Unincorporated Urban Growth Areas (UGA) as defined by the Growth Management Act (GMA). The annual update is conducted by collecting UGA polygons directly from each of Washington's 39 counties. As of 2025, there are 27 counties with UGAs.All UGA polygons are normalized against the Department of Revenue's (DOR) "City Boundaries" layer (shared to the Washington Geoportal a.k.a. the GIS Open Data site: geo.wa.gov). The City Boundaries layer was processed into this UGA layer such that any overlapping area of UGA polygons (from authoritative individual counties) was erased. Since DOR polygons and county-sourced UGA polygons do not have perfect topology, many slivers resulted after the erase operation. These are attempted to be irradicated by these processing steps. "Multipart To Singlepart" Esri tool; exploded all polygons to be individualSlivers were mathematically identified using a 4 acre area threshold and a 0.3 "thinness ratio" threshold as described by Esri's "Polygon Sliver" tool. These slivers are merged into the neighboring features using Esri's "Eliminate" tool.Polygons that are less than 5,000 sq. ft. and not part of a DOR city (CITY_NM = Null) were also merged via the "Eliminate" tool. (many very small slivers were manually found yet mathematically did not meet the thinness ratio threshold)The final 8 polygons less than 25 sq. ft. were manually deleted (also slivers but were not lined up against another feature and missed by the "Eliminate" tool runs)Dissolved all features back to multipart using all fieldsAll UGAs polygons remaining are unincorporated areas beyond the city limits. Any polygon with CITY_NM populated originated from the DOR "City Boundaries" layer. The DOR's City Boundaries are updated quarterly by DOR. For the purposes of this UGA layer, the city boundaries was downloaded one time (4/24/2025) and will not be updated quarterly. Therefore, if precise city limits are required by any user of UGA boundaries, please refer to the city boundaries layer and conduct any geoprocessing needed. The DOR's "City Boundaries" layer is available here:https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=69fcb668dc8d49ea8010b6e33e42a13aData is updated in conjunction with the annual statewide parcel layer update. Latest update completed April 2025.

One of the first steps in the implementation of the Growth Management Act (GMA) is for counties and their cities to designate urban growth areas (UGAs), “within which urban growth shall be encouraged, and outside of which growth can occur only if it is not urban in nature.” RCW 36.70A.110 and WAC 365-195-335 provide clear criteria for designating urban growth boundaries around a city or a group of cities.
Each urban growth area in a county should include enough land to accommodate the Washington State Office of Financial Management’s 20-year population projection allocated for thatUGA. The UGA should also include adequate land for industrial and commercial activities, open space, and other public facilities. A land capacity analysis should be conducted to determine if there is sufficient land included in the UGA for all these uses. A market factor can be built in to this analysis to compensate for the fact that only a portion of the land will be available for sale and development over the planning period. Within the UGA, a city and/or county is to designate sufficient open space, provide urban services, and permit development at urban densities. Urban development and provision of urban services, such as water and sewer, should not generally occur outside of urban growth areas. RCW 36.70A.130(3) requires counties and cities to review, at least every ten years, designated UGAs, the densities permitted within each UGA, and the nature of development that has occurred. UGAs and comprehensive plans are to be revised to accommodate the urban growth projected for the succeeding twenty-year period.

This resource is a member of a series. The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. Urban Growth Areas (UGAs) are legally defined entities in Oregon and Washington that the Census Bureau includes in the MTDB in agreement with each State. UGAs, which are defined around incorporated places, are used to regulate urban growth. UGA boundaries, which need not follow visible features, are delineated cooperatively by State and local officials in Oregon and Washington. Each UGA is identified by a 5-digit numeric census code, usually associated with the incorporated place for which the UGA is named. The UGAs for the 2020 Census were those in effect as of January 1, 2020.

The Urban Growth Area is used to manage future growth around densely populated areas. The urban growth area is the city/town and adjacent unincorporated growth area identified by the cities/towns/county to receive urban growth in the future. Outside of the boundary only rural growth is permissible.

Correction to this data can only be made through a Comprehensive Plan change or at the direction of Thurston County Long Range Planning due to a scrivener's error. The 1990 Washington State Growth Management Act requires the state's fastest growing cities and counties to designate UGAs around each city and town to accommodate the expected population growth over the next 20 years. In Thurston County, UGAs surround Bucoda, Lacey, Olympia, Rainier, Tumwater, Tenino, and Yelm. The current boundaries of the UGAs were established in 1990 and updated via the 2015 adoption of the Thurston County Comprehensive Plan: CHAPTER II - LAND USE II.URBAN GROWTH AREAS History and Purpose of Thurston County's Urban Growth Areas: In 1983, Thurston County, along with the cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater, blazed the trail for growth management in Washington State by signing an interlocal government agreement called the "Urban Growth Management Agreement." That early agreement included an Urban Growth Management Boundary around the three cities to serve as a limit for the cities' expansion for 20 years. The purposes of the county's original growth areas remain relevant today: To provide for higher intensity development around the county's incorporated cities and towns and unincorporated community centers in order to concentrate development in areas where minimal impact to the environment, natural resources and rural atmosphere will occur. To minimize public costs and conserve energy by using services and facilities efficiently through concentration of development and integration of jobs, shopping, services and housing. To phase urban growth and infill with the provision of urban public services and facilities. One of the main effects of an urban growth area is to provide a limit for the extension of urban utilities, especially sewer service. To that end, overall residential density in urban growth areas should be high enough to support urban public services and to provide affordable housing choices. There should be a variety of housing types, with most densities ranging from 4 to 16 dwelling units per acre. Map M-14 identifies the urban growth areas for each city or town in Thurston County. The UGAs must accommodate the urban growth projected over the next 20 years including a reasonable market factor. Policies and actions emphasize the provision of urban land uses and services and include provisions specifically aimed at reducing low density residential sprawl. Joint plans established with each city and town include planning policies for each UGA. Joint plans are contained in separate documents, but are incorporated as part of the Thurston County Comprehensive Plan. Detailed land use designations for all UGAs around cities and towns are provided in the following joint plans (Map M-14 is keyed to the numbering below):Olympia/Thurston County Joint PlanLacey/Thurston County Joint Plan Tumwater/Thurston County Joint PlanYelm/Thurston County Joint PlanRainier/Thurston County Joint PlanTenino/Thurston County Joint PlanBucoda/Thurston County Joint PlanList of Map Correction's (Correction can only be made through a Comprehensive Plan change or at the direction of Thurston County Long Range Planning due to a scrivener's error.)Made on 5 AUG 2014 by KLW. Made on 15 July 2016 by KAH. - Correction of scrivener's error in Tenino UGA Boundary at the Teitge Annexations. This error was due to parcel and city mapping issues. The UGA has been fixed to be consistent with the parcel legal descriptions and the legal description included in the annexation ordinance approved by the City of Tenino, and the annexation approved by the Boundary Review Board.

This resource is a member of a series. The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. Urban Growth Areas (UGAs) are legally defined entities in Oregon and Washington that the Census Bureau includes in the MTDB in agreement with each State. UGAs, which are defined around incorporated places, are used to regulate urban growth. UGA boundaries, which need not follow visible features, are delineated cooperatively by State and local officials in Oregon and Washington. Each UGA is identified by a 5-digit numeric census code, usually associated with the incorporated place for which the UGA is named. The UGAs for the 2020 Census were those in effect as of January 1, 2020.

This is a series-level metadata record. The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. Urban Growth Areas (UGAs) are legally defined entities in Oregon and Washington that the Census Bureau includes in the MTDB in agreement with each State. UGAs, which are defined around incorporated places, are used to regulate urban growth. UGA boundaries, which need not follow visible features, are delineated cooperatively by State and local officials in Oregon and Washington. Each UGA is identified by a 5-digit numeric census code, usually associated with the incorporated place for which the UGA is named. The UGAs for the 2020 Census were those in effect as of January 1, 2020.

Urban Growth AreasThis feature layer, utilizing National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) data from the U.S. Census Bureau, displays Urban Growth Areas (UGA). Per the USCB, “UGAs are legally defined entities in Oregon and Washington and are used to regulate urban growth. UGA boundaries, which need not follow visible features, are delineated cooperatively by state and local officials in Oregon and Washington and then confirmed in state law.”Data currency: This cached Esri federal service is checked weekly for updates from its enterprise federal source (Urban Growth Areas) and will support mapping, analysis, data exports and OGC API – Feature access.For more information, please visit: Urban Growth Areas For feedback please contact: Esri_US_Federal_Data@esri.comNGDA Data SetThis data set is part of the NGDA Governmental Units, and Administrative and Statistical Boundaries Theme Community. Per the Federal Geospatial Data Committee (FGDC), this theme is defined as the "boundaries that delineate geographic areas for uses such as governance and the general provision of services (e.g., states, American Indian reservations, counties, cities, towns, etc.), administration and/or for a specific purpose (e.g., congressional districts, school districts, fire districts, Alaska Native Regional Corporations, etc.), and/or provision of statistical data (census tracts, census blocks, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, etc.). Boundaries for these various types of geographic areas are either defined through a documented legal description or through criteria and guidelines. Other boundaries may include international limits, those of federal land ownership, the extent of administrative regions for various federal agencies, as well as the jurisdictional offshore limits of U.S. sovereignty. Boundaries associated solely with natural resources and/or cultural entities are excluded from this theme and are included in the appropriate subject themes."For other NGDA Content: Esri Federal Datasets

The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. Urban Growth Areas (UGAs) are legally defined entities in Oregon and Washington that the Census Bureau includes in the MTDB in agreement with each State. UGAs, which are defined around incorporated places, are used to regulate urban growth. UGA boundaries, which need not follow visible features, are delineated cooperatively by State and local officials in Oregon and Washington. Each UGA is identified by a 5-digit numeric census code, usually associated with the incorporated place for which the UGA is named. UGAs were extended to the State of Washington for the 2020 Census. The UGAs for the 2020 Census were those in effect as of January 1, 2020.

Per RCW 47.04.010, "population center" includes incorporated cities and towns, including their urban growth areas, and census-designated places in Washington State. The WSDOT Population Center dataset combines the WSDOT Incorporated City Limits dataset (May 2021) with the Office of Financial Management’s Census Designated Places (2020 Census) Dataset. Identification of Population Centers enables WSDOT to address the Complete Streets requirement under RCW 47.04.035 and to otherwise identify locations prioritized in the 2021 WSDOT Active Transportation Plan (ATP). WSDOT may also recognize other developed areas as exhibiting land use patterns consistent with the definition of population center, that are not currently captured by this data layer.This data layer assists WSDOT in prioritizing active transportation improvements in areas where people congregate and access destinations, and where travel distances between destinations align with typical distances travelled by users of pedestrian and bicycle modes. These areas are a priority because they serve the broadest range of users and potential users of the transportation system, including the very young, very old, and people with disabilities. In this dataset, each Population Center includes information for the “Place Name”, the “Place Type” (city/town, Urban Growth Area outside of city limits, or Census Designated Place), and whether or not the Population Center intersects a State Route (“yes” indicates that there is an intersection with a State Route, “no” indicates that there is no intersection.). The dataset will be updated as needed. Please direct questions about the Population Centers dataset to: Grace.Young@wsdot.wa.gov.

Combined incorporated city limit boundaries and unincorporated Urban Growth Areas (UGA) as defined by the Growth Management Act. Updates were made by collecting city limits and urban growth area boundary information from each of Washington's 39 counties, where available, and the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Derived from King County comprehensive plan data. The rural towns allow urban land uses in the rural area. They are historic communities that were not incorporated, and subsequent to the Washington State GMA, and the adoption of the King County Urban Growth Boundary, are not eligable to be incorporated.

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) defines designated areas as areas expected to have 24-hour PM2.5 design values exceeding Ecology's healthy air goal of 20 µg/m^3. The form of the PM2.5 design value is the 3-year average of the annual 98th percentile 24-hour average concentrations. These areas were identified using a combination of model output from the Air Indicator Report for Public Awareness and Community Tracking (AIRPACT-4) forecast model and measured PM2.5 concentrations at monitoring sites operated by Ecology and its partner agencies. All input datasets cover the time period July 2014 – June 2017, which was the most recent continuous 3-year period available with minimal wildfire influence. Wildfire data were not removed completely from the dataset; rather, data were chosen and filtered to minimize the influence of wildfires due to inconsistent model performance and extreme outliers during wildfire periods.Design values were interpolated using the following steps:Median daily AIRPACT-4 forecast PM2.5 concentrations were extracted at 4km grid cell centroids.The ratio between the measured 98th percentile PM2.5 concentration (as a surrogate for the 24-hour design value) and the nearest grid cell's median daily AIRPACT-4 forecast PM2.5 concentration was calculated for each monitoring site.The ratios were interpolated across the domain at 4km resolution using Empirical Bayesian Kriging.Interpolated ratios were multiplied by median daily AIRPACT-4 forecast PM2.5 concentrations to yield interpolated PM2.5 design values.Grid cells with design values above Ecology's healthy air goal of 20 µg/m^3 were extracted and dissolved into smoothed polygons. Only polygons with ≥3 contiguous grid cells were retained due to model uncertainty in small areas.Polygons were overlaid with city, census-designated place, and urban growth area boundaries from 2020 Census TIGER/Line files. Where polygons intersected with any of the above census-defined boundaries, the largest of the intersecting boundaries defines the designated area.Ecology plans to update the designated areas layer at least every five years in conjunction with its 5-year Ambient Air Monitoring Network Assessment.

The Washington State Zoning Atlas (“WAZA” or “Atlas”) is a centralized database of spatial zoning data, hosted by the Department of Commerce. It provides simplified and accessible zoning information for Washington’s 39 counties and 281 cities (320 jurisdictions total) to the public. The interactive map and downloadable database illustrate key features and regulatory characteristics of zoning codes across jurisdictions. Data attributes for each zone include generalized land use categories, allowed uses, and development standards (e.g., building heights, densities, parking requirements). The Atlas makes it easier to compare zoning codes between jurisdictions and identify regional and statewide trends in regulation, which will strengthen local planning for housing, transportation, environmental impacts, climate response, and economic growth.The Washington State Zoning Atlas was developed by a team including MAKERS architecture and urban design LLP, the University of Washington, Western Washington University, BHC Consultants, and the Washington State Department of Commerce. Funding was allocated for this project in the Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5187.

Growth data for housing units and employment for the growth areas, urban centers and villages, for the City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan. This is a stand alone table that includes non-spatial records.Housing unit growth is reported quarterly from the city's permitting system while employment change is reported annually from the State of Washington QCEW data.

A special tabulation of employment data by the Puget Sound Regional Council for monitoring employment goals in the City of Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan. Estimates are for the growth areas, urban centers and villages of the City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan.The comprehensive planning estimates are for "all jobs" minus the employment in the Construction/Resources sector. Employment reporting for the purposes of comparison to 2035 growth estimates are calculated as the covered employment reported from the Washington State Employment Security Department QCEW data plus an estimate of the remaining jobs not covered by unemployment insurance minus jobs in the construction / resources sector.This is a stand alone table that includes non-spatial records.

Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM) is a collaborative monitoring program between western Washington municipal stormwater permittees, state and federal agencies. SAM s role is to use the results of regional monitoring and focused studies to inform policy decisions and identify effective strategies to improve stormwater management in the Puget Sound region. The SAM program includes status and trends monitoring of water quality, stream biota (macroinvertebrates, algae), and stream habitat to measure whether conditions are getting better or worse and identify patterns in healthy and impaired Puget Lowland streams. To meet this objective, a framework of fundamental geospatial data was required to develop physical and anthropogenic characteristics of the study region, sampled sites and corresponding watersheds, and riparian zones. This sampled sites dataset represents the most downstream location from 105 sites sampled for the SAM small stream study, and is one of the four fundamental geospatial data layers that were developed for this study. In addition to the SAM sites, 16 reference sites in the Puget lowlands sampled by the Washington State Department of Ecology s Ambient Biological Monitoring program from 2010 to 2015 were included in this analysis to provide a regional context for the SAM study. In total, downstream locations for 121 sites are provided in this data release. SAM sample sites were selected from the Washington State Master Sample Site List (http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/stsmf/mss.html) generated for Puget Lowland ecrogregion streams that drain to Puget Sound. Sites were specified for one of two location categories: inside the Urban Growth Area (UGA) and outside the UGA boundaries. The goals of site selection were to have 50 sites within each of these two categories and to select small to medium size streams (zero-third order) with perennial freshwater flow in natural substrate channels (no canals, lined or concrete ditches).

Link to the ScienceBase Item Summary page for the item described by this metadata record. Service Protocol: Link to the ScienceBase Item Summary page for the item described by this metadata record. Application Profile: Web Browser. Link Function: information

Municipal Stormwater Permit jurisdiction areas for Phase I and Phase II permits, issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology. The Phase I permit regulates discharges from municipal separate storm sewers owned or operated by Clark, King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, and the cities of Seattle and Tacoma. The Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit rule extends the coverage of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program to certain "small" municipal separate stormwater sewer systems (MS4s). These permit areas incorporate 2019 updates to incorporated City boundaries and unincorporated Urban Growth Areas (UGA) as defined by the Growth Management Act, as well as 2010 Census extents for urbanized areas adjacent to permitted cities and UGAs. This dataset was last updated in 2019. The current permit is effective Aug. 1, 2019, and expires on July 31, 2024.

Covered employment for the growth areas, urban centers and villages, for the City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan. This is a stand alone table that includes non-spatial records.Covered employment is reported annually from the State of Washington QCEW data.The Washington State Employment Security Department, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) is a federal/state cooperative program that measures employment and wages in industries covered by unemployment insurance. Data are available by industry and county and used to evaluate labor trends, monitor major industry developments and develop training programs.

Analysis of ‘Urban Center Village Annual Comprehensive Plan Employment’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/a2142632-1f23-4c17-95fc-e93b54303d89 on 27 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

The comprehensive planning estimates are for "all jobs" minus the employment in the Construction/Resources sector. Employment reporting for the purposes of comparison to 2035 growth estimates are calculated as the covered employment reported from the Washington State Employment Security Department QCEW data plus an estimate of the remaining jobs not covered by unemployment insurance minus jobs in the construction / resources sector.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---