The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), 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; ...

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

, 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 St ...

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 an ...

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 town, incorporate ...

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 An economy is an area 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, su ...

) of Arlington, and the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

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, Alexandr ...

. 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-te ...

, 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 "Inside the Beltway" is an American idiom used to characterize matters that are, or seem to be, important primarily to officials of the U.S. federal government, to its contractors and lobbyists, and to the media personnel who cover them – as o ...

". 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 Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

. 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 (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 The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, 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 National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland ...

, a component of MWCOG, is the federally designated

metropolitan planning organization A metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is a federally mandated and federally funded transportation policy-making organization in the United States that is made up of representatives from local government and governmental transportation authorit ...

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 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 The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is an independent airport authority, created with the consent of the United States Congress to oversee management, operations, and capital development of the two major airports serving the U.S ...

(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 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

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 ...

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, includ ...

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 (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 i ...

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, Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the inter ...

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, ...

* Rockville, Maryland *

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, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, in practice it is an edge cit ...

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 t ...

's landslide reelection in 1972. Since

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, 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 ...

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, a ...

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 lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

: 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 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 six ...

attainment (population 25 and over) are

(68.0%), Fairfax County, Virginia (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 Gov ...

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 ...

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 #3 is Howard County, officially in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

'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 coun ...

, 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 hi ...

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 Count ...

and ahead of the Boston metropolitan area. Fueling the metropolitan area's ranking was the reported 241,264 tech jobs in the region, a total eclipsed only by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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 wor ...

, 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 money, monetary Measurement in economics, 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 subjec ...

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 Standard & Poor's CoreLogic Case–Shiller Home Price Indices are repeat-sales house price indices for the United States. There are multiple Case–Shiller home price indices: A national home price index, a 20-city composite index, a 10- ...

; the statistic is published by

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...

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 MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John). The clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Gille Eathain" ...

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 The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the income distribution in t ...

, 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 The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...

(October 31, 2016). A 2016

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 Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

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 households, $430,000 for

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chines ...

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 American ...

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 b ...

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 Human Genome Sciences (HGS) was a biopharmaceutical corporation founded in 1992 by Craig Venter, Alan Walton and Wally Steinberg. It uses the human DNA sequence to develop protein and antibody drugs. It had drugs under development to treat suc ...

Martek Biosciences Martek Biosciences Corporation was a pharmaceutical company based in Columbia, Maryland. It was acquired by Royal DSM NV in 2011, and produces nutritional ingredients for the food, beverage, dietary supplement and early life nutrition industries. ...

, and Qiagen. Additionally, many biotechnology companies such as United Therapeutics, Novavax,

Emergent BioSolutions Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is an American multinational specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It develops vaccines and antibody therapeutics for infectious diseases and opioid overdoses, and it provides m ...

, Parabon NanoLabs and

MedImmune MedImmune, LLC was a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca before February 14, 2019, when it was announced that the MedImmune name and branding would be discontinued in favor of AstraZeneca. MedImmune was founded in 1988 as Molecular Vaccines, ...

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 provide ...

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. Formerly ...

, 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, f ...

J. Craig Venter Institute The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a non-profit genomics research institute founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. in October 2006. The institute was the result of consolidating four organizations: the Center for the Advancement of G ...

, 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 The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

Consumer goods

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

Defense contracting

Many defense contractors are based in the region to be close to the Pentagon in Arlington. Local defense contractors include Lockheed Martin, the largest, as well as General Dynamics, BAE Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman, Computer Sciences Corporation, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Science Applications International Corporation, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), CACI, ManTech International, DynCorp, and Leidos.

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, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Hilton Worldwide, Park Hotels and Resorts, Choice Hotels, Host Hotels and Resorts, 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 City metropolitan area, New York metropolitan area. Washington's industry presence includes major publications with national audiences such as ''The Washington Post'', ''U.S. News & World Report'', and ''USA Today'', as well as new media publishers such as Vox Media, RealClearPolitics, Axios (website), Axios, and Politico. A secondary portion of this market is made up of periodicals such as ''National Affairs'', those by The Slate Group, ''Foreign Policy'', ''National Geographic'', ''The American Prospect'', and those by Atlantic Media, including ''The Atlantic''. There are also many smaller regional publications present, such as ''The Washington Diplomat'', ''The Hill (newspaper), The Hill,'' ''Hill Rag'', ''Roll Call'', ''Washington City Paper'' and the ''Washington Examiner''.

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, GTT Communications, Hughes Network Systems, iCore Networks, Iridium Communications, Intelsat, Ligado Networks, NII Holdings, 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 Arlington, Virginia, and $2.9 billion in Fairfax County, Virginia. 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.

Largest companies

History

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, 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 (NGA) into a massive new headquarters within the fort. *Fort Meade, Maryland, Fort Meade gained 5,361 employees, primarily as a result of the expansion of the National Security Agency. *Walter Reed Army Medical Center 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 United States Army Corps of Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers since World War II, resulting in the Mark Center Building, Mark Center, tallest building they have ever constructed, as well as National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Campus East, which at 2.4 million square feet is the largest building the Corps have constructed since the The Pentagon, Pentagon.

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

Commercial service airports

(IAD), located in Dulles, Virginia *

(DCA), located in Arlington County, Virginia – the closest to Washington *Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), located in Linthicum, Maryland (outside of but serving the Washington metropolitan area) *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

Rail transit systems

*Washington Metro – DC, MD, VA (rapid transit) ( WMATA) *MARC Train – DC, MD, WV (commuter rail) *Virginia Railway Express – DC, VA (commuter rail) *Amtrak – US (commuter rail, inter-city rail)

Bus transit systems

*DC Circulator – Washington, D.C. (DDoT, WMATA) *Metrobus (Washington, D.C.), Metrobus – Washington metropolitan area ( WMATA) *Metroway – Arlington County, Virginia and

(bus rapid transit) ( WMATA) *Ride On (bus), Ride On –

*TheBus (Prince George's County), TheBus – Prince George's County, Maryland *Arlington Transit, ART – Arlington County, Virginia *DASH (bus), DASH –

*Fairfax Connector – Fairfax County, Virginia *CUE Bus – Fairfax, Virginia *Loudoun County Transit – Loudoun County, Virginia *Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, PRTC – Prince William County, Virginia, Prince William County, Manassas, Virginia, Manassas and Manassas Park, Virginia, Manassas Park *TransIT – Frederick County, Maryland *VanGO – Charles County, Maryland *Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland – Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Laurel, Maryland *Maryland Transit Administration – Washington, D.C.,

, Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Frederick County, Maryland, Charles County, Maryland, Calvert County, Maryland, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Saint Mary's County, Maryland *Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority – Jefferson County, West Virginia, Berkeley County, West Virginia *Virginia Regional Transit – Loudoun County, Virginia, Culpeper County, Virginia, Fauquier County, Virginia, Warren County, Virginia *Fredericksburg Regional Transit – Fredericksburg, Virginia, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Spotsylvania County and Stafford County, Virginia, Stafford County

Major roads

Interstates

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

U.S. Highways

* * * * * *

Bicycle sharing

*Capital Bikeshare – Washington, D.C., Arlington, Virginia,

, Fairfax County, Virginia, 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 (TV station), DCTV, ''USA Today'', C-SPAN, PBS, NPR, ''Politico'', Black Entertainment Television, BET, TV One (U.S. TV network), TV One and Discovery Communications. The two main newspapers are ''The Washington Post'' and ''The Washington Times''. Local television channels include WRC-TV 4 (NBC), WTTG 5 (FOX), WJLA 7 (ABC), WUSA (TV), WUSA 9 (CBS), WDCA 20 (MyNetworkTV), WETA-TV 26 (PBS), WDCW 50 (CW), and WPXW 66 (Ion Television, Ion). WJLA 24/7 News is a local news provider available only to cable subscribers. Radio stations serving the area include: WETA-FM, WIHT, WSBN, and WTOP-FM, 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
*[http://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 Division]
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, Washington metropolitan area Washington, D.C., * Baltimore–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