Malo, Washington — Thirty-Two People and a Regional Trading Post

Malo is tiny even by Ferry County standards. The 2020 census counted thirty-two residents.

The community still has a post office, and the Malo Trading Post draws customers from a much wider area than that population would suggest.

That makes sense in a county where distance changes the economics of almost everything. A store can serve a large territory without having many houses immediately around it.

Malo sits along the State Route 21 and Kettle River corridor north of Republic, in country shaped by mining, ranching, timber and travel toward Canada.

Its scale is a useful lesson in rural geography. Thirty-two residents may sound barely sufficient for a neighborhood, but add a ZIP code, a post office, a store and many miles between alternatives, and the place starts doing the work of a town.