Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located 16 miles (26 km) east of Seattle. The population was 64,291 in a 2017 census estimate. Redmond is commonly recognized as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an annual bike race on city streets and the state's only velodrome, Redmond is also known as the "Bicycle Capital of the Northwest".
Several companies in the high-tech industry are based in Redmond. The largest employer in the city by far is Microsoft Corporation, which moved its headquarters to Redmond in 1986. Microsoft has over 40,000 blue badge FTEs (full-time employee), 45,000 orange badge contractors (as of June 2012, there are over 94,000 workers, and over half are contractors), and more than 8 million square feet (750,000 square meters) of office space in the Seattle area Eastside region, primarily in Redmond, with additional offices in Bellevue and Issaquah (90,000 employees worldwide). In June 2006, Microsoft purchased former Safeco's Redmond campus at 4515-5069 154th Place NE for $220.5 million.
Other companies with headquarters in Redmond include Nintendo of America, Genie Industries, Physio-Control, Visible.net, WildTangent, Solstice and Data I/O.
In 2015, SpaceX and Hyperloop Genesis announced of opening a facility in Redmond. Their focus will be R&D and manufacturing for a proposed internet communications satellite constellation and new transport systems.
Unlike Bellevue and other neighboring cities, the City of Redmond does not have a Business and Occupation tax on income. However, to help offset the costs of road improvements for businesses, a business license fee of $55 per employee was approved in 1996. As of 2016, the fee is $106.90 per employee.