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The Washington Metropolitan Area, formally known as the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA, is a U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of November 2004[update]. It is also part of the larger Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2007 Census Bureau estimate[update], the population of the Washington Metropolitan Area was estimated to be 5,306,565.[1]
Other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security refer to part of the area as the National Capital Region.[2] The Virginia portion of the area is known as Northern Virginia.
Composition
Aerial photo of Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area includes the District of Columbia and parts of the states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is divided into two metropolitan divisions:
- the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division, comprising the majority of the metropolitan area, and
- the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division, consisting of Montgomery and Frederick counties.
Political subdivisions
The area includes the following counties, districts, and independent cities:
District of Columbia
Map highlighting the metropolitan area
Maryland
The following counties are categorized as part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Though associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following counties are categorized as part of the Baltimore-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Though associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following county is categorized as part of the Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Statistical Area:
Virginia
Counties
Independent cities:
West Virginia
Principal cities
The metropolitan area includes the following principal cities (most of which are not incorporated as cities):
- Washington, D.C.
- Arlington, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Bowie, Maryland
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Falls Church, Virginia
- Frederick, Maryland
- Gaithersburg, Maryland
- Germantown, Maryland
- Herndon, Virginia
- Leesburg, Virginia
- Manassas, Virginia
- Reston, Virginia
- Rockville, Maryland
- Silver Spring, Maryland
- Tysons Corner, Virginia
- Waldorf, Maryland
Demographics
Composition
Racial composition of the Washington, D.C. area:[3]
- 2006
- 1980
- White : 67.8%
- Black : 26.0%
- Asian : 2.5%
- Hispanic : 2.8%
- Mixed and Other : 0.9%
Educational attainment and affluence
The Washington, D.C. area is the most educated and affluent metropolitan area in the United States.[4] The median household income of the region is $72,800. The two highest median household income counties in the nation, Loudoun and Fairfax County, Virginia, are components of Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. 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.[5]
As of the ACS 2007, the three most educated jurisdictions with 200,000 people or more in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria by Bachelor's degree attainment (population 25 and over) are Arlington County, Virginia (67.0%), Montgomery County, Maryland (56.5%), and Fairfax County, Virginia (55.9%).[6] Forbes states in 'America's Best- And Worst-Educated Cities' (2008): "...The D.C. area is less than half the size of L.A., but both cities have around 100,000 Ph.D.'s."[7]
Economy
The Washington, D.C. area has the largest science and engineering work force of any metropolitan area in the nation, at 324,530, ahead of the combined San Francisco and San Jose work force of 214,500, and Chicago at 203,090.[10]
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, 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.
Suburban Maryland
Northern Virginia
Transportation
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Major airports
Rail transit systems
See also
References
External links
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