County Maps US

Whatcom County, Washington

A county in Washington, ranked 9 of 39 by population.

CountyFIPS 53073

Within Washington
Whatcom County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Bellingham, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
236,392
+8,940 (+3.9%) since 2020
Land area
2,108
square miles. A further 15.8% of the total area is water
Population density
112
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Bellingham
Seat of county government.
Established
1854
171 years ago
Largest city
Bellingham city
Population 96,395.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Whatcom County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Whatcom County, Washington from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 260 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Whatcom County ranks

Position among the 39 counties of Washington, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn WashingtonNationally
Population236,3929th of 39308th of 3,144
Land area2,108 sq mi12th of 39267th of 3,144
Population density112 per sq mi10th of 39840th of 3,144
Median household income$81,78415th of 39512th of 3,143

Full data for Whatcom County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population236,392Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020227,452Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?226,845Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area2,108 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area396.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area2,505 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?112 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$81,784American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$585,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age38.4American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households94,021American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units103,520American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-74
1,970 births, 2,044 deaths
Net migration
+1,858
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 3 areas bordering Whatcom County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Skagit CountyWashington92 mi132,975
Okanogan CountyWashington40 mi45,230
San Juan CountyWashington20 mi18,577

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 39 counties of Washington

Open the interactive Washington county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.