Lewis County, Washington

Lewis County is a county in Washington, United States, about 85 miles south of Seattle along
Interstate 5. It had a population of 82,149 at the 2020 census, an estimated 88,062 by 2025, and
covers 2,403 square miles (6,220 km2) of land centred near 46°35′N 122°24′W.

Chehalis is the county seat; its postal code is 98532. Centralia, immediately north of Chehalis,
is the county’s largest city. The county holds 8 cities, 1 incorporated town, 4 census-designated
places and dozens of smaller unincorporated communities. Washington has no civil townships, so
places here answer only to the county and their own city limits, if any. Lewis County runs on
Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 53041.

Towns & Villages in Lewis County

Lewis County has 13 named places with a 2020 census population on record: 8 cities, 1 incorporated
town and 4 census-designated places (CDPs). CDP stands for census designated place — a
recognized unincorporated community with no city government of its own. Dozens more crossroads
and rural communities have no census count at all and are not shown here as population totals.

Beyond these 13, dozens of smaller places are on record with no separate census count —
among them Adna, Alpha, Boistfort, Cinebar, Curtis, Doty, Dryad, Ethel, Evaline, Forest, Galvin,
Glenoma, Harmony, Klaber, Lacamas, Littell, Marys Corner, Mayfield, McCormick, Meskill, Newaukum,
Randle, Saint Urban, Salkum, Silver Creek, Swofford, Wildwood, Wilson and Winston. A handful of
older names on the county’s rolls — Ceres, Cora, Kopiah, Nesika and Walville among them
— are historic mill and mining sites now abandoned or reduced to a single structure; Riffe and
Kosmos were submerged when the Cowlitz River was dammed to form Riffe Lake in 1968.

ZIP Codes

• 98531 — Centralia (also covers the Fords Prairie CDP on the city’s east side)
• 98532 — Chehalis
• 98596 — Winlock
• 98565 — Napavine
• 98356 — Morton
• 98570 — Onalaska
• 98572 — Pe Ell
• 98593 — Vader
• 98591 — Toledo
• 98564 — Mossyrock
• 98355 — Mineral
• 98361 — Packwood
• 98377 — Randle (serves the eastern county toward White Pass)
• 98582 — Salkum

Smaller unincorporated communities such as Adna, Boistfort, Curtis and Doty have no ZIP of their
own; mail there is delivered under the nearest post-office town’s code.

Geography

Lewis County spans the lowlands of the Chehalis River valley in the west and rises into the
Cascade Range foothills in the east, reaching Mount Rainier National Park’s southwestern
boundary near Packwood. Of its 2,436 square miles, 2,403 are land and 33 are water, about 1.4
percent. The Cowlitz River, dammed twice within the county at Mayfield and Mossyrock, forms Riffe
Lake, the county’s largest reservoir and a longtime recreation draw. The Chehalis River drains
the county’s western half toward Grays Harbor.

Grays Harbor County and Thurston County lie to the north, Pierce County and Yakima County to the
east, Skamania County and Cowlitz County to the south, and Wahkiakum County and Pacific County to
the southwest. Grays Harbor
County, Thurston
County, Pierce County,
Yakima County, Skamania County, Cowlitz County, Wahkiakum County and Pacific County all border Lewis County
directly, making it one of the more heavily bordered counties in Washington.

Demographics

Lewis County had a population of 82,149 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 88,062 residents by 2025. Centralia and Chehalis together hold roughly a third of the
county’s population, though most residents live outside either city, spread across the
Chehalis valley and smaller towns. Median household income in Lewis County runs well below the
Washington state figure of $94,605 (2023 ACS), reflecting the county’s rural, timber-dependent
economy. Population density works out to roughly 34 people per square mile of land, low even by
Washington standards outside the Puget Sound corridor.

Economy & Local Life

Health care, retail and government are the county’s largest employment sectors. Providence
Centralia Hospital, with about 900 workers, is the county’s single largest employer. United
Natural Foods runs a large distribution center near Chehalis employing roughly 750 people, and
Walmart’s Centralia store employs about 653. Timber and agriculture remain significant beyond
the largest employers — Lewis County has been a logging county since the 19th century, and
its river-bottom farmland still supports dairy and berry operations. Packwood and Randle, in the
county’s mountainous east, depend on tourism tied to Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens.
Winlock hosts the Egg Days festival each June, a legacy of the town’s early-20th-century status
as a leading US egg producer, marked today by a giant fiberglass egg on Main Street.

History

The Provisional Government of Oregon created Lewis County on 19 December 1845, one of the
original counties of the Oregon Country. It was named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition, though he never visited the area himself. At the time of its creation the county
covered nearly all of present-day Washington; Washington Territory split from Oregon Territory in
1853, and Lewis County was repeatedly subdivided over the following decades into its current
boundaries.

Chehalis became the county seat in 1874, after an earlier seat at Claquato lost the designation
in a contested vote. The county’s Cowlitz River valley was dammed twice in the 20th century for
hydroelectric power, forming Mayfield Lake in 1963 and Riffe Lake in 1968; the second reservoir
submerged the towns of Riffe and Kosmos, whose residents were relocated. Centralia’s 1919
Armistice Day confrontation between striking timber workers and American Legion members, which
left several dead on both sides, remains one of the more notable and disputed events in Pacific
Northwest labor history.

Getting There

Interstate 5 runs the length of the county’s western side through Centralia and Chehalis. US
Route 12 crosses the county east–west, linking Chehalis to Packwood and the White Pass route
over the Cascades. State Routes 6, 7, 508 and 603 serve the county’s smaller towns.

• Olympia — about 25 miles north
• Tacoma — about 55 miles north
• Portland — about 90 miles south
• Seattle — about 85 miles north

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, roughly 85 miles north, is the nearest major
commercial airport; Portland International Airport is a comparable distance south. Amtrak’s
Coast Starlight and Amtrak Cascades trains stop at Centralia’s station downtown, connecting
north to Seattle and south to Portland.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lewis County located?
It sits in southwest Washington along Interstate 5, about 85 miles south of Seattle, bordered by
eight other counties including Thurston, Pierce and Cowlitz.

What is the population of Lewis County?
82,149 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 88,062.

How big is Lewis County?
2,436 square miles (6,310 km2) in total, of which 2,403 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Lewis County?
Chehalis is the county seat and Centralia is the largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Lewis County?
Eight cities — Centralia, Chehalis, Winlock, Napavine, Morton, Vader, Toledo and Mossyrock
— plus the town of Pe Ell and four census-designated places: Fords Prairie, Onalaska,
Mineral and Packwood.

What ZIP codes does Lewis County use?
98531 and 98532 for Centralia and Chehalis; 98596, 98565, 98356, 98570, 98572, 98593, 98591,
98564, 98355 and 98361 for the county’s other towns; plus 98377 and 98582 for Randle and
Salkum.

What is Lewis County known for?
Timber and dairy farming in the Chehalis valley, Riffe Lake’s reservoir recreation, and
Winlock’s giant egg landmark from its early-1900s egg-producing heyday.

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