Regional Offices

King County residents:                  Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap county residents:
915 Second Avenue, Ste 3206      950 Pacific Avenue, Ste 615
Seattle, WA 98174                      Tacoma, WA 98402
T: 206-220-6400                         T: 253-572-2281
F: 206-220-6404                          F: 253-572-5879

About Puget Sound

The Puget Sound metropolitan region is home to nearly 3.5 million people. At its hub is Seattle, the northernmost major U.S. city, with a population of more than 600,000. Seattle is surrounded by other vibrant cities like Everett to the north, Tacoma to the south and Bellevue to the east. At the most southwestern part of the region, the state capital of Olympia is located in Thurston County. Most Puget Sound communities are located on either side of the north-south Interstate Highway 5 corridor, which serves as the major traffic thoroughfare of the western part of the state. The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (SR-520) connects the Eastside of Lake Washington to Seattle. At 7,578 feet long (or 1.42 miles), it holds the title of longest floating bridge in the world.

Puget Sound itself is a complex and intricate system of channels, inlets, estuaries, embayments, and islands lying east of Admiralty Inlet. It has 2,500 miles of shoreline, and it is the deepest estuary of its kind in the lower 48 states. Fittingly, the Washington State Ferry system is the largest in the country and the third largest in the world, carrying more than 25 million passengers annually. Puget Sound is home to more than 200 species of fish, 25 species of marine mammals, 100 species of sea birds as well as clams, oysters and shrimp. The Sound supports 2,500 cargo-ship visits each year and a $3 billion fishery industry. Washington state seafood can be purchased fresh – and seen flying – at Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market, which overlooks the Puget Sound. Pike Place, established in 1907, is the longest continuously operating farmer’s market in the United States.

Located in Pierce County, the city of Tacoma is Washington’s third largest city. The Port of Tacoma supports thousands of jobs in the Puget Sound region and plays an important role in Washington state’s trade economy. In 2010, the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle generated a combined $704 million in state revenue from port activities.

Also located in the Puget Sound region is Mount Rainier, the snow-capped volcanic mountain that is an icon of the Northwest. At 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier is the tallest volcano in the United States. Mount Rainier National Park covers 235,625 acres and offers year-round recreational opportunities for Washingtonians and tourists. Between 1.5 and 2 million people visit the park yearly.  

The Puget Sound region has the highest per capita share of technology-dependent jobs among all fifty states, hosting enterprises such as Microsoft, Boeing and Amazon. Seattle is the fifth most innovative city in the nation and has the ninth most technology and science jobs in the nation, according to a recent Forbes report. Seattle remains a hub for start-up businesses, as well as many of the world’s best-known companies, such as Nordstrom, Costco, Starbucks, and Nintendo of America.

Puget Sound can also lay claim to being the best-educated region in the country, with Seattle supporting the highest percentage of residents with a college degree or higher. Based on its government policies and fast-growing clean energy economy, the National Resource Defense Council named Seattle one of America’s 2010 “Smarter Cities.” There are currently more than 22,000 clean-tech jobs located in the region.

The Puget Sound region also plays a crucial role in defending our nation, and serves as a home to thousands of service members, military families and veterans. Formed by the joining of the McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis, the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Tacoma is the largest military installation on the West Coast. JBLM plays a vital role in the Puget Sound community and economy. The base supports more than 50,000 jobs and is the third largest employer in Washington state.  

Naval Base Kitsap, located in Kitsap County, is a critical national military asset that serves as host command of naval operations in the West Puget Sound. The base supports more than 30,000 jobs.