Washington Voter Check
Thurston County, Washington
Thurston County Courthouse, aka Capitol Court Building, Olympia, Washington, June 23, 2025 — CC BY-SA 4.0, OceanLoop · source

Question 1 of 8

What should I know about this county?

About Thurston County

Thurston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 294,793. The county seat is Olympia, the state capital.

Description adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Question 2 of 8

What is this county like?

Thurston County at a glance

County seat
Olympia
Population
294,793 (2020)
Land area
774 sq mi
Founded
1852

Question 3 of 8

Where do people live here?

Largest communities in Thurston County

  1. Olympia county seat55,605
  2. Lacey53,526
  3. Tumwater25,350
  4. Yelm10,617
  5. Rochester6,064

Question 4 of 8

How did this county come to be?

History of Thurston County

The southern end of Puget Sound is the homeland of several indigenous Coast Salish groups, including the Nisqually, Squaxin, and Upper Chehalis. Archeological remains at Tumwater Falls date back to 2,500 to 3,000 years before present; the area around the falls included a settlement with several longhouses. The first European exhibition to the southern Puget Sound was conducted by Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey on the British-led Vancouver Expedition in May 1792. The Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post at Fort Nisqually in 1833 on the east side of the Nisqually Delta while the Oregon Country was under joint administration by the British and American governments. Permanent European (and later American) settlement of modern-day Thurston County began with the arrival of a pioneer party led by Michael Simmons and Black pioneer George Bush in 1845.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Question 5 of 8

Am I registered here?

Start here

Confirm you're ready to vote in Thurston County

  1. Step 1

    Run a guided check

    Scan Check Protect walks you through verifying your Washington registration and flags anything that needs fixing — free.

  2. Step 2

    Ask Thurston County directly

    Your county election office handles registration, mail ballots, and polling places.

Question 6 of 8

Who runs elections in this county?

Official channels

Thurston County election resources

Statewide tools and every Washington resource in one place: the Washington page at Scan Check Protect →

Question 7 of 8

Who are this county's neighbors?

Question 8 of 8

Who made this site?

Part of Washington Voter Check

This is the Thurston County page of Washington Voter Check, a project of True the Vote, pointing Washington voters at the official tools that already exist — and at Scan Check Protect to verify your registration.

Where anything here differs from what Thurston County or the Washington Secretary of State publishes, they are right and this page is not.