Welcome to Tumwater ...

The city of Tumwater is located on the Olympic Peninsula.

Tumwater is located in Thurston County<1>.

The community of Tumwater was established in 1846.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Tumwater has a population of 23,927 people<2> (see below for details).

Tumwater is 180 feet [55 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Tumwater lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Tumwater: (360)

The ZIP code for Tumwater: 98512<4>

Websites for Tumwater ...

Official Website:   www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.tumwaterchamber.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Tumwater had an population of 23,927 people. This is an increase of 37.74% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 88.43% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Tumwater had a population of 17,371 people (or 6.89% of the total population of Thurston County). This makes Tumwater the county's 3rd most populous community.

The population of Tumwater represents 0.26% of the total population of Washington (which has 6,724,540 people), making it the state's 58th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 17,371 people, the population of Tumwater increased 36.8% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 12,698 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Tumwater.

Communities near Tumwater ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Tumwater.

• Shelton
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelton
  • Shelton is located in Mason County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,955 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shelton <5>
• DuPont
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DuPont
  • DuPont is located in Pierce County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,594 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DuPont <5>
• Yelm
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yelm
  • Yelm is located in Thurston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,591 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yelm <5>
• Steilacoom
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steilacoom
  • Steilacoom is located in Pierce County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,416 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steilacoom <5>
• Rainier
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
  • Rainier is located in Thurston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,350 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <5>
• Tenino
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenino
  • Tenino is located in Thurston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,867 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tenino <5>
• McCleary
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCleary
  • McCleary is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,830 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McCleary <5>
• Roy
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy
  • Roy is located in Pierce County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 823 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roy <5>
• Oakville
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
  • Oakville is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 697 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakville <5>
• Bucoda
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucoda
  • Bucoda is located in Thurston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bucoda <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Tumwater. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Tumwater.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Tumwater. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Tumwater.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Tumwater. See our Newspapers Page for Tumwater.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Tumwater ...

Looking for more information about Tumwater? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Tumwater, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Tumwater.

Adding Tumwater to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Tumwater in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Tumwater was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Tumwater post office opened in 1863.

We also found Tumwater in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Tumwater.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Tumwater: www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/

The official website for Thurston County: www.co.thurston.wa.us/

The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/