Biohazard Cleanup Near Morningside Estates Bellevue, WA

Bellevue is a city in King County on Seattle's Eastside, sitting across Lake Washington from Seattle between Lake Washington to the west and Lake Sammamish to the east.

Bellevue's name is derived from the French term "belle vue," meaning "beautiful view," a nod to the Olympic and Cascade mountain vistas visible from its hilltops.

Bellevue was first settled by European Americans in 1869, when William Meydenbauer and Aaron Mercer claimed homestead tracts in the area.

Bellevue incorporated as a third-class city on March 31, 1953, the same year Meydenbauer Bay Park on Lake Washington became the new city's first park.

The 2020 census counted 151,854 residents in Bellevue, making it the fifth-largest city in Washington and the third-largest in the Seattle metropolitan area.

Census Bureau survey figures for 2020-2024 count about 61,977 households in Bellevue, with a median household income of $165,576.

More than 43 percent of Bellevue residents were born outside the United States, according to Census Bureau survey data for 2020-2024, giving the city one of the most international populations in the state.

Amazon was founded in Bellevue by Jeff Bezos, and the city is now home to the headquarters of T-Mobile US, PACCAR, and the game developer Valve.

Downtown Bellevue is the second-largest city center in Washington state, and its anchor mall, Bellevue Square, has been open since 1946.

Bellevue's growth took off after the Lake Washington Floating Bridge opened in 1940 and accelerated again after the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opened in 1963, and by the 1970 census Bellevue was Washington's fourth-largest city.