Chelan County, Washington

Chelan County is a county in Washington, United States, about 115 miles east of Seattle across
the Cascade Mountains. It had a population of 79,074 at the 2020 census, an estimated 81,941 by
2025, and covers 2,994 square miles (7,754 km2) centred near 47°53′N 120°38′W.

Wenatchee is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 98801. The
county holds 5 incorporated cities and roughly a dozen unincorporated communities and census
designated places, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 53007.

Towns & Villages in Chelan County

Chelan County has 15 named places verified below: 5 incorporated cities and 10 unincorporated
communities and census-designated places. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp.
covers settlements with no formal boundary or local government. Washington has no civil
townships, so this table skips that column.

Plain and Leavenworth share ZIP 98826 — the two sit close enough together on US-2 that
the Postal Service never split them into separate codes. Dryden, Monitor and Winton, all small
US-2/US-97 corridor communities, have no ZIP of their own on record; mail there is delivered
under a neighboring town’s code. Stehekin, at the head of Lake Chelan, has no road
connection to the rest of the county at all; mail and freight arrive by boat, floatplane or a
summer-only turf airstrip.

ZIP Codes

• 98801 — Wenatchee (also serves South Wenatchee)
• 98807 — Wenatchee (a post office box ZIP)
• 98816 — Chelan
• 98831 — Manson
• 98815 — Cashmere
• 98826 — Leavenworth (also serves Plain)
• 98822 — Entiat
• 98817 — Chelan Falls
• 98847 — Peshastin
• 98828 — Malaga
• 98852 — Stehekin

A handful of smaller crossroads communities, including Dryden, Monitor, Winton and Chiwaukum
up the Wenatchee River valley, have no ZIP of their own on record and are served under a
neighboring town’s code.

Geography

Chelan County spans the crest of the Cascade Mountains, from alpine peaks along its western
edge down to the dry Columbia River plateau in the east. Of its 2,994 square miles, 2,921 are
land and 73 are water — about 2.4 percent, most of it Lake Chelan, a glacially carved
trench 55 miles long and up to 1,486 feet deep, one of the deepest lakes in the United States.
The Columbia, Wenatchee and Entiat rivers cross the county’s eastern half, and North Cascades
National Park covers much of its remote northwest corner around Stehekin.

Okanogan County lies to the northeast, Douglas County to the east, Kittitas County to the
south, King County to the southwest, Snohomish County to the west, and Skagit County to the
northwest. Okanogan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, King County, Snohomish County and Skagit County all border Chelan
directly, making it one of the few Washington counties to touch six neighbors.

Demographics

Chelan County had a population of 79,074 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 81,941 residents. Wenatchee is by far the largest community, followed by Chelan and
Cashmere. Median household income runs $82,381 (Data USA, 2024), below Washington’s
statewide figure of $94,605 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 27 people per
square mile of land, low for western Washington and a reflection of how much of the county is
mountain wilderness with no year-round residents at all.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 5,857 people,
followed by retail trade at 4,477 and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting at 3,101.
Chelan County grows more apples than any other county in the country’s top apple-producing
state, and orchards line the Wenatchee, Entiat and Columbia valleys. Confluence Health, based in
Wenatchee, is the region’s largest health care employer. Liberty Orchards, maker of Aplets
& Cotlets candy, has operated out of Cashmere since 1920, and Cashmere Valley Bank has been
headquartered there since 1932. In Malaga, Helion Energy began building a commercial fusion
power plant in 2025, intended to supply electricity directly to Microsoft data centers starting
in 2028. The county’s biggest annual event is the Washington State Apple Blossom Festival
in Wenatchee, running from late April through the first week of May.

History

The Washington Territorial Legislature created Chelan County on 13 March 1899, carving it out
of Okanogan and Kittitas counties. Its name comes from a Chelan word meaning “deep
water,” describing Lake Chelan. Wenatchee, already a rail and orchard town on the Columbia
River, became the county seat.

Entiat has been rebuilt on higher ground twice: a 1921 fire destroyed the original townsite,
and construction of Rocky Reach Dam forced a second relocation in 1960, with the rebuilt town
reopening in 1961. Leavenworth took a different path after its own decline — when the
Great Northern Railway moved its operations to Wenatchee in 1925, the town lost its economic
base, and in the 1960s local business owners remade the entire downtown as a Bavarian-style
village to draw tourists, a transformation that now brings in millions of visitors a year.

Getting There

U.S. Route 2 crosses the county east-west over Stevens Pass, linking Leavenworth and
Wenatchee; U.S. Route 97 runs north-south through Chelan and Entiat along the Columbia River.
No interstate highway reaches Chelan County.

• Seattle — about 115 miles west
• Spokane — about 145 miles east
• Yakima — about 95 miles south
• Omak — about 60 miles north

Pangborn Memorial Airport, just east of Wenatchee, offers daily commercial flights to Seattle
on Alaska Airlines. Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops at Wenatchee’s Columbia Station and
at Icicle Station in Leavenworth on its run between Seattle and Chicago.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Chelan County located?
It straddles the Cascade Mountains in central Washington, about 115 miles east of Seattle,
bordered by Okanogan, Douglas, Kittitas, King, Snohomish and Skagit counties.

What is the population of Chelan County?
79,074 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 81,941.

How big is Chelan County?
2,994 square miles total (7,750 km2), of which 2,921 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Chelan County?
Wenatchee, the county’s largest city, with a 2020 population of 35,508.

How many towns and cities are in Chelan County?
Five incorporated cities — Wenatchee, Chelan, Cashmere, Leavenworth and Entiat —
plus census-designated places and unincorporated communities including Manson, South
Wenatchee, Chelan Falls, Peshastin, Malaga, Plain and remote Stehekin.

What ZIP codes does Chelan County use?
98801 and 98807 for Wenatchee, 98816 for Chelan, 98815 for Cashmere, 98826 for Leavenworth and
Plain, 98822 for Entiat, and smaller codes for Manson, Chelan Falls, Peshastin, Malaga, Dryden
and Stehekin.

What is Chelan County known for?
Apple orchards, Lake Chelan’s 55-mile length, and Leavenworth’s Bavarian-themed
downtown, which draws millions of visitors a year.

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