The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. It is part of the larger Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The Washington metropolitan area is one of the most educated and most affluent metropolitan areas in the U.S. The metro area anchors the southern end of the densely populated

Northeast megalopolis The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, or BosWash, is the world's largest megalopolis in terms of economic output and the second most populous megalopolis in the United Sta ...

with an estimated total population of 6,385,162 , making it the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the nation and the largest metropolitan area in the Census Bureau's

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...

division.

Nomenclature

The U.S.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

defines the area as the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metropolitan statistical area, a

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

used for statistical purposes by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

and other agencies. The region's three largest cities are the federal city of Washington, D.C., the county (and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

) of Arlington, and the independent city of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. The Office of Management and Budget also includes the metropolitan statistical area as part of the larger Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, which has a population of 9,546,579 as of the 2014 Census Estimate. The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia portions of the metropolitan area is sometimes referred to as the National Capital Region, particularly by federal agencies such as the military,

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

, 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." The area in the region that is surrounded by Interstate 495 referred to as being " Inside the Beltway". The city of Washington, which is at the center of the area, is referred to as "the District" because of its status as a federal district, which makes it not part of any state. 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.

Composition

The U.S. Census Bureau divides the Washington metropolitan statistical area into two metropolitan divisions: * Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Division, comprising the majority of the metropolitan area * Frederick–Gaithersburg–Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division, consisting of Montgomery and Frederick counties

Counties or county equivalents and populations

Regional organizations

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Founded in 1957, the

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is an independent, nonprofit association where area leaders address regional issues affecting the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. Metropolitan Washington Council ...

(MWCOG) is a regional organization of 21 Washington-area local governments, as well as area members of the

and

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. The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, a component of MWCOG, is the federally designated metropolitan planning organization for the metropolitan Washington area.

Consortium of Universities in the Washington Metropolitan Area

Chartered in 1964, the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area is a regional organization of 17 Washington-area local universities and community colleges representing nearly 300,000 students. The consortium facilitates course cross registration between all member universities, and universalizes library access across some of its member universities through the

Washington Research Library Consortium The Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) was established as a non-profit corporation in 1987 to support and enhance the library and information services of universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. It aims to do this through e ...

. It additionally offers joint procurement programs, joint academic initiatives, and campus public safety training. These colleges and universities are:

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Formed in 1967 as an interstate compact between

, and the District of Columbia, the

WMATA The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...

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.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is a multi-jurisdictional independent airport authority, created with the consent of the United States Congress and the legislature of Virginia to oversee management, operations, and capital development of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and F ...

Greater Washington Board of Trade

Founded in 1889, the

Greater Washington Board of Trade The Greater Washington Board of Trade is a network of business and non-profit leaders in Washington, D.C. The Board of Trade invests in the cultural infrastructure of the area and promotes the construction and maintenance of public venues, includi ...

is a network of regional businesses that work to advance the culture, economy, and resiliency of the Washington metropolitan area.

Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington

The

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 Greater Washington, D.C. region with over 300 member organizations. References Non-profit organizations ...

(CAGW) works to increase appreciation, support, and resources for arts and culture in the Washington metropolitan area.

Principal cities

The metropolitan area includes the following principal cities (not all of which are incorporated as cities; one, Arlington, actually is a county, while Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Reston are unincorporated census-designated places.) * Washington, D.C. *

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

* Gaithersburg, Maryland *

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City move ...

Demographics

Politics

The Washington metropolitan area has consistently leaned Democratic, only voting Republican once in

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's landslide reelection in 1972. Since

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

was elected in 1992, Democratic candidates have easily won the area by double-digits. Alexandria, Virginia (6045513083)

Racial composition

The area has been a magnet for international

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

since the late 1960s. It is also a magnet for internal migration (persons moving from one region of the U.S. to another). Racial composition of the Washington metropolitan area.

2019 American Community Survey

* Non-Hispanic White : 44.7% * Black or African American : 24.9% * Hispanic or Latino : 16.3% * Asian : 10.3% * Mixed and Other : 3.8% :

2010 U.S. Census

: *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

: 54.8% *

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

: 25.8% * Asian : 9.3% *

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

: 13.8% * Mixed and Other : 3.7%

2006

: *

: 51.7% *

: 26.3% * Asian : 8.4% *

: 11.6% * Mixed and Other : 2.0%

1980

* White : 67.8% * Black : 26.0% * Asian : 2.5% * Hispanic : 2.8% * Mixed and Other : 0.9%

Social indicators

The Washington metropolitan area has ranked as the highest-educated metropolitan area in the nation for four decades. As of the 2006–2008

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

, the three most educated places with 200,000 people or more in Washington–Arlington–Alexandria by

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

attainment (population 25 and over) are

(68.0%),

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D. ...

(58.8%), and

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

(56.4%). ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' 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." The Washington metropolitan area has held the top spot in the

American College of Sports Medicine The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a sports medicine and exercise science membership organization. Founded in 1954, ACSM holds conferences, publishes books and journals, and offers certif ...

'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. In the 21st century, the Washington metropolitan area has overtaken the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

as the highest-income metropolitan area in the nation. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

of the region is US$72,800. The two highest median household income counties in the nation – Loudoun and

– are components of the MSA (and #3 is Howard County, officially in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

's sphere but strongly connected with Washington's); measured in this way,

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. According to a report by the

American Human Development Project Measure of America is a non-partisan, non-profit initiative of the Social Science Research Council in Brooklyn, New York. It conducts research and analysis primarily on human development data from the United States at the national, state, and cou ...

, 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.

Economy

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

work force of 214,500, and

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hin ...

at 203,090, citing data from U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Claritas Inc., and other sources. 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 Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...

and ahead of the

Boston metropolitan area Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ...

. 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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the highest master's or doctoral degree attainment among the 100 ranked metropolitan areas. 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. In 2020, the total

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...

for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (MSA) was $561,027,941,000.

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. McLean ZIP code 22102 had the highest median home prices among ZIP codes within the Washington metropolitan area as of 2013.

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 The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

and the 2007–09 housing crisis, which adversely affected black and Hispanic households more than other households.Perry Stein
Net worth of white households in D.C. region is 81 times that of black households
''Washington Post'' (November 2, 2016).Kilolo Kijakazi et al.
The Color of Wealth in the Nation's Capital
Urban Institute (October 31, 2016). 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 African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

households as $3,500.

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...

s had the highest median net worth in the Washington area ($220,000 for

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

households, $430,000 for Vietnamese American households, $496,000 for

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian America ...

households, and $573,000 for

Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

households). 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."

Primary industries

Biotechnology

The Washington metropolitan area has a significant

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

industry; companies with a major presence in the region as of 2011 include Merck,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

, Human Genome Sciences, Martek Biosciences, and Qiagen. Additionally, many biotechnology companies such as United Therapeutics,

Novavax Novavax, Inc. is an American biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg, Maryland that develops vaccines to counter serious infectious diseases. Prior to 2020, company scientists developed experimental vaccines for influenza and respiratory sy ...

, Emergent BioSolutions,

Parabon NanoLabs Parabon NanoLabs, Inc. is a company based in Reston, Virginia, that develops nanopharmaceuticals and provides DNA phenotyping services for law enforcement organizations. History Parabon NanoLabs, a subsidiary of Parabon Computation, a computing ...

and MedImmune have headquarters in the region. The area is also home to branch offices of many

contract research organization In the life sciences, a contract research organization (CRO) is a company that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. A CRO may provid ...

s. Firms with a presence in the area include

Covance Labcorp Drug Development is a contract research organization (CRO) headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina, providing nonclinical, preclinical, clinical and commercialization services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Formerl ...

, IQVIA,

Charles River Laboratories Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., is an American pharmaceutical company specializing in a variety of preclinical and clinical laboratory, gene therapy and cell therapy services for the Pharmaceutical, Medical device and Biotechnolo ...

, and ICON plc. The area's medical research is driven by government and non-profit health institutions, such as the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fi ...

, J. Craig Venter Institute, and the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the lat ...

Consumer goods

Local consumer goods companies include Nestle USA and Mars, Incorporated.

Defense contracting

Many defense contractors are based in the region to be close to

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

in Arlington. Local defense contractors include

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

, the largest, as well as

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

, BAE Systems Inc.,

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tech ...

, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC),

CACI CACI International Inc. (originally California Analysis Center, Inc., then Consolidated Analysis Center, Inc.) is an American multinational professional services and information technology company headquartered in Northern Virginia. CACI prov ...

ManTech International ManTech International Corporation is an American defense contracting firm that was co-founded in 1968 by Franc Wertheimer and George J. Pedersen. The company uses technology to help government and industry clients. The company name "ManTech" is ...

, DynCorp, and

Leidos Leidos, formerly known as Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), is an American defense, aviation, information technology (Lockheed Martin IS&GS), and biomedical research company headquartered in Reston, Virginia, that provides ...

Hospitality

The Washington metropolitan area contains the headquarters of numerous companies in the hospitality and hotel industries. Major companies with headquarters in the region include

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company was founded by ...

, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Hilton Worldwide, Park Hotels and Resorts, Choice Hotels,

Host Hotels and Resorts Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in hotels. As of February 19, 2021, the company owned 80 upscale hotels containing approximately 46,500 rooms in the United States, Brazil, and Canada. Histo ...

, and HMSHost.

Mass media

Franklin Park & One Franklin Square - Washington, D

The media industry is a significant portion of metropolitan Washington's economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Washington DC region has the second largest concentration of journalists and media personnel in the United States after the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. Washington's industry presence includes major publications with national audiences such as ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', as well as new media publishers such as

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 b ...

RealClearPolitics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political new ...

, Axios, and

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

. A secondary portion of this market is made up of periodicals such as '' National Affairs'', those by The Slate Group, ''

Foreign Policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

'', ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

'', ''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted t ...

'', and those by Atlantic Media, including ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. There are also many smaller regional publications present, such as ''

The Washington Diplomat An independent media company that for over 26 years has served as the premier source of news and information for the diplomatic and international communities in Washington, D.C., New York and the global community. Their reach includes distribu ...

'', ''

The Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

,'' ''

Hill Rag The ''Hill Rag'' is a community newspaper based in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill neighborhood. It is published monthly. In addition to Capitol Hill, it provides coverage of the Southwest Waterfront, H Street Northeast, and Navy Yard neighb ...

'', '' Roll Call'', ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focu ...

'' and the ''

Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ...

''.

Telecommunications

Anchored by the Dulles Technology Corridor, the telecommunications and tech industry in DC spans a diverse range of players across internet infrastructure, broadcasting, satellite communications, and datacenters. Firms headquartered in the area include

Cogent Communications Cogent Communications is a multinational internet service provider based in the United States. Cogent's primary services consist of Internet access and data transport, offered on a fiber optic, IP data-only network, along with colocation in data ...

, GTT Communications, Hughes Network Systems, iCore Networks, Iridium Communications,

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as I ...

, Ligado Networks,

NII Holdings NII Holdings, Inc. (formerly Nextel International) was an American holding company that, through its subsidiary Nextel Telecomunicações Ltda., provided mobile communications services under the Nextel brand in Brazil. NII operated 3G UMTS/HSDP ...

, Oceus Networks, OneWeb, Tegna Inc., Transaction Network Services, Verisign, WorldCell, and XO Communications.

Tourism

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.Perry Stein
D.C. breaks tourist record in 2015 with visitors spending $7.1 billion
''Washington Post'' (May 3, 2016). 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. Tourism is also significant outside the District of Columbia; in 2015, a record-setting $3.06 billion in tourism spending was reported in

, and $2.9 billion in

. A 2016

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

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.

Largest companies

History

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: * Fort Belvoir gained 11,858 employees, primarily as a result of the relocation of the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of natio ...

(NGA) into a massive new headquarters within the fort. * Fort Meade gained 5,361 employees, primarily as a result of the expansion of the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

. *

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...

lost 5,630 employees as part of its realignment. It was later closed and consolidated into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. BRAC 2005 was the largest infrastructure expansion by the Army Corps of Engineers since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, resulting in the Mark Center, tallest building they have ever constructed, as well as

Campus East, which at 2.4 million square feet is the largest building the Corps have constructed since the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be sim ...

Transportation

Washington Dulles International Airport at Dusk

Fairfax Connector 9742 at West Falls Church

'WMATA'-indicated systems are run by

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States C ...

and always accept Washington Metro fare cards, others may or may not.

Commercial service airports

(IAD), located in Dulles, Virginia * Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), located in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

– the closest to Washington *

Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internatio ...

(BWI), located in Linthicum, Maryland (outside of but serving the Washington metropolitan area) *

Hagerstown Regional Airport Hagerstown Regional Airport (Richard A. Henson Field) is in Washington County, Maryland, five miles north of Hagerstown, Maryland and a half mile (800 m) from the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. The airport is off Interstate 81 at exit 10 and ...

(HGR), located in

Washington County, Maryland Washington County is located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 154,705. Its county seat is Hagerstown. Washington County was the first county in the United States to be named for th ...

– serves western Maryland, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and portions of south-central Pennsylvania and north-western Virginia along the Interstate 81 corridor

Rail transit systems

* Washington Metro – DC, MD, VA (

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

) (

) *

MARC Train MARC (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) is a commuter rail system in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and operated under contract by Alstom and Amtrak on track owned ...

– DC, MD, WV (

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

) * Virginia Railway Express – DC, VA (commuter rail) *

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

– US (commuter rail,

inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

)

Bus transit systems

* DC Circulator – Washington, D.C. (DDoT,

) * Metrobus – Washington metropolitan area (

) *

Metroway Metroway is a bus rapid transit (BRT) line operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as part of their Metrobus (Washington, D.C.), Metrobus system. It consists of a single line operating in Arlington, Virginia, Arlin ...

–

and

(

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

) (

) * Ride On –

* TheBus – Prince George's County, Maryland * ART –

DASH The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

–

* Fairfax Connector –

* CUE Bus – Fairfax, Virginia *

Loudoun County Transit Loudoun County Transit is a public-transportation service provided by the Loudoun County, Virginia government. The buses operate from Dulles, Leesburg, and Purcellville to Washington Metro stations as well as directly to Rosslyn, Virginia, The ...

– Loudoun County, Virginia * PRTC – Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park * TransIT –

Frederick County, Maryland Frederick County is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick. Frederick County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD- ...

* VanGO –

Charles County, Maryland Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. Charles County is part of the W ...

Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland, locally referred to as the RTA, is a transit organization developed to establish a more effective and efficient public transportation system across Central Maryland. The RTA is made up of multi ...

– Howard County, Anne Arundel County,

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrooks ...

, Laurel, Maryland *

Maryland Transit Administration The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Baltimore-Washingt ...

– Washington, D.C.,

Calvert County, Maryland Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of ...

, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Saint Mary's County, Maryland * Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority – Jefferson County, West Virginia, Berkeley County, West Virginia *

Virginia Regional Transit Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are s ...

– Loudoun County, Virginia, Culpeper County, Virginia, Fauquier County, Virginia, Warren County, Virginia *

Fredericksburg Regional Transit Fredericksburg Regional Transit or FRED is a bus transit system that operates in and around Fredericksburg, VA. It provides year-round bus service to Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg, with commuter shuttles to the Fredericksburg station for conne ...

– Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County and Stafford County

Major roads

Interstates

* * * * * * * * – the Capital Beltway * – signed as US 50 *

U.S. Highways

* * * * * *

Bicycle sharing

Capital Bikeshare Capital Bikeshare (also abbreviated CaBi) is a bicycle-sharing system which serves Washington, D.C.; Arlington County, Virginia; the cities of Alexandria, Virginia and Falls Church, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Vir ...

– Washington, D.C.,

, Prince George's County, Maryland, and

Culture

Sports teams

Listing of the professional sports teams in the Washington metropolitan area:

Media

2100 Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA April 2019

The Washington metropolitan area is home to DCTV, ''

'',

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, PBS, NPR, ''

'',

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

, TV One and

Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...

. The two main newspapers are ''

'' and ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...

''. Local television channels include WRC-TV 4 (NBC), WTTG 5 (FOX), WJLA 7 (ABC), WUSA 9 (CBS), WDCA 20 (MyNetworkTV),

WETA-TV WETA-TV (channel 26) is the primary PBS member television station in Washington, D.C. Owned by the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, it is a sister station to NPR member WETA (90.9 FM). The two outlets share stud ...

26 (PBS), WDCW 50 (CW), and

WPXW WPXW-TV (channel 66) is a television station licensed to Manassas, Virginia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Washington, D.C. area. The station is owned by Ion Media, and maintains business offices in Fairfax Stati ...

66 ( Ion). WJLA 24/7 News is a local news provider available only to cable subscribers. Radio stations serving the area include:

WETA-FM WETA (90.9 FM) is a non-commercial, public FM radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C., broadcasting a classical music format. Its studios are located in Arlington, Virginia and its broadcast tower is located near Arlington at (). WE ...

, WIHT, WSBN, and WTOP.

Area codes

* 202 & 771 (Starting November 2021) – Washington, D.C. * 571/703 – Northern Virginia including the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church as well as Arlington, Fairfax, Stafford, Prince William, and Loudoun counties (571 created March 1, 2000; 703 in October 1947). * 240/301 – portions of Maryland in the Washington metropolitan area, southern Maryland, and western Maryland * 540 – Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania/Warrenton * 304/681 – Jefferson County, West Virginia

Sister cities

References

External links

OMB Bulletin No. 05-02
* ttp://www.bls.gov/oes/2005/may/oes_47894.htm May 2005 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates; Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Divisionbr>Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV MSA Population and Components of Change
{{Coord, 38, 53, 24, N, 77, 02, 48, W, region:US-MD, display=title Capital districts and territories Washington metropolitan area * * Metropolitan areas of Maryland Metropolitan areas of Virginia Metropolitan areas of West Virginia Regions of Maryland Regions of Virginia Regions of West Virginia

Nomenclature

Composition

Counties or county equivalents and populations

Regional organizations

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Consortium of Universities in the Washington Metropolitan Area

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Greater Washington Board of Trade

Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington

Principal cities

Demographics

Politics

Racial composition

2019 American Community Survey

2010 U.S. Census

2006

1980

Social indicators

Economy

Real estate and housing market

Net worth, wealth disparities, and business ownership

Primary industries

Biotechnology

Consumer goods

Defense contracting

Hospitality

Mass media

Telecommunications

Tourism

Largest companies

History

Transportation

Commercial service airports

Rail transit systems

Bus transit systems

Major roads

Interstates

U.S. Highways

Bicycle sharing

Culture

Sports teams

Media

Area codes

Sister cities

See also

References

External links