Seattle Is Huge!!

Fairfield Inn (22K points in lieu of $187)

Puyallop, Washington

September 30, 2024

Coming into the Seattle area from the northeast, you gradually are exposed to populated areas. But once I hit I5, it was off to the races. It felt like I was on a big city interstate for 70 or 80 miles heading south. This is the first urban area I’ve been in since leaving Charlottesville 50 days ago yesterday. It was a bit overwhelming.

The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. The United States Census Bureau defines the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area as the three most populous counties in the state: King, Pierce, and Snohomish. Seattle has the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States with a population of 4,018,762 as of the 2020 census, over half of Washington's total population.

The area is considered part of the greater Puget Sound region, which largely overlaps with the Seattle Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The Seattle metropolitan area is home to a large tech industry and is the headquarters of several major companies, including Microsoft and Amazon. The area's geography is varied and includes the lowlands around Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains; the highest peak in the metropolitan area is Mount Rainier, which has a summit elevation of 14,411 feet and is one of the tallest mountains in the United States.

The Seattle metropolitan area covers 6,309 square miles of land and water in Western Washington divided between the three counties; King County is the largest county at over 2,115 square miles, followed by Snohomish and Pierce counties. The region includes portions of the Cascade Range and several active volcanoes, including Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak, which can generate lahars that reach populated areas. The summit of Mount Rainier is the tallest point in Washington at 14,411 feet above mean sea level; it has 26 glaciers that are visible from much of the region's lowlands. To the west of the metropolitan area is Puget Sound, which forms the second-largest saltwater estuary in the United States and is part of the Salish Sea.

The Seattle metropolitan area has one of the largest populations of people in the United States who identify as nonreligious.