Mossdale Lending Group, a small-business funding broker in Pasco, Washington, offers a practical checklist for businesses that serve customers in Pasco, Kennewick and Richland. The three cities sit in two counties, their ZIP codes do not follow city limits, and each city keeps its own records. Requirements are for each city and your advisers to confirm.
Two counties, three cities
Franklin County, WA holds Pasco; Benton County, WA holds Kennewick and Richland. Each city keeps its own business records, and each county keeps its own. When a lender, a customer or a city office asks where your business is, the honest answer may be: based in one, working in all three. Our service areas page lists each community with its county.
ZIP codes do not follow city lines
Pasco lies entirely within ZIP 99301 but covers only 7.0% of that ZIP's land. Kennewick covers 93.7% of ZIP 99336, yet less than half of Kennewick's own land is in 99336; the rest is split between 99337 and 99338. Richland is split almost evenly between 99352 and 99354 (Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area to place relationship file).
The practical point: a mailing address does not tell you which city you are in. Check the city on your license and lease, not the ZIP.
A checklist for a business that crosses lines
- Confirm which city your business is based in, from the lease or deed, not the ZIP.
- Hold the license or endorsement your home city requires.
- Ask each other city where you work whether it requires anything of you.
- Keep the same legal name and address on every license, the state record and the bank account.
- Keep dated copies of each license lookup in one folder.
Sales tax follows its own rules
Owners also search for the Tri-Cities sales tax rate. We do not quote tax rates or rules; check official state sources for each address, and ask your tax preparer how they apply to your sales.
Three common mix-ups, and the fix for each
The license says one city, the lease says another
Common after a move from Kennewick to Pasco, or the reverse. Update the license in the city where you now operate, and keep proof of the date you moved.
The bank account carries an old address
Banks rarely update business addresses on their own. Change it at the branch or online, then download a statement that shows the new address before a partner asks for one.
A trade name on the truck, a different name everywhere else
Customers know the trade name; the state knows the legal name. Make sure the trade name is filed and linked to the entity, so a partner can connect the two without a phone call.
Where the business counts differ
The employer mix also changes across the lines. In ZIP 99301, which includes Pasco, construction led with 359 employer establishments in 2023. In Kennewick's ZIP 99336, retail trade led with 308, and in Richland's ZIP 99352, health care and social assistance led with 233 (U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). A business that sells across all three often serves quite different customers in each.
Why this matters for funding
A lending partner reviewing a request wants one consistent business across every record. A license in Pasco, a bank account with an old Kennewick address and a state record with a third address is the kind of mix that pauses a review. None of it is unusual; all of it is fixable before you ask. The Pasco, WA license lookup guide walks through the lookups step by step.
If you are based in Kennewick, WA
The same checklist applies in reverse. Our Kennewick, WA page has ZIP 99336 Census figures and notes on the city's records; the Pasco, WA page has the Franklin County side. Other Tri-Cities posts live on the blog.
By Mossdale Lending Group · Updated