Elma is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, set in the Chehalis River valley about 30 miles west of the state capital at Olympia. The community grew in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a trading center for the surrounding countryside, serving loggers, mill workers, and the farmers who raised dairy cattle, poultry, and flower bulbs on the valley's bottomlands. Timber and rail shaped the town's early development, and Elma became a commercial hub for eastern Grays Harbor County, a role it continues to fill today. The 2020 census counted 3,438 residents, making Elma a small city by any measure, and its economy remains tied to rural, resource-based industries. Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting are among the largest sources of employment, alongside retail and manufacturing, and the Satsop Business Park on the city's outskirts — the site of a never-completed nuclear power project — now hosts a mix of businesses and training facilities. This blend of working farm country, timber heritage, and light industry gives Elma its character. Elma appeals to people who value a quiet, rural lifestyle with practical access to larger cities. State Route 8 and US 12 meet at the city, providing direct highway connections to Olympia and the Puget Sound region to the east and Aberdeen and the Pacific coast to the west, while Grays Harbor Transit offers bus service to the capital. The Satsop River and surrounding hills supply fishing, camping, and outdoor recreation, and the historic Schafer State Park is just outside town. For residents, Elma offers an affordable, close-knit community at the gateway between Washington's coast and its capital region.