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Welcome to Thurston County ...

Time Zone: Thurston County lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time.

The community of Olympia is the Seat for Thurston County. Olympia is also the capital of Washington.

Thurston County was founded in 1852 and was created by taking area from Lewis County.

From the Census Estimates for 2019, <1> Thurston had a population of 290,536 people. This is an increase of 14.84% since the last Census (which gave a population of 253,001 people in 2010).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Thurston represented 3.76% of the total population of Washington.

Below are some of the communities located in Thurston County:

  • Bucoda
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucoda
    • Bucoda is located in Thurston County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bucoda <2>
  • Lacey
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
    • Lacey is located in Thurston County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,178 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacey <2>
  • Olympia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olympia
    • Olympia is located in Thurston County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,620 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olympia <2>
  • Rainier
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
    • Rainier is located in Thurston County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,350 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <2>
  • Tenino
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenino
    • Tenino is located in Thurston County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,867 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tenino <2>
  • Tumwater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumwater
    • Tumwater is located in Thurston County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,272 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tumwater <2>
  • Yelm
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yelm
    • Yelm is located in Thurston County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,591 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yelm <2>

Websites of Interest ...

Footnotes ...

<1>On a yearly basis, the US Census Bureau creates an estimate of the county's population. Keep in mind that this is an estimate and not an actual count. The last physical count was the 2010 Census and the next count will be for the 2020 Census.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
 

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This page was last modified/updated: 17 Jul 2025