| Washington – Arlington – Alexandria | |
|---|---|
| — MSA — | |
| Washington D.C. | |
| Arlington, Virginia | |
| Alexandria, Virginia | |
| Country | United States |
| State | - Virginia - Maryland - West Virginia |
| Principal cities | Washington - Arlington - Alexandria |
| Area | |
| • Metro | 14,412 km2 (5,564.6 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 0 - N/A m (0 - N/A ft) |
| Population (2010)[1] | |
| • Density | 371.8/km2 (962.9/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 3,933,920(4th) |
| • MSA | 5,582,170(7th) |
| MSA/CSA = 2010, Urban = 2000 | |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | EST (UTC-5) |
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S. states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The Office of Management and Budget defines the area as the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used for statistical purposes by the United States Census Bureau and other agencies. The area includes as its principal cities Washington as well as the Virginia cities of Arlington and Alexandria. 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 over 8.55 million.
The area is also sometimes referred to as the National Capital Region, particularly by federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security.[2] The area in the region that is surrounded by Interstate 495 is also referred to as the "Capital Beltway". The Virginia portion of the area is known as Northern Virginia.
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the most educated and by some measures, the most affluent metropolitan area in the United States.[3] As of the 2010 Census Bureau estimate[update], the population of the Washington Metropolitan Area was estimated to be 5,582,170 (+16.39%), making it the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the country.[4]
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The U.S. Census Bureau divides the Washington statistical metropolitan area into two metropolitan divisions:[5]
Note that Metropolitan Area and Metropolitan Statistical Area should not be confused with Metropolitan Division.
The area includes the following counties, districts, and independent cities:[5]
The following counties are categorized as part of the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Although associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following counties are categorized as part of the Baltimore-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Although associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following county is categorized as part of the Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Statistical Area:
Counties
The following information corresponds to the map to the right, which highlights labor patterns of regional counties. (Note that although Arlington County and the City of Alexandria act as the Virginia suburbs of the core business district of Washington, D.C., those regions are not suburbs of the Fairfax County core business district; Loudoun and Prince William Counties serve as Fairfax County's suburban region. All three counties together also help comprise the suburban jurisdictions to Washington, D.C.)
Total Regions: 22 (6 independent cities, 15 counties, 1 district), plus 3 Maryland counties associated with unofficially (Grand-total 25)
By geographic type:
By state:
By region type:
An exurb is "a non-rural residential community located outside a city, beyond the suburbs".[6]
(These areas are not shown on the labor pattern map.)
Founded in 1957, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is a regional organization of 21 Washington-area local governments, as well as area members of the Maryland and Virginia state legislatures, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. MWCOG provides a forum for discussion and the development of regional responses to issues regarding the environment, transportation, public safety, homeland security, affordable housing, community planning, and economic development.[7]
The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, a component of MWCOG, is the federally-designated metropolitan planning organization for the metropolitan Washington area.[8]
The metropolitan area includes the following principal cities (most of which are not incorporated as cities; one, Arlington, is actually a county):
| Year | DEM | GOP | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 68.0% 1,603,902 | 31.0% 728,916 | 1.0% 25,288 |
| 2004 | 61.0% 1,258,743 | 38.0% 785,144 | 1.4% 19,735 |
| 2000 | 58.5% 1,023,089 | 37.9% 663,590 | 3.6% 62,437 |
| 1996 | 57.0% 861,881 | 37.0% 558,830 | 6.0% 89,259 |
| 1992 | 53.0% 859,889 | 34.1% 553.369 | 12.9% 209,651 |
| 1988 | 50.4% 684,453 | 48.6% 659,344 | 1.0% 14,219 |
| 1984 | 51.0% 653,568 | 48.5% 621,377 | 0.4% 5,656 |
| 1980 | 44.7% 484,590 | 44.6% 482,506 | 11.1% 115,797 |
| 1976 | 54.2% 590,481 | 44.9% 488,995 | 1.0% 10,654 |
| 1972 | 44.2% 431,257 | 54.8% 534,235 | 1.1% 10,825 |
| 1968 | 49.4% 414,345 | 39.1% 327,662 | 11.5% 96,701 |
| 1964 | 69.8% 495,490 | 30.2% 214,293 | 0.1% 462 |
| 1960 | 52.5% 204,614 | 47.3% 184,499 | 0.1% 593 |
The relative strength of the major political parties within the region is shown by the presidential election results since 1960, as presented in the table to the right.
The area has been a magnet for international immigration since the late 1960s. It is also a magnet for internal migration (persons moving from one region of the U.S. to another).[9] Census estimates show that persons of post-1965 immigrant stock will likely represent 25% of the region's population by 2010, forming a bigger population bloc than native blacks for the first time.[10]
Racial composition of the Washington, D.C. area:[11]
The Washington Metropolitan Area has ranked as the highest-educated metropolitan area in the nation for four decades.[12] As of the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, the three most educated places with 200,000 people or more in Washington–Arlington–Alexandria by bachelor's degree attainment (population 25 and over) are Arlington, Virginia (68.0%), Fairfax County, Virginia (58.8%), and Montgomery County, Maryland (56.4%).[13] Forbes magazine stated in its 2008 "America's Best- And Worst-Educated Cities" report: "The D.C. area is less than half the size of L.A., but both cities have around 100,000 Ph.D.'s."[14]
In recent years the Washington Metropolitan Area has overtaken the San Francisco Bay Area as the highest-income metropolitan area in the nation.[3] The median household income of the region is US$72,800. The two highest median household income counties in the nation – Loudoun and Fairfax County, Virginia – are components of the MSA (and #3 is Howard County, officially in Baltimore's sphere but strongly connected with Washington's); measured in this way, Alexandria ranks 10th among municipalities in the region - 11th if Howard is included - and 23rd in the entire United States. 12.2% of Northern Virginia's 881,136 households, 8.5% of suburban Maryland's 799,300 households, and 8.2% of Washington's 249,805 households have an annual income in excess of $200,000, compared to 3.7% nationally.[15]
The various agencies of the Federal Government employ over 140,000 professionals in the Washington D.C. area. A sizable number in the Washington D.C. area work for defense and civilian contracting companies that conduct business directly with the Federal Government (many of these firms are referred to as 'Beltway Bandits' under the local vernacular). As a result, the Federal Government provides the underlying basis of the economy in the region. However, the Washington D.C. area is increasingly home to a diverse segment of businesses not directly related to the Federal Government.
The Washington, D.C. area has the largest science and engineering work force of any metropolitan area in the nation in 2006 according to the Greater Washington Initiative at 324,530, ahead of the combined San Francisco Bay Area work force of 214,500, and Chicago metropolitan area at 203,090, citing data from U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Claritas Inc., and other sources.[3]
The Washington, D.C. area was ranked as the second best High-Tech Center in a statistical analysis of the top 100 Metropolitan areas in the United States by American City Business Journals in May 2009, behind the Silicon Valley and ahead of the Boston metropolitan area.[18] Fueling the metropolitan area's ranking was the reported 241,264 tech jobs in the region, a total eclipsed only by New York, Los Angeles, and the combined San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland regions, as well as the highest master's or doctoral degree attainment among the 100 ranked metropolitan areas.[18]
The Washington D.C. Area is home to hundreds of major research universities, think tanks, and non-profit organizations. Additionally, Washington, D.C. is a top tourism destination as flocks of Americans and foreigners from around the world visit the museums and monuments of the Capital city year round with the peak season being during the Spring and Summer months of April through August. Moreover, the Washington D.C. area attracts tens of major conferences and conventions each year which also contribute greatly to the region's economy.
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, The Institute for Genomic Research, Human Genome Sciences, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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 Raytheon, General Dynamics, BAE Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), CACI, and Orbital Sciences Corporation. Northrup Grumman is to move its headquarters to the region by the summer of 2011.[19]
List of companies headquartered in the Washington Metropolitan Area with revenues in excess of $5 billion,[20][21] including companies that are in the process of relocating to the area and excluding those that are leaving. Seven of the companies are located in Tysons Corner but use McLean addresses. Many large firms are based in Montgomery County, including Discovery Communications, Coventry Health Care, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Host Hotels & Resorts, Travel Channel, Ritz-Carlton, Robert Louis Johnson Companies (RLJ Cos), Choice Hotels, MedImmune, TV One, BAE Systems Inc, Hughes Network Systems, and GEICO.
The Washington DC metro area has held the top spot in the American College of Sports Medicine's annual American Fitness Index ranking of the United States' 50 most populous metropolitan areas for two years running. The report cites, among other things, the high average fitness level and healthy eating habits of residents, the widespread availability of health care and facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, and parks, low rates of obesity and tobacco use relative to the national average, and the high median household income as contributors to the city's community health.[22]
| City | Country | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Washington, D.C.[Note 1] | ||
| Bangkok | Thailand | 1962, renewed 2002 |
| Dakar | Senegal | 1980, renewed 2006 |
| Beijing | China | 1984, renewed 2004 |
| Brussels | Belgium | 1985, renewed 2002 |
| Athens | Greece | 2000 |
| Paris[Note 2] | France | 2000, renewed 2005 |
| Pretoria | South Africa | 2002, renewed 2008 |
| Seoul | South Korea | 2006 |
| Accra | Ghana | 2006 |
| Sunderland | United Kingdom | 2006 |
| Alexandria, Virginia | ||
| Gyumri | Armenia | |
| Helsingborg | Sweden | |
| Dundee[Note 3] | United Kingdom | |
| Caen | France | |
| Arlington County, Virginia | ||
| Aachen | Germany | |
| Reims | France | |
| San Miguel | El Salvador | |
| Coyoacán | Mexico | |
| Ivano-Frankivsk[Note 4] | Ukraine | |
| Herndon, Virginia | ||
| Runnymede[Note 5] | United Kingdom | |
| Fairfax County, Virginia | ||
| Harbin[Note 6] | China | 2009 |
| Songpa-gu[Note 7] | South Korea | 2009 |
| Falls Church, Virginia | ||
| Kokolopori | Congo | |
| District Heights, Maryland | ||
| Mbuji-Mayi | Congo | |
| Frederick, Maryland | ||
| Aquiraz | Brazil | |
| Moerzheim | Germany | |
| Schifferstadt | Germany | |
| La Plata, Maryland | ||
| Jogeva County | Estonia | |
| Walldorf | Germany | |
| Rockville, Maryland | ||
| Pinneberg | Germany |
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