Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census.
Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. The city has a large technology industry in addition to being a bedroom community for Seattle, which lies across Lake Washington on State Route 520.
With an annual bike race on city streets and the state's only velodrome, Redmond is also known as the "Bicycle Capital of the Northwest".
History
Native Americans have lived in the Redmond area for about 10,000 years, based on artifacts discovered at the Redmond Town Center archaeological site and Marymoor Prehistoric Indian Site. The first European settlers arrived in the 1870s. Luke McRedmond filed a Homestead Act claim for land next to the Sammamish Slough on September 9, 1870, and the following year Warren Perrigo took up land adjacent to him. The rivers and streams had so many salmon that the settlement was initially named Salmonberg. More settlers came, and with the establishment of the first post office in 1881, the name of the community was changed to Melrose. The new name was derived from the Perrigos' successful inn, Melrose House, which upset McRedmond. After becoming postmaster, he successfully petitioned to have the name changed to Redmond in 1883.
The abundant forests and fish of Redmond provided jobs for loggers and fishermen, and with those jobs came demand for goods and services, bringing in merchants. The logging industry expanded significantly in 1889 when the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway built a station in the center of town. The first plat for Redmond was filed on May 11, 1891, encompassing much of the area now known as downtown. After reaching the necessary population of 300, Redmond was incorporated on December 31, 1912.
Redmond underwent a commercial boom during the 1990s, primarily due to Nintendo of America and Microsoft establishing their respective headquarters within the city in 1984 and 1986 respectively, culminating in 1997 with the opening of Redmond Town Center, a major regional shopping center on the site of a long-defunct golf course. Since 1990, the city has seen rising traffic congestion as a result of its rapid expansion, particularly in areas of urban sprawl. To address these issues, SR 520 underwent expansion in the 2000s and 2010s. A light rail line connecting Redmond to Seattle was proposed by Sound Transit as part of a ballot measure that was passed by voters in 2008. The first section of the 2 Line, as the light rail project was later renamed, opened in April 2024 between Bellevue and Redmond Technology station in Overlake. It was followed by an extension to Downtown Redmond on May 10, 2025.
Geography
Redmond is bordered by Kirkland to the west, Bellevue to the southwest, and Sammamish to the southeast. Unincorporated King County lies to the north (with Woodinville a short distance beyond) and east. The city's urban downtown lies just north of Lake Sammamish; residential areas lie north and west of the lake. Overlake, the city's second urban center, is to the west of Lake Sammamish. The Sammamish River runs north from the lake along the west edge of the city's downtown. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and are water.
The city is divided into several neighborhoods that form a ring around downtown Redmond. The Overlake neighborhood, which also encompasses part of Bellevue, lies southwest of downtown and includes the Microsoft headquarters campus and other office complexes as well as residential areas. The predominantly residential neighborhood of Education Hill lies north of downtown and was named for the five schools in the area, including Redmond High School; it was previously known as Poverty Hill until the 1950s, when it was annexed into Redmond.
Climate
Redmond, like most of the Pacific Northwest, has a mild climate for its latitude, but still gets all four seasons. Summers tend to be warm and dry, with low rainfall and sunny or partly sunny from June to September. Winters tend to be cool and wet, with November being the rainiest month. Snowfall is uncommon, with the most common cold air being in a form of a high pressure system, driving out the rains from the area. However, snowfall is not as rare as in other cities closer to the moderating effects of Puget Sound, like Seattle. On average, the warmest month is August. The highest recorded temperature was on June 28, 2021. On average, the coolest month is January. The lowest recorded temperature was in January 1950. The maximum average precipitation usually occurs in December.
Redmond has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb), with a fairly dry summer peak.