The state of Washington has over 7.3 million inhabitants, placing it as the 13th most populous state in the country. The largest city by population is Seattle, which has an estimated population of 684,451 people. Spokane is the second most populous, falling far behind Seattle with a population of just 213,272. Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue, Kent, Everett and Renton round out the cities in Washington with populations exceeding 100,000. There are 71 cities with populations of less than 100,000 but more than 10,000, including the state capital of Olympia, which has an estimated 50,302 residents.
Incorporated municipalities in Washington are designated as either a city or a town. There are 281 incorporated areas in the state, and these are spread across 39 counties. Broken down further, municipalities are designated as first class cities, second class cities, towns, unclassified cities and code cities. Ten cities with populations exceeding 10,000 that operate under a home rule charter are first class cities, while nine second class cities are designated and have to have a population of over 1,500. The cities that do not fall into these classes are unclassified. Towns have populations that fall below 1,500. Three types of government are authorized for cities: Commission, Mayor-Council, and Council-Manager.