San Juan County, Washington Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids San Juan County
U.S. county
San Juan County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Washington
Washington's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Washington
Founded	October 31, 1873
Named for	San Juan Islands
Seat	Friday Harbor
Largest town	Friday Harbor
Area
• Total	621 sq mi (1,610 km²)
• Land	174 sq mi (450 km²)
• Water	447 sq mi (1,160 km²) 72%%
Population (2020)
• Total	17,788
• Estimate (2021)	18,557
• Density	96/sq mi (37/km²)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
Congressional district	2nd

San Juan County is a county located in the Salish Sea in the far northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,788. The county seat and only incorporated city is Friday Harbor, located on San Juan Island. The county was formed on October 31, 1873, from Whatcom County and is named for the San Juan Islands, which are in turn named for Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo, the Viceroy of New Spain.

Although the islands themselves have no state highways, the ferry routes serving the islands are designated as part of the state highway system.

History
Geography
Demographics
- 2010 census
- Religion
Communities
- Town
- Unincorporated communities
See also

History

The San Juan Islands were the subject of a territorial dispute between Great Britain and the United States from 1846 to 1872, leading to the Pig War in 1859.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 621 square miles (1,610 km²), of which 174 square miles (450 km²) is land and 447 square miles (1,160 km²) (72%) is water. It is the smallest county in Washington by land area and fourth-smallest by total area.

San Juan County is a cluster of more than 400 islands and rocks with elevations above mean high tide. 134 of these islands and rocks are named. The county has rugged, rocky shoreline and several mountains. The highest point in the county is Mount Constitution on Orcas Island at 2,407 feet (734 m) above sea level.

Geographic features

Major islands

There are approximately 743 islands and rocks in the San Juan Island chain. Most of the county's population lives on the largest four islands, which are the only county islands served by the Washington State Ferries. The four largest islands are:

Orcas Island (149.43 km²/57.7 sq mi)
San Juan Island (143.62 km²/55.5 sq mi)
Lopez Island (76.57 km²/29.6 sq mi)
Shaw Island (19.64 km²/7.6 sq mi)

Adjacent counties

Whatcom County – northeast
Skagit County – east
Island County – southeast
Jefferson County – south
Clallam County – south/southwest
Capital Regional District, British Columbia – west

National protected areas

San Juan Island National Historical Park
San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge
San Juan Islands National Monument
San Juan Wilderness

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	554	—
1880	948	71.1%
1890	2,072	118.6%
1900	2,928	41.3%
1910	3,603	23.1%
1920	3,605	0.1%
1930	3,097	−14.1%
1940	3,157	1.9%
1950	3,245	2.8%
1960	2,872	−11.5%
1970	3,856	34.3%
1980	7,838	103.3%
1990	10,035	28.0%
2000	14,077	40.3%
2010	15,769	12.0%
2020	17,788	12.8%
2021 (est.)	18,557	17.7%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 15,769 people, 7,613 households, and 4,438 families residing in the county. The population density was 90.7 inhabitants per square mile (35.0/km²). There were 13,313 housing units at an average density of 76.5 per square mile (29.5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.6% white, 1.1% Asian, 0.7% American Indian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 2.6% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 5.4% of the population. The largest ancestry groups were:

19.6% German
19.3% English
14.1% Irish
5.6% Norwegian
5.6% Scottish
5.0% French
4.4% Swedish
4.2% Mexican
3.6% Italian
3.1% Scotch-Irish
2.9% Dutch
2.8% American
2.1% Welsh
1.8% Polish
1.7% Russian
1.6% Danish
1.4% British
1.1% Swiss
1.0% Canadian

Of the 7,613 households, 19.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 41.7% were non-families, and 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.56. The median age was 52.7 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $50,726 and the median income for a family was $61,096. Males had a median income of $44,190 versus $32,911 for females. The per capita income for the county was $35,487. About 7.6% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

According to a 2020 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, San Juan County has the highest concentration of religiously unaffiliated people of any county in the United States. The unaffiliated make up 49% of the population.