Pasco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 81,724 in 2024. a city in the Peruvian Andes, where he had helped build a railroad. In its early years Pasco was a small railroad town, but the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam in 1941 brought irrigation and agriculture to the area.
thumb|The Franklin County courthouse in Pasco
Due largely to the presence of the Hanford Site (which made the plutonium for the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb used on Nagasaki in 1945), the entire Tri-Cities area grew rapidly from the 1940s through 1950s. However, most of the population influx resided in Richland and Kennewick, as Pasco remained primarily driven by the agricultural industry, and to a lesser degree the NP Pasco rail yards. After the end of World War II, the entire region went through several "boom" and "bust" periods, cycling approximately every 10 years and heavily based on available government funding for Hanford-related work. Farming continues to be the economic driver for most of the city's industrial tax base.
Pasco was not a sundown town in the same way as Richland and Kennewick; however, Jim Crow laws restricted African Americans to living only on the east side of the railroad tracks, which was largely underdeveloped and lacked public water or garbage service. In the 1940s, Edward R. Dudley visited as an investigator from the NAACP and observed widespread discrimination from businesses and law enforcement. In a 1947 survey, black residents listed water supply and service as the most significant problem for the area, and racial discrimination as second. White residents listed over-crowded schools as the most significant problem, and the presence of blacks as second. In 1948, Hazel Scott was refused service at a Pasco restaurant and successfully sued the owners for discrimination, bringing national attention to racial segregation practices in the Tri-Cities. Although the Civil Rights Act made racial housing discrimination illegal, it continued in Pasco as late as 1976.
Pasco completed one of its largest annexations, comprising to the northwest, in August 1982 amid a legal dispute with neighboring Richland that was decided by the Washington Supreme Court. In the late 1990s, foreseeing another Hanford-related boom period, several developers purchased large farm circles in Pasco for residential and commercial development. Since that time, Pasco has undergone a transformation that has not only seen its population overtake the neighboring city of Richland, but also has resulted in growth in the city's retail and tourism industries. Recently incorporated land on the West side of the city has exploded into new housing tracts, apartments, and shopping centers. This area of the city has become referred to locally as "West Pasco", distinguishing it from the older area of town to the East. In addition to an influx of new residents to the region, many residents of the Tri-Cities have moved from Richland and Kennewick to West Pasco due to its central location and virtually all-new housing and business. In early 2018, plans were announced for 5,000 to 8,000 new residences in West Pasco, west of Road 100.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
As Pasco is located in Southeastern Washington, the city lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range. As a result, the area is a windswept desert, receiving little precipitation throughout the year. Hot summers, warm springs, and cold winters provide a stark contrast to other areas of the state. Climate data is sparse, as there is no functioning weather station in the city; more reliable data is provided by the weather station in nearby Walla Walla.
The Columbia River borders the south side of the city, separating it from the neighboring cities of Richland and Kennewick.