{"id":8606,"date":"2023-10-02T20:01:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T20:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=8606"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:32:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:32:48","slug":"chelan-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/chelan-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelan County, Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chelan County is a county in Washington, United States, about 115 miles east of Seattle across<br \/>\nthe Cascade Mountains. It had a population of 79,074 at the 2020 census, an estimated 81,941 by<br \/>\n2025, and covers 2,994 square miles (7,754 km2) centred near 47\u00b053\u2032N 120\u00b038\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Wenatchee is the county seat and the county&#8217;s largest city; its postal code is 98801. The<br \/>\ncounty holds 5 incorporated cities and roughly a dozen unincorporated communities and census<br \/>\ndesignated places, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 53007.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Chelan County<\/h2>\n<p>Chelan County has 15 named places verified below: 5 incorporated cities and 10 unincorporated<br \/>\ncommunities and census-designated places. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp.<br \/>\ncovers settlements with no formal boundary or local government. Washington has no civil<br \/>\ntownships, so this table skips that column.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Wenatchee<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>35,508<\/td>\n<td>98801<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Chelan<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>4,222<\/td>\n<td>98816<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cashmere<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>3,248<\/td>\n<td>98815<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Leavenworth<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>2,263<\/td>\n<td>98826<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Entiat<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>1,326<\/td>\n<td>98822<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>South Wenatchee<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,522<\/td>\n<td>98801<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Manson<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,523<\/td>\n<td>98831<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Chelan Falls<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>340<\/td>\n<td>98817<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Peshastin<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>98847<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Malaga<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>98828<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Plain<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>98826<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dryden<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Monitor<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Winton<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stehekin<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>85<\/td>\n<td>98852<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Plain and Leavenworth share ZIP 98826 &mdash; the two sit close enough together on US-2 that<br \/>\nthe Postal Service never split them into separate codes. Dryden, Monitor and Winton, all small<br \/>\nUS-2\/US-97 corridor communities, have no ZIP of their own on record; mail there is delivered<br \/>\nunder a neighboring town&#8217;s code. Stehekin, at the head of Lake Chelan, has no road<br \/>\nconnection to the rest of the county at all; mail and freight arrive by boat, floatplane or a<br \/>\nsummer-only turf airstrip.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>98801 &mdash; Wenatchee (also serves South Wenatchee)<\/li>\n<li>98807 &mdash; Wenatchee (a post office box ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>98816 &mdash; Chelan<\/li>\n<li>98831 &mdash; Manson<\/li>\n<li>98815 &mdash; Cashmere<\/li>\n<li>98826 &mdash; Leavenworth (also serves Plain)<\/li>\n<li>98822 &mdash; Entiat<\/li>\n<li>98817 &mdash; Chelan Falls<\/li>\n<li>98847 &mdash; Peshastin<\/li>\n<li>98828 &mdash; Malaga<\/li>\n<li>98852 &mdash; Stehekin<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A handful of smaller crossroads communities, including Dryden, Monitor, Winton and Chiwaukum<br \/>\nup the Wenatchee River valley, have no ZIP of their own on record and are served under a<br \/>\nneighboring town&#8217;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Chelan County spans the crest of the Cascade Mountains, from alpine peaks along its western<br \/>\nedge down to the dry Columbia River plateau in the east. Of its 2,994 square miles, 2,921 are<br \/>\nland and 73 are water &mdash; about 2.4 percent, most of it Lake Chelan, a glacially carved<br \/>\ntrench 55 miles long and up to 1,486 feet deep, one of the deepest lakes in the United States.<br \/>\nThe Columbia, Wenatchee and Entiat rivers cross the county&#8217;s eastern half, and North Cascades<br \/>\nNational Park covers much of its remote northwest corner around Stehekin.<\/p>\n<p>Okanogan County lies to the northeast, Douglas County to the east, Kittitas County to the<br \/>\nsouth, King County to the southwest, Snohomish County to the west, and Skagit County to the<br \/>\nnorthwest. <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/okanogan-county\/\">Okanogan County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/douglas-county-washington\/\">Douglas County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/kittitas-county\/\">Kittitas County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/king-county-washington\/\">King County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/snohomish-county\/\">Snohomish County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/skagit-county\/\">Skagit County<\/a> all border Chelan<br \/>\ndirectly, making it one of the few Washington counties to touch six neighbors.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Chelan County had a population of 79,074 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 81,941 residents. Wenatchee is by far the largest community, followed by Chelan and<br \/>\nCashmere. Median household income runs $82,381 (Data USA, 2024), below Washington&#8217;s<br \/>\nstatewide figure of $94,605 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 27 people per<br \/>\nsquare mile of land, low for western Washington and a reflection of how much of the county is<br \/>\nmountain wilderness with no year-round residents at all.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 5,857 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by retail trade at 4,477 and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting at 3,101.<br \/>\nChelan County grows more apples than any other county in the country&#8217;s top apple-producing<br \/>\nstate, and orchards line the Wenatchee, Entiat and Columbia valleys. Confluence Health, based in<br \/>\nWenatchee, is the region&#8217;s largest health care employer. Liberty Orchards, maker of Aplets<br \/>\n&amp; Cotlets candy, has operated out of Cashmere since 1920, and Cashmere Valley Bank has been<br \/>\nheadquartered there since 1932. In Malaga, Helion Energy began building a commercial fusion<br \/>\npower plant in 2025, intended to supply electricity directly to Microsoft data centers starting<br \/>\nin 2028. The county&#8217;s biggest annual event is the Washington State Apple Blossom Festival<br \/>\nin Wenatchee, running from late April through the first week of May.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>The Washington Territorial Legislature created Chelan County on 13 March 1899, carving it out<br \/>\nof Okanogan and Kittitas counties. Its name comes from a Chelan word meaning &#8220;deep<br \/>\nwater,&#8221; describing Lake Chelan. Wenatchee, already a rail and orchard town on the Columbia<br \/>\nRiver, became the county seat.<\/p>\n<p>Entiat has been rebuilt on higher ground twice: a 1921 fire destroyed the original townsite,<br \/>\nand construction of Rocky Reach Dam forced a second relocation in 1960, with the rebuilt town<br \/>\nreopening in 1961. Leavenworth took a different path after its own decline &mdash; when the<br \/>\nGreat Northern Railway moved its operations to Wenatchee in 1925, the town lost its economic<br \/>\nbase, and in the 1960s local business owners remade the entire downtown as a Bavarian-style<br \/>\nvillage to draw tourists, a transformation that now brings in millions of visitors a year.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Route 2 crosses the county east-west over Stevens Pass, linking Leavenworth and<br \/>\nWenatchee; U.S. Route 97 runs north-south through Chelan and Entiat along the Columbia River.<br \/>\nNo interstate highway reaches Chelan County.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Seattle &mdash; about 115 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Spokane &mdash; about 145 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Yakima &mdash; about 95 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Omak &mdash; about 60 miles north<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pangborn Memorial Airport, just east of Wenatchee, offers daily commercial flights to Seattle<br \/>\non Alaska Airlines. Amtrak&#8217;s Empire Builder stops at Wenatchee&#8217;s Columbia Station and<br \/>\nat Icicle Station in Leavenworth on its run between Seattle and Chicago.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Chelan County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt straddles the Cascade Mountains in central Washington, about 115 miles east of Seattle,<br \/>\nbordered by Okanogan, Douglas, Kittitas, King, Snohomish and Skagit counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Chelan County?<\/strong><br \/>\n79,074 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 81,941.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Chelan County?<\/strong><br \/>\n2,994 square miles total (7,750 km2), of which 2,921 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Chelan County?<\/strong><br \/>\nWenatchee, the county&#8217;s largest city, with a 2020 population of 35,508.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Chelan County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFive incorporated cities &mdash; Wenatchee, Chelan, Cashmere, Leavenworth and Entiat &mdash;<br \/>\nplus census-designated places and unincorporated communities including Manson, South<br \/>\nWenatchee, Chelan Falls, Peshastin, Malaga, Plain and remote Stehekin.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Chelan County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n98801 and 98807 for Wenatchee, 98816 for Chelan, 98815 for Cashmere, 98826 for Leavenworth and<br \/>\nPlain, 98822 for Entiat, and smaller codes for Manson, Chelan Falls, Peshastin, Malaga, Dryden<br \/>\nand Stehekin.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Chelan County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nApple orchards, Lake Chelan&#8217;s 55-mile length, and Leavenworth&#8217;s Bavarian-themed<br \/>\ndowntown, which draws millions of visitors a year.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/washington\/\">Towns and villages in Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u00b053\u2032N 120\u00b038\u2032W. Wenatchee is the county seat and the county&#8217;s largest city; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Chelan County, Washington","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 15 verified towns and places in Chelan County, Washington - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Lake Chelan and Leavenworth history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-8606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-washington","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9649,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8606\/revisions\/9649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}