Skagit County comprises the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is included in the Seattle-Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area.

It is located in the Puget Sound region, and it is known for its strong agricultural sector and annual tulip festival.

[4] It is noted for its broad, fertile valley of the Skagit River, a center for cultivation of tulips and strawberries.

[10] The largest ancestry groups were: 17.8% German, 14.9% Mexican, 13.7% English, 11.4% Irish, 8.3% Norwegian, 4.8% Swedish, and 4.3% Dutch.

13.9% were of German, 11.2% English, 9.2% Norwegian, 8.2% Irish and 6.7% United States or American ancestry.

[citation needed] Three Salish Native American tribes have reservations in the county: the Swinomish, Upper Skagit, and Samish.

23.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Commissioners are "nominated" in the primary by their district, but then are elected in the general by a county-wide vote.

The current Skagit County commissioners include Lisa Janicki, a Democrat from District 3, which encompasses Burlington east of Interstate 5, Sedro-Woolley, and the rest of eastern Skagit County; Peter Browning, an independent from District 2, which covers Mount Vernon, Conway, and south county; and Ron Wesen, a Republican from District 1, which includes Anacortes, La Conner, and that area of the county west of Interstate 5 and north of McLean Road.

Skagit County had been a bellwether county since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, voting for the winning candidate in each subsequent presidential election until it was carried by Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 (though only by a plurality).