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Tumwater pano 01Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Tumwater handbook

Living in Tumwater, WA: what to set up and who to call

Tumwater spans 2 ZIP codes; 98512 holds the most residents (56%). Tumwater Timberland Library, at 7023 New Market St, is the library in town.

I’m new in town

What to set up in Tumwater, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.

Home services

Power, water and internet

Who to call to start service at a new address in Tumwater.

Electricity

Power comes from Puget Sound Energy

Puget Sound Energy (Puget Sound Energy Inc), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Tumwater. Its homes paid an average of 17.0¢ per kWh in 2025, about $147 a month (its average across Washington).

Start or move service: pse.com · (888) 225-5773

Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.

Drinking water · reported to EPA

Water comes from City of Tumwater

City of Tumwater supplies Tumwater: about 97% of residents live in its service area. It draws ground water (EPA lists City of Olympia as seller) and serves 51,802 people in all.

No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 90% of the 597 systems serving 50,001–100,000 people.

Lead, 90th percentile8.0 ppb
015 ppb action level20

The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2017–Dec 2019, was 8.0 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. It’s from 2019: EPA has no newer result for this system.

The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report

EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. WA5389700.

Internet

5 home internet providers serve Tumwater

99% of 9,124 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 0% can get fiber.

ProviderTechnologyAddressesFastest (Mbps)
XfinityCable99%2,000/250
CenturyLinkDSL, Fiber68%140/20
T-MobileFixed wireless43%100/20
VerizonFixed wireless42%300/20
AT&TFixed wireless41%25/3

FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.

Trash & recycling

We don’t have Tumwater’s trash rules yet

Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Tumwater.

Schools

Where your child goes to school

Public school districts and the school path by grade.

Tumwater kids go to
PK–54 elementary schoolsDepends on your address
6–83 middle schoolsDepends on your address
9–123 high schoolsDepends on your address

Most of Tumwater (96%) is in Tumwater School District; parts are in Olympia School District (4%).

A−School gradeSee Schools →

U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.

Government & voting

Town hall and registering to vote

Who to call, and how to register.

Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Aug 2025; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.

ZIP codes & area codes

Tumwater spans 2 ZIP codes

ZIP codes where Tumwater residents live, with the share of the town in each.

ZIPPost office nameShare of TumwaterZIP’s residents in Tumwater
98512Olympia, WA56%45%
98501Olympia, WA44%24%

98511 is P.O. box or single-organization ZIP with no homes.

Area code360Wikidata

Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.

Everyday places

Getting around, the ER and the library

One line each; the subject pages have the rest.

ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.

Questions about living in Tumwater

Who supplies Tumwater’s drinking water, and has it had violations?

City of Tumwater (EPA ID WA5389700). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 90% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 8.0 ppb (Jan 2017–Dec 2019), against a 15 ppb action level.

Who provides electricity in Tumwater?

Puget Sound Energy (Puget Sound Energy Inc), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 17.0¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).

What internet providers serve Tumwater?

Xfinity, CenturyLink, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T (FCC, as of December 2025).

What ZIP codes are in Tumwater?

98512 (56%), 98501 (44%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.

What school district is Tumwater in?

Tumwater School District. Parts of the city are in Olympia School District.

How do I register to vote in Tumwater?

In Washington you can register online until 8 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (received 8 days before). Elections here are run by the Thurston County Auditor. Check your registration at voter.votewa.gov.

Sources & dates

Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.

  • Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
  • Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
  • Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
  • ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
  • Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
  • Registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
  • Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
  • Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.