San Juan County, Washington

San Juan County is a county in Washington, United States, about 80 miles north of Seattle in
the Salish Sea. It had a population of 17,788 at the 2020 census, an estimated 18,577 by 2024,
and covers 621 square miles (1,610 km2) centred near 48°34′N 122°58′W — 72 percent of that
area is water.

Friday Harbor is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated city; its postal code is 98250. The county holds 1 city and a scatter of unincorporated island communities with no
townships, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 53055.

Towns & Villages in San Juan County

San Juan County has 9 named places on record: 1 incorporated city and 8 unincorporated
communities spread across four ferry-served islands plus outlying Waldron Island. CDP stands for
census designated place; Unincorp. covers communities with no formal boundary or local
government.

Two names on the old version of this list were not real settlements. “Camp Orkila”
is a YMCA summer camp on Orcas Island, not a residential community, and “Islandale”
does not appear in USGS or Census gazetteer records for the county. Both are dropped here.
“Orcas” on the old list is Orcas Village, the island’s ferry-landing hamlet,
listed above under its full name. Shaw Island refers both to the island and its lone general
store and ferry-dock cluster near Blind Bay; there is no separate village name.

ZIP Codes

• 98250 — Friday Harbor (also covers Roche Harbor, on San Juan Island’s northwest
  shore)
• 98245 — Eastsound (also covers West Sound, both on Orcas Island)
• 98280 — Orcas Village, the island’s ferry-landing community
• 98243 — Deer Harbor, on Orcas Island’s west side
• 98279 — Olga, on Orcas Island’s east side
• 98261 — Lopez Village and the rest of Lopez Island
• 98286 — Shaw Island

Waldron Island has no ZIP code or ferry service of its own; residents collect mail at Orcas
Village or by boat, since the county-owned dock is the island’s only public landing and it
has no scheduled ferry route.

Geography

San Juan County occupies the San Juan Islands archipelago in the Salish Sea, between mainland
Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Of its 621 square miles, only 174 square miles
(450 km2) are land; the remaining 447 square miles (1,160 km2) are water — the highest water
share of any Washington county and the reason it has the state’s smallest land area overall.
The county spans roughly 175 named islands and reefs at low tide, though fewer than 20 are
inhabited. San Juan Island, at 55 square miles, is the second-largest and most populous; Orcas
Island, at 57 square miles, is the largest by area and holds the county’s highest point,
Mount Constitution, at 2,409 feet. Lopez Island covers about 30 square miles and Shaw Island about
8 square miles.

Whatcom County lies to the north and east across Rosario Strait, Skagit County to the southeast,
Island County to the south across the strait, and Jefferson and Clallam counties to the southwest
across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. British Columbia’s Gulf Islands sit just across the
international boundary to the west. Whatcom County, Skagit County, Island County, Jefferson County and Clallam County are its nearest
neighbors, reached only by boat, floatplane or ferry.

Demographics

San Juan County had a population of 17,788 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts it
near 18,577 residents. San Juan Island, with 8,632 people, and Orcas Island, with about 6,000, are
the two largest islands by population; Friday Harbor is the largest single community, with 2,613
residents. Median household income runs about $84,800 (2024, American Community Survey), above
Washington’s statewide figure of $94,605 for 2023 — the county trails the state median
despite its high property values, a pattern common in retirement- and tourism-heavy coastal
counties. Population density works out to roughly 102 people per square mile of land, low for
western Washington, and swells considerably each summer with seasonal residents and visitors.

Economy & Local Life

Tourism, construction and professional services drive the county’s economy; construction
employs the most workers, about 1,130 people, followed by retail trade at 863 and professional,
scientific and technical services at 824. Whale watching, sailing charters and sport fishing bring
visitors to Friday Harbor’s harbor front year-round, and the University of Washington’s
Friday Harbor Laboratories, a marine research station on San Juan Island, has operated since 1904.
Roche Harbor, once a 19th-century lime-quarrying company town, now runs as a marina resort with a
public dock and airstrip. Agriculture persists on a small scale, with Lopez Island known for its
farms, orchards and a Saturday farmers market each summer. The county’s biggest annual event
is the San Juan Island Community Fair each August, running since 1934 at the county fairgrounds
outside Friday Harbor.

History

Washington’s territorial legislature created San Juan County on October 31, 1873, carving
it out of Whatcom County. The islands take their name from the San Juan Islands, themselves named
for Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo, viceroy of New Spain, by Spanish
explorer Francisco de Eliza in 1791. Friday Harbor incorporated as a town on February 10, 1909,
and remains the only incorporated place in the county.

The county’s best-known historical episode is the Pig War of 1859, a boundary dispute
between American and British settlers on San Juan Island that began when an American farmer shot
a British-owned pig rooting in his garden. Troops from both nations occupied opposite ends of the
island for over a decade without further bloodshed until international arbitration in 1872 awarded
the islands to the United States. San Juan Island National Historical Park, established in 1966,
preserves the American and English Camp sites.

Getting There

No interstate or state highway crosses San Juan County directly; access is by Washington State
Ferries from Anacortes, in Skagit County, which stop at Lopez, Shaw, Orcas and San Juan islands.
Because the ferry routes are the only road connection, the state designates them part of the
highway system even though the islands themselves carry no numbered state routes.

• Anacortes — about 20 miles east by ferry from Friday Harbor
• Bellingham — about 35 miles northeast, across Rosario Strait
• Sidney, British Columbia — about 20 miles northwest across the Strait of Juan de Fuca
• Seattle — about 80 miles south

Bellingham International Airport, on the mainland in Whatcom County, is the nearest major
commercial airport with scheduled flights. Friday Harbor Airport, on San Juan Island, and Orcas
Island Airport, near Eastsound, handle general aviation and Kenmore Air’s floatplane
service from Seattle. San Juan County has no Amtrak service; the closest station is in
Bellingham.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is San Juan County located?
It occupies the San Juan Islands in Washington’s Salish Sea, about 80 miles north of
Seattle, bordered by Whatcom, Skagit, Island, Jefferson and Clallam counties.

What is the population of San Juan County?
17,788 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 18,577 by 2024.

How big is San Juan County?
621 square miles (1,610 km2) in total, but only 174 square miles (450 km2) are land — the
rest is water.

What is the county seat of San Juan County?
Friday Harbor, incorporated in 1909, is the county seat and the only incorporated city in the
county.

How many towns are in San Juan County?
Just one incorporated city, Friday Harbor. The rest of the county’s population lives in
unincorporated communities such as Eastsound, Roche Harbor, Deer Harbor, Olga, Orcas Village,
West Sound, Lopez Village, Shaw Island and Waldron Island.

What ZIP codes does San Juan County use?
98250 for Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor, 98245 for Eastsound and West Sound, 98280 for Orcas
Village, 98243 for Deer Harbor, 98279 for Olga, 98261 for Lopez Island and 98286 for Shaw
Island.

How do you get to San Juan County?
By Washington State Ferry from Anacortes, or by floatplane or small aircraft to Friday Harbor
or Orcas Island — there is no bridge or highway connection to the mainland.

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