The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the D.C. area, Greater Washington, the National Capital Region, or locally as the DMV (short for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washington, D.C., the federal capital of the United States, and its surroundings. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is part of the larger Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which is the third-largest combined statistical area in the country.
The Washington metropolitan area is one of the most educated and affluent metropolitan areas in the U.S.[7] The metro area anchors the southern end of the densely populated Northeast megalopolis with an estimated total population of 6,304,975 as of 2023 estimates,[8] making it the seventh-most populous metropolitan area in the nation,[9] as well as the second-largest metropolitan area in the Census Bureau's South Atlantic division, following Metro Atlanta.[10]
The Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia[11] portions of the metropolitan area are sometimes referred to as the National Capital Region, particularly by federal agencies such as the military,[12]Department of Homeland Security,[13] and some local government agencies. The National Capital Region portion of the Washington metropolitan area is also colloquially known by the abbreviation "DMV", which stands for the "District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia."[14]Interstate 495, the Capital Beltway, is at the center of the region. This is the source of the term Inside the Beltway, referring to Federal government insiders and related interests. Washington, D.C. is colloquially referred to as simply "the District" due to its status as a federal district. The Virginian portion of the region is known as Northern Virginia. The Maryland portion of the region is sometimes called the Maryland-National Capital Region by local authorities but rarely by the general public.[15][16]
Composition
Satellite photo of the Washington metropolitan areaWashington area viewed at night from the International Space StationMap highlighting labor patterns of regional counties
The U.S. Census Bureau divides the Washington metropolitan statistical area into three (formerly two) metropolitan divisions:[17]
Washington, DC–MD Metropolitan Division, consisting of Washington D.C., Prince George's County and Charles County, Maryland
Arlington–Alexandria–Reston, VA–WV Metropolitan Division, consisting of Northern Virginia and Jefferson County, WV
Frederick–Gaithersburg–Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division, consisting of Montgomery and Frederick counties
Counties or county equivalents and populations
Historical populations – Washington metropolitan area
Founded in 1957, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is a regional organization of 21 Washington-area local governments, as well as area members of the Maryland and Virginia state legislatures, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. MWCOG provides a forum for discussion and the development of regional responses to issues regarding the environment, transportation, public safety, homeland security, affordable housing, community planning, and economic development.[19]
Formed in 1967 as an interstate compact between Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the WMATA is a tri-jurisdictional government agency with a board composed of representatives from Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the United States Federal government that operates transit services in the Washington Metropolitan Area.
Founded in 1889, the Greater Washington Board of Trade is a network of regional businesses that work to advance the culture, economy, and resiliency of the Washington metropolitan area.[28]
Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington
The Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington (CAGW) works to increase appreciation, support, and resources for arts and culture in the Washington metropolitan area.
The metropolitan area includes the following principal cities (not all of which are incorporated as cities; one, Arlington, actually is a county, while Bethesda and Reston are unincorporated census-designated places).[17]
The Washington metropolitan area is considered a Democratic stronghold. The last Republican to win it was Richard Nixon in his 1972 landslide reelection. Since Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, Democratic candidates have easily won the area by double-digits.
The area has been a magnet for international immigration since the late 1960s. It is also a magnet for internal migration (persons moving from one region of the U.S. to another).[29][dubious – discuss]
Racial composition of the Washington metropolitan area.
2021 American Community Survey
Non-Hispanic White: 43%
Black or African American: 24% (including African 5.4%, West Indian 1.2%, and Ethiopian 0.8%[30])
The Washington metropolitan area has ranked as the highest-educated metropolitan area in the nation for four decades.[34] As of the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, the three most educated places with 200,000 people or more in Washington–Arlington–Alexandria by bachelor's degree attainment (population 25 and over) are Arlington, Virginia (68.0%), Fairfax County, Virginia (58.8%), and Montgomery County, Maryland (56.4%).[35]Forbes magazine stated in its 2008 "America's Best- And Worst-Educated Cities" report: "The D.C. area is less than half the size of L.A., but both cities have around 100,000 Ph.D.'s."[36]
The Washington metropolitan area has held the top spot in the American College of Sports Medicine's annual American Fitness Index ranking of the United States' 50 most populous metropolitan areas for two years running. The report cites, among other things, the high average fitness level and healthy eating habits of residents, the widespread availability of health care and facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, and parks, low rates of obesity and tobacco use relative to the national average, and the high median household income as contributors to the city's community health.[37]
In the 21st century, the Washington metropolitan area has overtaken the San Francisco Bay Area as the highest-income metropolitan area in the nation.[7] The median household income of the region is US$72,800. The two highest median household income counties in the nation – Loudoun and Fairfax County, Virginia – are components of the MSA (and No. 3 is Howard County, officially in Baltimore's sphere but strongly connected with Washington's); measured in this way, Alexandria ranks 10th among municipalities in the region – 11th if Howard is included – and 23rd in the entire United States. 12.2% of Northern Virginia's 881,136 households, 8.5% of suburban Maryland's 799,300 households, and 8.2% of Washington's 249,805 households have an annual income in excess of $200,000, compared to 3.7% nationally.[38]
According to a report by the American Human Development Project, women in the Washington metropolitan area are ranked as having the highest income and educational attainment among the 25 most populous metropolitan areas in the nation, while Asian American women in the region had the highest life expectancy, at 92.3 years.[39]
Rosslyn is home to the tallest high-rises in the region, partly due to the District's height restrictions. As a result, many of the region's tallest buildings are located outside of Washington, D.C.[40][41]
The Washington metropolitan area has the largest science and engineering work force of any metropolitan area in the nation in 2006 according to the Greater Washington Initiative at 324,530, ahead of the combined San Francisco Bay Area work force of 214,500, and Chicago metropolitan area at 203,090, citing data from U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Claritas Inc., and other sources.[7]
The Washington metropolitan area was ranked as the second best High-Tech Center in a statistical analysis of the top 100 Metropolitan areas in the United States by American City Business Journals in May 2009, behind the Silicon Valley and ahead of the Boston metropolitan area.[42] Fueling the metropolitan area's ranking was the reported 241,264 tech jobs in the region, a total eclipsed only by New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the highest master's or doctoral degree attainment among the 100 ranked metropolitan areas.[42] A Dice.com report showed that the Washington–Baltimore area had the second-highest number of tech jobs listed: 8,289, after the New York metro area with 9,195 jobs.[43] In 2020, the total gross domestic product for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (MSA) was $561,027,941,000.[44]
Real estate and housing market
Changes in house prices for the Washington metropolitan area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the Case–Shiller index; the statistic is published by Standard & Poor's and is also a component of S&P's 10-city composite index of the value of the U.S. residential real estate market.
McLeanZIP code 22102 had the highest median home prices among ZIP codes within the Washington metropolitan area as of 2013.[45]
Net worth, wealth disparities, and business ownership
The economy of the Washington metropolitan region is characterized by significant wealth disparities, which were heightened by the Great Recession and the 2007–09 housing crisis, which adversely affected black and Hispanic households more than other households.[46][47]
A 2016 Urban Institute report found that the median net worth (i.e., assets minus debt) for white households in the D.C. region was $284,000, while the median net worth for Hispanic–Latino households was $13,000, and for African American households as $3,500.[46][47]Asian Americans had the highest median net worth in the Washington area ($220,000 for Chinese American households, $430,000 for Vietnamese American households, $496,000 for Korean American households, and $573,000 for Indian American households).[46][47]
Although the median net worth for white D.C.-area households was 81 times that of black D.C.-area households, the two groups had comparable rates of business ownership (about 9%). The Urban Institute report suggests that this "may be driven by the presence of a large federal government and a local district government whose membership and constituents have been largely Black, coupled with government policies designed to increase contracting opportunities for minority-owned businesses."[46][47]
Tourism is a significant industry in the Washington metropolitan region. In 2015, more than 74,000 tourism-sector jobs existed in the District of Columbia, a record-setting 19.3 million domestic tourists visited the city, and domestic and international tourists combined spent $7.1 billion.[51][52] The convention industry is also significant; in 2016, D.C. hosted fifteen "city-wide conventions" with an estimated total economic impact of $277.9 million.[51]
Tourism is also significant outside the District of Columbia; in 2015, a record-setting $3.06 billion in tourism spending was reported in Arlington, Virginia, and $2.9 billion in Fairfax County, Virginia.[53] A 2016 National Park Service report estimated that there were 56 million visitors to national parks in the National Capital Region, sustaining 16,917 and generating close to $1.6 billion in economy impact.[54]
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The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure resulted in a significant shuffling of military, civilian, and defense contractor employees in the Washington metropolitan area. The largest individual site impacts of the time are as follows:[58]
Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR), located in Washington County, Maryland – serves western Maryland, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and portions of south-central Pennsylvania and north-western Virginia along the Interstate 81 corridor
703 and 571 – Northern Virginia suburbs of Arlington and Fairfax Counties, independent cities Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park, as well as parts of Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties (571 created March 1, 2000; 703 in October 1947).
540 and 826 - Northern Virginia suburbs of City of Fredericksburg, (Western) Loudon County, Spotsylvania County and Stafford County along with nearby Fauquier County
^Cohen, Matt (March 9, 2017). "The Answers Issue 2017". Washington City Paper. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
^"MDERS". Maryland Emergency Response System. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
^"About Us | MNCPPC, MD". The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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