Kitsap County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard; its largest city is Bremerton. The county, formed out of King County and Jefferson County on January 16, 1857, is named for Chief Kitsap of the Suquamish Tribe. Originally named Slaughter County, it was soon renamed.
Kitsap County comprises the Bremerton–Silverdale–Port Orchard, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Seattle–Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area.
The United States Navy is the largest employer in the county, with installations at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport, and Naval Base Kitsap (which comprises former NSB Bangor and NS Bremerton).
Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore of Puget Sound by Washington State Ferries routes, including the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry, Southworth to West Seattle via Vashon Island, Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and from Kingston to Edmonds, Washington. Kitsap Transit provides passenger-only fast ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, Kingston and Seattle, and Southworth and Seattle.
History The Kitsap Peninsula was originally acquired by the U.S. Government in three pieces by three treaties negotiated with the Native American tribes:
The Treaty of Medicine Creek, signed December 26, 1854, ratified March 3, 1855 The Treaty of Point Elliott, signed January 22, 1855, ratified April 11, 1859 Point No Point Treaty, signed January 26, 1855, ratified March 8, 1859.
Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens represented the United States in all three negotiations.
When the Washington Territory was organized in 1853, the Kitsap Peninsula was divided between King County to the east and Jefferson County to the west. Official public papers were required to be filed at the county seat, which meant Peninsula business people had to travel to either Seattle or Port Townsend to transact business. On the understanding that they would "bring home a new county," area mill operators George Meigs and William Renton supported the candidacies to the Territorial Legislature of two employees from their respective mills: Timothy Duane Hinckley from Meigs' and S.B. Wilson from Renton's.
Upon arrival in Olympia, the two men introduced bills to create a new county, to be named "Madison". Representative Abernathy from Wahkiakum County proposed an amendment to name it "Slaughter", in recognition of Lt. William Alloway Slaughter, who had been killed in 1855 in the Yakima War. The bill passed as amended. It was signed by Governor Isaac Stevens on January 16, 1857. The county seat would be located in Meigs's mill town at Port Madison.Bowen et al. (1981), p. 11.
In Slaughter County's first election on July 13, 1857, voters were given the opportunity to rename the county. The options were "Mill", "Madison" or "Kitsap". Slaughter was not one of the options. Kitsap won by an overwhelming majority.Bowen et al. (1981), p. 12.
Kitsap County is home to several major United States Navy facilities, collectively named Naval Base Kitsap, and grew in response to wars and conflicts in the 20th century. Bremerton, the site of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, peaked at 80,000 residents during World War II. Naval Submarine Base Bangor was developed in the 1980s to store nuclear weapons for submarines and contributed to the county's population growth during the decade from 147,000 to 190,000.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (30%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Washington by land area and third-smallest by total area.
In addition to occupying most of the Kitsap Peninsula, the county includes both Bainbridge Island and Blake Island. Kitsap County has approximately of shoreline.
The portion of the county north of Silverdale is often referred to as North Kitsap, and the portion south of Bremerton as South Kitsap.
Geographic features
Bainbridge Island Blake Island Buck Lake Colvos Passage Dyes Inlet Hood Canal Kitsap Peninsula Liberty Bay Port Gamble Port Madison Port Orchard Puget Sound Sinclair Inlet Blue Hills Seattle Fault Zone Kitsap Lake Ostrich Bay Horseshoe Lake
Adjacent counties Island County - northeast Snohomish County - east King County - east/southeast Pierce County - south/southeast Mason County - southwest Jefferson County - northwest
Notable parks Blake Island Marine State Park, Bloedel Reserve Camp Yeomalt Eagledale Park Fay Bainbridge Park Fort Ward Park Illahee State Park Kitsap Memorial State Park Manchester State Park Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park, Pritchard Park Scenic Beach State Park
Economy
The largest employer in Kitsap County is Naval Base Kitsap, which had a total of 38,187 workers in 2024; approximately 63percent are civilian employees, while the rest are military personnel. According to 2025 statistics from the Washington State Employment Security Department, 22.9percent of the labor force in Kitsap County are employed by the federal government—the highest rate among Washington's counties. Other major employers include St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, local school districts, the county government, and Olympic College.
Demographics
2020 census As of the 2020 census, there were 275,611 people, 105,803 households, and 71,548 families living in the county. Of the residents, 20.3% were under the age of 18 and 19.0% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 39.8 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 101.9 males. 82.4% of residents lived in urban areas and 17.6% lived in rural areas.
+Kitsap County, Washington – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)190,751198,745199,02082.23%79.14%72.21%Black or African American alone (NH)6,4956,3297,3382.80%2.52%2.66%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)3,4623,5243,4911.49%1.40%1.27%Asian alone (NH)10,03412,08214,0154.33%4.81%5.08%Pacific Islander alone (NH)1,6992,1772,8140.73%0.87%1.02%Other race alone (NH)6474231,7820.28%0.17%0.65%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)9,27212,16722,9674.00%4.84%8.33%Hispanic or Latino (any race)9,60915,68624,1844.14%6.25%8.77%Total231,969251,133275,611100.00%100.00%100.00%
The racial makeup of the county was 74.9% White, 2.8% Black or African American, 1.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.2% Asian, 2.9% from some other race, and 11.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.8% of the population.
There were 105,803 households in the county, of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 22.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 113,248 housing units, of which 6.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 69.3% were owner-occupied and 30.7% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%.
2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 251,133 people, 97,220 households, and 65,820 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 107,367 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 82.6% white, 4.9% Asian, 2.6% black or African American, 1.6% American Indian, 0.9% Pacific islander, 1.6% from other races, and 5.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.3% were German, 14.4% were Irish, 13.8% were English, 7.1% were Norwegian, and 4.2% were American.
Of the 97,220 households, 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.3% were non-families, and 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 39.4 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $59,549 and the median income for a family was $71,065. Males had a median income of $52,282 versus $38,499 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,755. About 6.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
Cities Bainbridge Island Bremerton Port Orchard (county seat) Poulsbo
Census-designated places
Bangor Base Bethel Burley Chico East Port Orchard Enetai Erlands Point Gorst Hansville Indianola Keyport Kingston Kitsap Lake Lofall Manchester Navy Yard City Parkwood Port Gamble Tribal Community Rocky Point Seabeck Silverdale Southworth Suquamish Tracyton
Other unincorporated communities
Annapolis Bay Vista Breidablick Brownsville Camp Union Central Valley Clear Creek Crosby Eglon Fernwood Fragaria Gilberton Glenwood Harper Holly Horseshoe Lake Illahee Island Lake Kariotis Lofall Lone Rock Long Lake Nellita Olalla Olalla Valley Port Gamble Scandia South Colby South Park Village Twin Spits Virginia Waterman Wautauga Beach Wildcat Lake Wye Lake
Politics Kitsap County is generally considered to be a relatively Democratic area, owing to progressivism stemmed from the county's Scandinavian settlers. In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Democrat Hillary Clinton received 49.0% of the vote to Republican Donald Trump's 38.1%. This Democratic margin widened in 2020, with candidate Joe Biden receiving 56.9% of the vote versus incumbent Trump receiving 38.8%. The Democratic margin widened ever further in 2024, with Kamala Harris receiving 58.5% of the vote compared with Trump's 37.7%, the largest margin of victory for a presidential candidate in the county since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
On mainland Kitsap County, politics are strongly influenced by working-class Bremerton, which casts moderate margins for Democratic candidates. Unincorporated Kitsap County is a mix of battleground areas. Non-Bremerton parts of incorporated mainland Kitsap County vary, with Silverdale having become a Republican stronghold, Poulsbo marginally Democratic, and Port Orchard consistently electing Republican candidates; however, all three communities voted for both Biden and Harris, marking a sustained shift to the left.
Democrats typically carry the Indian reservations of the area by wide margins; the area around Little Boston (part of the S'Klallam Indian Reservation) regularly votes for Democratic candidates.
The Kitsap County Auditor website has detailed election results from 1998 to the present. County area political trends can be tracked by analyzing the election precinct data.
Government
Board of County Commissioners
District 1 (North Kitsap): Christine Rolfes, Democrat; appointed 2023. Elected in 2024 District 2 (South Kitsap): Oran Root, Republican; elected in 2024 District 3 (Central Kitsap): Katie Walters, Democrat; elected in 2022
State legislators
23rd Legislative District Bainbridge Island, East Bremerton, Poulsbo and Silverdale Sen. Drew Hansen (D) - Appointed August 2023 to replace Christine Rolfes who had been appointed to Board of County Commissioners. Elected November 2024. Rep. Tarra Simmons (D) - First elected November 2020. Rep. Greg Nance (D) - Appointed September 2023 to replace Drew Hansen, who had left to fill vacant senate seat. Elected November 2024.
26th Legislative District Bremerton, Gig Harbor and Port Orchard Sen. Deborah Krishnadasan (D) - Appointed December 2024 to replace Emily Randall who had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Adison Richards (D) - Elected November 2024. Rep. Michelle Caldier (R)
35th Legislative District Bremerton, Shelton and Mason County Sen. Drew MacEwan (R) Rep. Dan Griffey (R) Rep. Travis Couture (R)
Education
Post-secondary education Olympic College