List of municipalities in Washington

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it is the 13th-most populous state, with 7,705,281 inhabitants, and ranked 18th by land area, spanning 66,456 square miles (172,120 km²) of land.^[1][2] Washington is divided into 39 counties and contains 281 municipalities that are classified into cities and towns.^[3][4] Approximately 65.4% of the state's population lives in incorporated municipalities.^[5]

The most populous municipality in Washington is Seattle with 737,015 residents, and the least populous municipality is Krupp with 49 residents.^[1][6] The state has ten cities with populations greater than 100,000 residents and sixteen with populations between 50,000 and 100,000 residents; the majority of cities have fewer than 5,000 residents.^[7] Seattle is also the largest municipality by land area, at 83.83 sq mi (217.1 km²), while Beaux Arts Village is the smallest at 0.08 sq mi (0.21 km²); both are located in King County.^[8] The oldest municipality is Steilacoom, which was incorporated in 1854;^[9] the most recent municipality to incorporate was Spokane Valley in 2003.^[10] Five municipalities have also been disincorporated with their governments dissolved; the most recent was Westlake in 1966.^[11]

The state has five categories for its 281 municipalities that vary based on population at the time of incorporation or reorganization. As of 2022^[update], 197 are code cities, 10 are first-class cities, 5 are second-class cities, and 69 are towns; one city remains unclassified.^[3] All municipalities have an elected city or town council and an executive—either a mayor or manager—to oversee administration of the government. The municipal government generally provides some emergency services, a court system, road maintenance, planning and permitting, parks and recreation, and some utilities.^[7]