How Olympia is run
Olympia spent $188.8 million in the year to December 31, 2024, about $3,391 per resident.
What stands out about how Olympia is run
Read from the town’s budget, meetings and records. The page puts what stands out first.
Who runs Olympia
From public records, which can lag behind an election. Tell us if a name is out of date.
About $3,391 per resident a year, or $9.29 a day
The biggest line: sewer & trash, at 21% of spending.
Thank you for being a neighbor
One full-time town employee for every 90 residents
On the payroll in March 2025.
By department full-time, plus part-time
Pay is March payroll times twelve, so it’s approximate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
Per resident, spending is up 7% since 2022
Spending per resident, by fiscal year. Prices rose too: about 4% a year in 2022–2024.
Spending per resident by year
full-time in 2025, up from 572 in 2022.
* A Census Bureau estimate for that year (the town didn’t report most of its figures).
Olympia School District
Olympia’s K–12 school district. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $17,405 per pupil, $10,542 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
Washington districts overall: 27% local, 66% state, 8% federal.
North Thurston Public Schools · $17,370 per pupil
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
The typical homeowner pays $4,396 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 0.90% of the home’s value, vs 0.81% across Washington.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Olympia’s rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate.
How Olympia’s budget compares
Olympia ranks 3rd lowest of 3 for spending per resident. Towns that run their own schools spend more. Tap a town to see its Town Hall.
The town government’s own spending in its newest year (often a Census Bureau estimate). — = no figures.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Olympia.
- 1Your cityMayor & councilDontae Payne
- 2Washington HouseState representatives
- 3Washington SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in Congress
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of Washington
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Olympia’s government
Numbers and hours come from neighbors and the town’s own site (the Handbook). A new one goes live once two neighbors confirm it.
Questions about how Olympia is run?
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll. School district: Census school finance survey. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. Officials: Open States and Wikidata. Representatives: Open States, the Census and congress-legislators.