302,912 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.3% since 2020)
723 square miles of land · 419 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
196 active community water systems list Thurston County in the area they serve, reporting 368,422 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| OLYMPIA CITY OF groundwater · local government · WA5363450 | 126,966 served |
| LACEY WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · WA5343500 | 105,178 served |
| TUMWATER CITY OF groundwater · local government · WA5389700 | 51,924 served |
| YELM CITY OF groundwater · local government · WA5399350 | 17,355 served |
| TANGLEWILDE THOMPSON PLACE 600 groundwater · local government · WA5304397 | 7,900 served |
| PATTISON 500 groundwater · local government · WA5366578 | 4,643 served |
| GRAND MOUND groundwater · local government · WA5307158 | 3,764 served |
| Tenino City of groundwater · local government · WA5387400 | 3,336 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 237 people were held in Thurston County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 124 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 498.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
8 school districts have their office in Thurston County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $337.4 million — $258.5 million to run schools, about $17,096 per student, plus $65.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $92.4 million local (mostly property tax), $198.3 million state, $23.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $277.6 million.
Spent $188.7 million — $165.9 million to run schools, about $17,220 per student, plus $16.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $64.3 million local (mostly property tax), $117.9 million state, $13.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $243.3 million.
Spent $116.2 million — $105.8 million to run schools, about $16,374 per student, plus $6.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $39.7 million local (mostly property tax), $83 million state, $5.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $84.2 million.
Spent $112.4 million — $95.3 million to run schools, about $16,820 per student, plus $12.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.4 million local (mostly property tax), $77.5 million state, $10.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $92.5 million.
Spent $41.5 million — $39.6 million to run schools, about $18,440 per student, plus $1.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.3 million local (mostly property tax), $28 million state, $6 million federal.
Spent $23.3 million — $21.9 million to run schools, about $17,002 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.3 million local (mostly property tax), $15.3 million state, $2.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $877,000.
Spent $15 million — $14.5 million to run schools, about $15,579 per student, plus $103,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.3 million local (mostly property tax), $11 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.8 million.
Spent $10.7 million — $9.6 million to run schools, about $16,683 per student, plus $313,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.4 million local (mostly property tax), $7.9 million state, $704,000 federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Thurston County about $190.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
199 bridges in Thurston County: 118 in good condition, 79 fair, and 2 poor (1.0%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| CAPITOL BLVD over I-5 RAMP · built 1956 | 13,767 vehicles a day |
| PLUM-N RAMP over EASTSIDE ST SE · built 1957 | 6,876 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.1 billion of work in Thurston County in fiscal 2025, about $3,888 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Washington are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Thurston County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Thurston County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Washington: the state government and every county in Washington.
Nearby counties: Lewis County (33 mi) · Pierce County (33 mi) · Mason County (33 mi) · Grays Harbor County (49 mi) · Kitsap County (49 mi) · Cowlitz County (51 mi).