Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a coastal city inside the Seattle metropolitan area. Its southwestern boundary is NE Tacoma Puget Sound, to the south is the cities of Milton, then Fife, then Tacoma. It is bordered by Des Moines and Kent on the northeast, Auburn as well as the town of Lakeland North and Lakeland South in unincorporated King County on the east, Milton on the south, and Tacoma as well as Fife Heights and Dash Point in unincorporated Pierce County on the southwest. The population was 95,171 at the 2015 United States Census. Federal Way is currently the 9th largest city in Washington State and the 5th largest in King County, according to the Census Bureau's 2015 population estimate.HistoryOriginally a logging settlement, the area was first called "Federal Way" in 1929, when Federal Way School District #210 was created. The name derived from Federal Highway U.S. 99 (now State Route 99 or Pacific Highway South), which ran from Everett and Seattle to Tacoma. Federal Way High School opened in 1930, and the local Chamber of Commerce adopted the name in the early 1950s. The city was incorporated on February 28, 1990.
