.4 percent. Mount Adams, at 12,276 feet the second-highest peak in Washington, stands on the county’s southwestern edge; the Rattlesnake Hills and Horse Heaven Hills frame the valley to the northeast and south. The Yakima River crosses the county from the Yakima Canyon in the north to the Benton County line, joined at Yakima by the Naches River. Rimrock Lake, a reservoir on the Tieton River behind Tieton Dam, is the largest body of water.

Seven counties border this one: Kittitas County to the north, Grant County to the northeast, Benton County to the east, Klickitat County to the south, Skamania County to the southwest, Lewis County to the west and Pierce County to the northwest.

Demographics

Yakima County counted 256,728 residents in 2020, up from 243,231 at the 2010 census, and the 2025 estimate is 259,185. Density works out to about 60 people per square mile of land, with most residents concentrated along the Yakima River between Selah and Grandview. Yakima and Sunnyside are the two largest communities. At the 2020 count 50.7 percent of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino, making this the largest majority-Hispanic county in Washington; the Yakama Nation reservation is also home to one of the state’s largest Native American communities. Median household income runs $75,399 against a statewide figure of $99,389 (ACS 2024).

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture drives the county. The irrigated Yakima Valley is one of the most productive fruit districts in the United States — apples, cherries, pears and wine grapes — and its hop yards supply most of the nation’s hop harvest. The Yakima Valley AVA, established in 1983 as Washington’s first federally recognized wine region, accounts for more than 40 percent of the state’s wine production, with tasting rooms clustered around Zillah, Sunnyside and Grandview. Fruit warehouses, packing lines and food processors employ thousands across the valley towns.

Yakima itself supplies the region’s health care, retail and government jobs; MultiCare Yakima Memorial hospital and Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic are among the county’s biggest employers, and Yakima Valley College has campuses in Yakima and Grandview. The Yakama Nation, headquartered at Toppenish, runs tribal government, forestry enterprises and Legends Casino. The US Army’s Yakima Training Center occupies the county’s northeastern corner. The biggest annual event is the Central Washington State Fair, held each September at State Fair Park in Yakima.

History

The Yakama people have lived in this valley for thousands of years. Under the Treaty of 1855, fourteen tribes and bands ceded much of central Washington while reserving the 1.4-million-acre Yakama reservation, most of which lies inside the present county; the treaty’s aftermath brought the Yakima War of 1855–1858. The territorial legislature created Yakima County on 21 January 1865 from Ferguson County, naming it for the Yakama Nation. It later gave up land to form Kittitas County in 1883 and Benton County in 1905.

In 1884 the Northern Pacific Railway bypassed the original county seat, Yakima City, and platted its own townsite four miles north. Residents rolled dozens of buildings up the valley to the new North Yakima, which the legislature renamed Yakima in 1918; the old town became Union Gap. In 1942 the federal government removed the Yakima Valley’s Japanese American community, more than a thousand people, to the Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming; few returned after the war.

Getting There

Interstate 82 runs the length of the populated valley, linking Selah, Yakima, Union Gap, Zillah, Granger, Sunnyside and Grandview. US 12 crosses White Pass toward the coast, US 97 climbs Satus Pass toward Oregon, and SR 410 crosses Chinook Pass in summer. SR 24, SR 22 and SR 821, the scenic Yakima Canyon road, cover the rest of the county.

• Ellensburg — about 36 miles north
• Tri-Cities (Kennewick–Pasco–Richland) — about 80 miles southeast
• Seattle — about 140 miles northwest
• Portland, Oregon — about 185 miles southwest

Yakima Air Terminal–McAllister Field, on the south side of Yakima, has scheduled airline service to Seattle; Seattle–Tacoma International is the nearest major hub. No Amtrak route serves the county — the closest station is Pasco, about 85 miles southeast on the Empire Builder’s Portland section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Yakima County located?
In south-central Washington, on the east slope of the Cascades about 140 miles southeast of Seattle, bordered by Kittitas, Grant, Benton, Klickitat, Skamania, Lewis and Pierce counties.

What is the population of Yakima County?
256,728 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate of 259,185. Just over half of residents are Hispanic or Latino, the highest share of any Washington county.

How big is Yakima County?
4,311 square miles (11,170 km2), of which 4,295 square miles are land — the second-largest county in Washington by area.

What is the county seat of Yakima County?
Yakima, with 96,968 residents in 2020 — renamed from North Yakima in 1918 after the original seat moved from what is now Union Gap.

How many towns and cities are in Yakima County?
Fourteen incorporated places: the cities of Yakima, Sunnyside, Grandview, Toppenish, Selah, Union Gap, Wapato, Moxee, Granger, Zillah, Mabton and Tieton, plus the towns of Naches and Harrah. Another 26 CDPs and unincorporated communities are listed above.

What ZIP codes does Yakima County use?
25 in all: 98901–98909 around Yakima, 98942 Selah, 98944 Sunnyside, 98930 Grandview, 98948 Toppenish, 98951 Wapato, plus a code for each smaller town from 98920 to 98953.

What is Yakima County known for?
Apples, hops and wine — the Yakima Valley AVA makes over 40 percent of Washington’s wine — along with the Yakama Nation reservation and Mount Adams.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Washington.