Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
The Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area is a consolidated metropolitan area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, and two counties in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
Officially, the area is designated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The CSA is composed primarily of two major metropolitan areas, the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA. In addition, three other smaller urban areas not contiguous to the main urban area but having strong commuting ties with the main area are also included in the metropolitan area. These are the Winchester, VA-WV MSA, the Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan area and the Culpeper, VA Micropolitan area. Some counties and cities are not officially designated by the OMB as members of this metropolitan area, but still consider themselves members anyway. This is mostly due to their proximity to the area, the size of their commuter population, and by the influence of local broadcasting stations. The population of the entire Baltimore-Washington Metroplex as of 2007 is 8,241,912.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The most populous city is Baltimore, with a population of 637,455. The most populous county is Fairfax County, with a population exceeding 1 million.
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Components of the metropolitan area
The counties and independent cities and their groupings that comprise the metropolitan area are listed below with 2004 Census Bureau estimates of their populations.
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA (5,286,227)
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- Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, MD Metropolitan Division (1,287,005)
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- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division (4,131,158)
- Washington, D.C.
- Calvert County, Maryland
- Charles County, Maryland
- Prince George's County, Maryland
- Arlington County, Virginia
- Clarke County, Virginia
- Fairfax County, Virginia
- Fauquier County, Virginia
- Loudoun County, Virginia
- Prince William County, Virginia
- Spotsylvania County, Virginia
- Stafford County, Virginia
- Warren County, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Falls Church, Virginia
- Fredericksburg, Virginia
- Manassas, Virginia
- Manassas Park, Virginia
- Jefferson County, West Virginia
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division (4,131,158)
- Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA (2,658,405)
- Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV MSA (261,198)
Main Article: Hagerstown Metropolitan Area
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- Washington County, Maryland
- Berkeley County, West Virginia
- Morgan County, West Virginia
- Winchester, VA-WV MSA (118,932)
- Frederick County, Virginia
- Winchester city, Virginia
- Hampshire County, West Virginia
- Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Area (98,854)
- Culpeper, VA Micropolitan Area (44,622)
- Culpeper County
List of principal cities
See List of cities in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area for a full list.[7]
Washington area
- Washington, D.C.
- Arlington, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Reston, Virginia
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Frederick, Maryland
- Gaithersburg, Maryland
- Rockville, Maryland
Baltimore area
Economy
Primary industries
Biotechnology
Not limited to its proximity to the National Institutes of Health, Maryland's Washington suburbs are a major center for biotechnology. Prominent local biotech companies include MedImmune, United Therapeutics, The Institute for Genomic Research, Human Genome Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and Orbital Sciences Corporation.
Notable company headquarters in the region
(Numbers denote Fortune 500 company ranking.)
Washington, D.C.
- Black Entertainment Television
- Bureau of National Affairs
- Calibre Energy
- Carlyle Group
- Danaher 239
- Federal National Mortgage Association "Fannie Mae" 53
- National Geographic Society
- Pepco Holdings, Inc. 279
- Washington Post Company
- XM Satellite Radio
Maryland
Washington area:
- BAE Systems (Rockville)
- Bethesda Softworks (Rockville)
- Chevy Chase Bank (Bethesda)
- Choice Hotels (Silver Spring)
- Coventry Health Care (Bethesda) 226
- Discovery Communications (Silver Spring)
- GEICO (Chevy Chase)
- Host Hotels & Resorts (Bethesda) 440
- Hughes Network Systems (Germantown)
- Lockheed Martin (Bethesda) 57
- Marriott International (Bethesda) 197
- MedImmune (Gaithersburg)
- Novak Biddle Venture Partners (Bethesda)
- Radio One (Lanham)
- Ritz Carlton (Chevy Chase)
- Robert L. Johnson Companies (Bethesda)
- TV One (Silver Spring)
- United Therapeutics (Silver Spring)
Baltimore area:
- ARINC (Annapolis)
- Black & Decker (Towson) 372
- Constellation Energy (Baltimore) 117
- Fila USA (Sparks)
- Legg Mason (Baltimore)
- McCormick & Company (Hunt Valley)
- New Enterprise Associates (Baltimore)
- T. Rowe Price (Baltimore)
- Under Armour (Baltimore)
Northern Virginia
- AES Corporation (Arlington) 183
- Airbus North America (Herndon)
- BearingPoint (McLean)
- Booz Allen Hamilton (McLean)
- CACI (Arlington)
- Capital One (McLean) 130
- Computer Sciences Corporation (Falls Church) 170
- DynCorp International (Falls Church)
- Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (McLean) "Freddie Mac" 54
- FNH USA (Fredericksburg)
- Gannett Company (McLean) 332
- General Dynamics (Falls Church) 87
- Kellogg Brown and Root Services (Arlington)
- Mars, Incorporated (McLean)
- Navy Federal Credit Union (Vienna)
- NII Holdings(Reston)
- NVR Incorporated (Reston) 464
- Orbital Sciences (Dulles)
- Rolls-Royce North America (Reston)
- Space Adventures (Vienna)
- SLM Corporation (Reston) "Sallie Mae" 286
- USA Today (McLean)
- Verizon Business (Ashburn)
- Volkswagen Group of America (Herndon)
Transportation
Major airports
- Washington Dulles International Airport (Chantilly, Virginia - busiest in region)
- Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (Anne Arundel County, Maryland - closest to Baltimore)
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Arlington County, Virginia - closest to Washington)
Rail transit systems
- Amtrak
- Washington Metro
- MARC Train
- Baltimore Light Rail
- Baltimore Metro Subway
- Virginia Railway Express
Major highways
Interstate 270
Interstate 370
Interstate 70
Interstate 66
Interstate 83
Interstate 95
Interstate 81
Interstate 195
Interstate 295
Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)- Interstate 395 (Maryland)
Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)
Interstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway)
Interstate 795
Interstate 895
Interstate 97
U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 29
U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 11
U.S. Route 340
U.S. Route 40
Maryland Route 2
Maryland Route 4
Maryland Route 26
Maryland Route 32
Maryland Route 100
Baltimore-Washington Parkway/Maryland Route 295
Maryland Route 355
Virginia Route 267
Virginia Route 28
Virginia Route 7
Virginia Route 9
West Virginia Route 9
Notes
See also
- United States metropolitan area
- National Capital Region
- List of parks in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
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