Named for Civil War general George Meade,[2] this area is tracked by the United States Census Bureau.

[3] Mead is home to the computer game development firm, Cyan Worlds, makers of Myst and Riven.

The Kaiser Aluminum Mead Works, which operated as a leading area employer from 1942 until curtailment in 2001, is nearby.

Those two controlled-access roads converge on the western edge of Mead at a large spaghetti junction.

[6] The Mead School District comprises a significant portion of northern Spokane County stretching from Mount Spokane in the east, near the Idaho state line, to the Stevens County line in the west.

Instead, students in Mead attend Mount Spokane High School which is just west of the community on Washington State Route 206.