Spokane County, Washington

Spokane County is a county in Washington, United States, on the state’s eastern border with
Idaho. It had a population of 539,339 at the 2020 census, an estimated 558,344 by 2025, and
covers 1,780.98 square miles (4,612.73 km2) centred near 47°37′N 117°24′W.

Spokane is the county seat and by far the largest city; its postal code is 99201. The county
holds 9 cities, 4 incorporated towns and 7 census-designated places, plus dozens of smaller
unincorporated communities, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 53063.

Towns & Villages in Spokane County

Spokane County has 20 incorporated places and census-designated places on record: 9 cities, 4
incorporated towns and 7 CDPs. CDP stands for census designated place, a populated area with no
local government of its own that the Census Bureau still tracks separately.

Beyond these 20 places, several older place names in the county are no longer separate
communities. Dishman, Opportunity, Trentwood, Veradale, Greenacres, Pasadena Park and Orchard
Avenue were once distinct unincorporated communities east of Spokane; nearly all of that ground
was folded into the City of Spokane Valley when it incorporated in 2003, so those names now
describe neighborhoods rather than places with their own population count. A separate set of rural
crossroads communities still stands on its own outside any city limit — Chattaroy (ZIP
99003), Colbert (ZIP 99005), Elk (ZIP 99009), Newman Lake (ZIP 99025), Nine Mile Falls (ZIP
99026) and Valleyford (ZIP 99036) each has its own ZIP code but no Census Bureau population count,
because none of them meets the density threshold for CDP status.

ZIP Codes

• 99201 — downtown Spokane (the county’s general-purpose ZIP; the city itself carries
  more than a dozen additional ZIPs, from 99202 through 99224)
• 99206 — Spokane Valley (also serves 99212, 99216, 99016, 99027 and 99037 across the
  city)
• 99004 — Cheney (also covers the Four Lakes area)
• 99001 — Airway Heights
• 99019 — Liberty Lake
• 99021 — Mead
• 99208 — Town and Country (also serves 99228)
• 99022 — Medical Lake
• 99006 — Deer Park
• 99212 — Millwood
• 99012 — Fairfield
• 99031 — Spangle
• 99030 — Rockford
• 99018 — Latah
• 99039 — Waverly

Fairwood, Country Homes and Fairchild AFB have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is
delivered under Mead’s or Spokane’s adjoining codes. Otis Orchards-East Farms uses
99027, which it shares with the eastern edge of Spokane Valley.

Geography

Spokane County sits in the Columbia Plateau of eastern Washington, where basalt scablands in
the south and west give way to pine forest and lake country in the north. Of its 1,780.98 square
miles, 1,764.22 are land and 16.76 are water, about 0.94 percent — most of it the Spokane
River, which crosses the county west from Idaho through downtown Spokane before turning north
toward Long Lake behind Nine Mile Dam. The county’s north end holds several smaller lakes,
including Newman Lake and Liberty Lake, both popular for boating.

Stevens County borders Spokane to the northwest, Pend Oreille County to the north, Lincoln
County to the west and Whitman County to the south. Idaho’s Bonner, Kootenai and Benewah
counties lie to the east across the state line. Stevens County, Pend Oreille County, Lincoln County, Whitman County, Kootenai County, Bonner County and Benewah County all border Spokane
directly.

Demographics

Spokane County had a population of 539,339 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 558,344 residents, making it the fourth most populous county in Washington.
Spokane and Spokane Valley together hold well over half the county’s population. Median
household income runs $78,582, below Washington’s statewide figure of $94,605 (2023 ACS).
Population density works out to roughly 306 people per square mile of land, concentrated
overwhelmingly in the Spokane-Spokane Valley urban core, with the county’s northern and
southern reaches far more sparsely settled.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 43,597
people, followed by retail trade at 31,337 and educational services at 22,735. Providence Sacred
Heart Medical Center and MultiCare Deaconess Hospital, both in Spokane, anchor the county’s
health care employment. Eastern Washington University, based in Cheney, is the county’s
largest institution outside the health sector, founded in 1882 as the Benjamin P. Cheney
Academy. Fairchild Air Force Base, home to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing and its fleet of Boeing
KC-135 Stratotankers, is a major employer west of Airway Heights. The county’s biggest
annual event is Hoopfest, a three-on-three street basketball tournament held in downtown Spokane
each June and billed as the largest of its kind in the world.

History

The Washington Territorial Legislature established Spokane County effective 29 January 1858,
carving it out of Walla Walla County, which had originally covered most of eastern Washington
Territory between the Cascades and the Rockies. The county is named for the Spokane people, whose
name is often translated as “Children of the Sun.” Spokane itself grew around the
falls on the Spokane River that powered the city’s early lumber and flour mills, and it
hosted the 1974 World’s Fair, the smallest city ever to hold a world exposition at the
time.

Getting There

Interstate 90 crosses the county east-west through Spokane and Spokane Valley toward the Idaho
line. US 2 and US 195 also run through the county, along with State Routes 27, 231, 291 and 902.

• Coeur d’Alene, Idaho — about 30 miles east
• Colville — about 60 miles north
• Pullman — about 75 miles south
• Wenatchee — about 145 miles west

Spokane International Airport, about 7 miles west-southwest of downtown Spokane, is the
county’s commercial airport and the second-busiest in Washington, handling more than 4.2
million passengers in 2024. Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops at Spokane’s downtown
station on its daily run between Chicago and Seattle/Portland.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Spokane County located?
It sits in eastern Washington on the Idaho border, bordered by Stevens, Pend Oreille, Lincoln and
Whitman counties in Washington and Bonner, Kootenai and Benewah counties in Idaho.

What is the population of Spokane County?
539,339 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 558,344.

How big is Spokane County?
1,780.98 square miles (4,612.73 km2), of which 1,764.22 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Spokane County?
Spokane is the county seat and largest city in the county and in eastern Washington.

How many towns and cities are in Spokane County?
Nine incorporated cities — Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Airway Heights, Liberty Lake,
Medical Lake, Deer Park, Millwood and Spangle — four incorporated towns (Fairfield, Latah,
Rockford and Waverly), and seven census-designated places including Mead, Fairwood and Otis
Orchards-East Farms.

What ZIP codes does Spokane County use?
99201 and its neighbors for Spokane; 99206, 99212, 99216, 99016, 99027 and 99037 for Spokane
Valley; plus separate codes for each smaller city and town, from 99001 in Airway Heights to 99039
in Waverly.

What is Spokane County known for?
Being the commercial hub of the Inland Northwest, Eastern Washington University in Cheney, and
Hoopfest, the world’s largest three-on-three street basketball tournament, held in downtown
Spokane every June.

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