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Theeconomy of theWashington metropolitan area includes the economy ofWashington, D.C., and its suburbs, including parts ofMaryland, all ofNorthern Virginia, andJefferson County, West Virginia. Washington, DC accounts for 25.2% of the metropolitan areas economy with the largest share being 45.1% in Virginia.[1] In 2022, the DC metro area had the country'sfifth-highestgross metropolitan product, at $541 billion.[2] The region's economy is highly diverse and includes the principal industries of theUS federal government, tourism, information technology, research, hospitality, news media, andbioscience.
Key commercial hubs in the Greater Washington area includeDowntown, Washington, D.C.,Tysons, Virginia,Rosslyn, Virginia,Crystal City, Virginia,Bethesda, Maryland, andSilver Spring, Maryland.
As of 2022, according to Washington'scomprehensive annual financial report, the top employers by number of employees in the region in 2022 wereGeorgetown University,Children's National Medical Center,Washington Hospital Center,George Washington University,American University,Georgetown University Hospital,Booz Allen Hamilton,Insperity PEO Services,Universal Protection Service,Howard University,Medstar Medical Group,George Washington University Hospital,Catholic University of America, andSibley Memorial Hospital.[3]
As of 2025, the Washington metropolitan area is home to the headquarters of 21Fortune 500 companies across a number of different industries. The DC area is also home to many satellite offices for major companies, and serves as the US or North American headquarters for many foreign companies, such asVolkswagen,Rolls-Royce,Airbus,Nestlé,Ethiopian Airlines, andLidl. Other major companies headquartered in the area that are not on the Fortune 500 list because they are eitherprivate companies,subsidiaries, orcredit unions includeMars Inc. (maker ofM&M's,Snickers,Skittles; one of the largest private companies in the United States),Bechtel,Geico,PenFed Credit Union,Northwest Federal Credit Union, andNavy Federal Credit Union.
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As thenational capital of the United States, the country's federal government is headquartered in the city, and is therefore a major employer and important economic engine for the broader region. As of July 2022, 25% of people employed in Washington, D.C., were federal government employees.[5] Important federal government agencies and departments are also located in suburban Washington.The Pentagon, which houses theUS Department of Defense, is headquartered inArlington County, Virginia, and theCIA is headquartered in theLangley area ofFairfax County, Virginia.
In addition to people employed directly by the federal government, the region also has many people employed in organizations whose work relies directly on funding from or contracting with the federal government, or in some other way interacts directly with the government. Manylobbying organizations seek to influence US government policy. Similarly, the region has a high concentration of law firms headquartered in the area or with major offices in the region that work with the federal government as well as with other institutions and industries. Historically,K Street was where many of the city's lobbying organizations were located, and is therefore sometimes used as ametonym for lobbying of the US federal government. Among the key lobbying and law firms includeBrownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck,Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, andHolland & Knight.[6]
In addition to important law firms and lobbying organizations, many other organizations rely on the federal government for employment as a result of receiving funding directly from the government or using their work with the government to encourage private donors to support their mission. These includedefense contractors,civilian contractors, nonprofit organizations, trade unions,industry trade groups, andprofessional associations, many of which have their headquarters in the Washington area so they can be close to the federal government.
As of February 2022, the largest U.S. government agencies located in the Washington Metropolitan Area are: theUnited States Department of Defense headquartered inthe Pentagon inArlington, Virginia, theUnited States Postal Service, theUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs, theUnited States Department of Homeland Security, and theUnited States Department of Justice.[7]
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The US federal government's demand for military technology has led to the growth of a largedefense sector in the region. As a result, many key defense contractors are headquartered in the Washington area. The world's five largest weapons manufacturers are all headquartered in the region:Lockheed Martin is headquartered inBethesda, Maryland;RTX Corporation is headquartered inRosslyn, Virginia;Northrop Grumman is headquartered inWest Falls Church, Virginia;Boeing, which specializes incommercial aircraft in addition to military technology, is headquartered inCrystal City; andGeneral Dynamics is headquartered inReston, Virginia.[8]
Other importantaviation andaerospace organizations headquartered in the broader Washington region includeNASA, the US government's space research organization, which is headquartered in DC. NASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center, which is one of the organization's largest research centers in the country, is located inGreenbelt, Maryland. Goddard is the largest combined organization of scientists and engineers in the United States dedicated to research on the Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe via observations from space. Additionally,Airbus, which specializes in both commercial aviation and military technology, has its North American branch, known asAirbus Group, Inc., headquartered inFairfax County, Virginia.Blue Origin has major offices inReston, Virginia andSpaceX has an office in DC.Ethiopian Airlines has its US headquarters inAlexandria, Virginia.
Washington is home to 185 foreignembassies,[9] where many diplomats and ambassadors work. Key diplomatic meetings occur at embassies, as do important cultural activities and performances. DC is consequently one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world and hosts a number of internationally themed festivals and events, many of which are done in close collaboration with foreign embassies.[10][11] TheOrganization of American States (OAS), which is a body composed of representative countries from the Americas that coordinates diplomatic, legal, and humanitarian work across theWestern Hemisphere, is headquartered at the corner of 17th street andConstitution Avenue.
In addition to foreign diplomatic missions, the city holds an important role in global finance and international economics. TheFederal Reserve ("The Fed"), located alongConstitution Avenue, is the United States'central bank. By conductingmonetary policy, the members of theFederal Reserve Board impact the value of the US dollar, key interest rates, and the value of currencies around the world.
TheWorld Bank andInternational Monetary Fund (both located in theGolden Triangle) are key global financial and development institutions whose policies have a dramatic effect on the wealth and development of countries across the world. They use loans and grants to influence foreign countries' level of economic development and financial stability. Due to the heavy importance the city holds in global finance, in 2023 theGlobal Financial Centres Index ranked DC as the 8th most competitivefinancial center in the world.[12]
Key development institutions headquartered in the city include theInter-American Development Bank andUSAID, the US agency charged with leading the government'sinternational development portfolio. As a result of this rich concentration of finance and development expertise as well as organizations that finance global development, the Washington region is the global center for the international development sector, serving as the home for key firms, such asChemonics International.
Washington is a leading center for both national and international research organizations.
Among the most notable research institutions in the Washington area is theSmithsonian Institution, which controls many of the region's museums while conducting advanced research on a number of subjects, including art history, natural history, zoology, and space. Three of the institution's research centers are located in the Washington region: theArchives of American Art andSmithsonian Libraries and Archives are both located in DC while theMuseum Conservation Institute is inPrince George's County, Maryland.
Other organizations key to research on a number of subjects include theLibrary of Congress and theNational Archives. TheFolger Shakespeare Library, located in theCapitol Hill neighborhood, is the world's largest research library focused onShakespeare and early English-language texts, while also being a leading classical theatre company.[13][14][15] TheShakespeare Theatre Company andFord's Theatre, both located in the city, are also among the country's most prominent classical theatres. Additionally, theNational Endowment for the Arts, headquartered at theConstitution Center, is an independent government agency that provides support and funding for artistic functions across the United States. TheKennedy Center for the Performing Arts, located in theFoggy Bottom neighborhood, is the country's cultural center, and a leading performing arts institution.
The city is known for having a heavy concentration ofthink tanks engaged in public policy research, writing, and advocacy.[16] As of 2020, 8% of the country's think tanks were headquartered in the city, including many of the largest and most widely cited;[17] these include theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace,Center for Strategic and International Studies,Brookings Institution,Atlantic Council,Peterson Institute for International Economics,The Heritage Foundation,United States Institute of Peace, andUrban Institute.[18]
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TheWashington metropolitan area is home to theNational Institutes of Health (NIH), which is headquartered inBethesda, Maryland. The NIH is the US federal government's primary institution conducting biomedical and health research. The NIH is composed of27 institutes and centers conducting leading research on a wide range of issues related to health and medicine, and is one of themost widely cited scientific research institutions in the world.[19][20]
Due to the proximity of medical research facilities and human capital, a part of suburban Maryland known asDNA Valley or theI-270 technology corridor is one of the country's leadingbiotechnology hubs, with a major focus ongenetic medicine. Many private companies and public entities have research centers in the DNA Valley. As a result, the DC area is the country's second-largest hub for the life sciences industry.[21]
Other organizations located in the region that specialize in medical research, medical care, and funding for medical institutions include theChildren's National Hospital,MedStar Washington Hospital Center, theNational Foundation for Cancer Research,American Institute for Cancer Research,Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,George Washington University Hospital,MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, and theFoundation for Biomedical Research.[22] Additionally, theAmerican College of Radiology is located inReston, Virginia,[23] while the affiliated American Institute for Radiologic Pathology is located inSilver Spring, Maryland.[24]
ThePan-American Health Organization (PAHO), which is aUnited Nations agency that coordinates health work in theAmericas, is headquartered in theFoggy Bottom neighborhood of DC. PAHO serves as the regional office for theWorld Health Organization in the Americas.
TheHoward Hughes Medical Institute, headquartered inChevy Chase, Maryland (just outside the DC border) with offices inAshburn, Virginia, is one of thelargest charitable organizations in the world and a leading funder for biological and medical research.
TheAmerican Institutes for Research, based inArlington, Virginia, is one of the country's largest research non-profits, and conducts research on a number of topics, including health.
The city is home to many for-profitprofessional services firms, includinglaw firms and a number ofconsultancy organizations, particularly those focused on trade, as well as political, geopolitical, and economic risk. Among these areFTI Consulting, theAlbright Stonebridge Group,McLarty Associates, and major offices forEurasia Group.Hogan Lovells, the sixth largest law firm in the world, is co-headquartered in DC andLondon.[25]
TheBig 4 consultancy firms (Deloitte,EY,PwC, andKPMG) all have major offices spread throughout the Washington region.
DC is a global center forhuman rights andhumanitariannon-profit organizations. There are over 500 humanitarian organizations located in the Greater Washington area.[26] These organizations address both domestic and global issues by doing research, running aid programs, and conducting public advocacy.
Among these organizations include theUN Foundation,Human Rights Campaign, theWorld Wildlife Fund, theNational Democratic Institute,Bread for the World,World Central Kitchen,Refugees International,US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (Arlington, Virginia), and theNational Endowment for Democracy.[27] TheAmerican Red Cross, a humanitarian agency part of the globalRed Cross network, is also headquartered in the city.[28] Other key humanitarian organizations with major offices in the city includeSave the Children andSearch for Common Ground, among many others. The US headquarters for theSalvation Army is inAlexandria, Virginia.
The wider Washington region is one of the most important centers forinformation technology (IT) in the United States. The roots of IT in the Washington metropolitan area date back to the founding of the modern internet.America Online (AOL) was headquartered inSterling, Virginia during its peak in the 1990s. As a result, much of the infrastructure, financial capital, and human capital needed in the IT sector remains concentrated in the region. The large size of the tech sector in the area is perhaps most evident in the fact that the Washington region, and especiallyNorthern Virginia, houses the world's largest collection ofdata centers.
TheDulles Technology Corridor in Northern Virginia, which extends fromDulles International Airport on the west throughAlexandria, Virginia on the east, contains a large concentration of tech company headquarters and key satellite offices. Among the companies with offices along this corridor includeGoogle,Amazon Web Services,IBM,Blue Origin, andLeidos, which is headquartered inReston, Virginia.SAIC is also headquartered in Reston. Additionally,Amazon'sheadquarters is located in theNational Landing area ofArlington County, Virginia. The company chose Northern Virginia to be the location of its second headquarters (to support its original headquarters inSeattle), due in part to the proximity of tech knowledge and talent in the area.[29] Tapping into this knowledge hub,Virginia Tech, a university whose main campus is inBlacksburg, Virginia in the southwestern part of the state, has opened a $1 billion "innovation campus" inPotomac Yard, Alexandria, where the university focuses on teaching technology classes and conducting tech research.[30]
Verisign, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, operates a number of network infrastructure, including two of theInternet's thirteenroot nameservers, the authoritative registry for the.com,.net, and.name generictop-level domains and the.cccountry-code top-level domains, and the back-end systems for the.jobs and.edusponsored top-level domains.
Many technology and finance companies are headquartered inTysons, Virginia, a key commercial and shopping area inFairfax County, Virginia. As the central business district of Fairfax and a growing mixed-used area, Tysons is anedge city of Washington, DC and the 12th-largest business district in the country.
Among the major companies headquartered in Tysons includeAlarm.com,[31]Appian Corporation,[32]Booz Allen Hamilton,MITRE Corporation,M.C. Dean, Inc.,Cvent,Freddie Mac,Exelis,MicroStrategy,Logistics Management Institute,Space Adventures, andSpacenet.[33][34][35] Other firms with offices in Tysons includeAdobe Systems,[36]BAE Systems Inc.,[37]Compuware,[38]DXC Technology,Palantir Technologies,Deloitte,Ernst & Young,[39]Northrop Grumman,[40]PricewaterhouseCoopers,[41]Xerox,[42] andVie de France.[43]
The DC region is a majorbiotechnology andlife sciences hub. A portion of suburban Maryland that has a heavy concentration ofpharmaceutical and biotech research centers, particularly as they relate togenetic medicine, is known asDNA Valley.[44] Among the many biotech and pharmaceutical companies with research centers or their global or regional headquarters in the area includeAstraZeneca (Gaithersburg, Maryland),Emergent BioSolutions (headquartered in Gaithersburg),Merck (Rockville, Maryland),Pfizer (Washington, D.C.),GSK (Rockville),United Therapeutics (headquartered inSilver Spring, Maryland),Novavax (headquartered in Gaithersburg), andThermo Fisher Scientific (Rockville).[45]
Capital One, abank holding company, has itsglobal headquarters inTysons, Virginia.[46] The sprawling Capital One complex has multiple office buildings as well asCapital One Hall, a performing arts venue built and run by Capital One. Other key financial players headquartered in the area include two in themortgage-backed securities industry:Fannie Mae (headquartered in DC and with major offices inReston, Virginia) andFreddie Mac (headquartered in Tysons).
Other important financial organizations headquartered in the Washington area include theCarlyle Group (Washington, DC), which is one of theworld's largestprivate equity investment firms,PenFed Credit Union (Tysons),Northwest Federal Credit Union (Herndon, Virginia), andNavy Federal Credit Union (Vienna, Virginia).Geico, acar insurance company, is headquartered inChevy Chase, Maryland, just north of the Maryland-DC border.
TheDanaher Corporation, headquartered in Washington, is a majorconglomerate that invests in many different industries, such aslife sciences,diagnostics, and environmental sectors. Founded bySteven andMitchell Rales, the company has grown to be one of the most significant conglomerates in the country.
The DC region serves as the headquarters for keyhotel andhospitality companies. Several of the world's largest hotel chains are headquartered in the DC area.Marriott International, thelargest hotel chain in the world, was founded as aroot beer stand in Washington, D.C. in 1927 and is now headquartered inBethesda, Maryland.[47][48]Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., which is an Americanreal estate investment trust that invests in hotels, is also headquartered in Bethesda.Choice Hotels, a global hotel chain, has its headquarters inNorth Bethesda, Maryland.Hilton Worldwide, the world's second-largest hotel chain, is headquartered inTysons, Virginia.[49]
The Washington area has a large concentration of hotels, making it an economically important region for the hospitality industry. Historic hotels located in the city includeGeorgetown Inn,Hamilton Hotel,Omni Shoreham Hotel,Riggs Hotel,Mayflower Hotel, and theWillard Hotel.
A number of companies producing popularconsumer goods are headquartered throughout the Washington region.Mars Inc., a manufacturer ofsugary treats as well aspet food, is headquartered inTysons, Virginia. Mars is the maker of popular treats, such asM&M's,Snickers, andTwix.Nestlé, which manufactures a number of different foods and drinks, has its US headquarters at1812 North Moore Street inRosslyn, Virginia.Lidl, a discount grocery chain based in Germany, has its US headquarters inCrystal City, Virginia.
Numerous majorfast casual restaurant chains were founded and remain headquartered in the area.CAVA was founded inRockville, Maryland and is headquartered in DC;Five Guys was founded in Arlington, Virginia and is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.Sweetgreen was founded in DC.
Volkswagen, a car design and manufacturing company, has itsNorth America headquarters inReston, Virginia. The luxury car brandRolls-Royce's North American branch, known asRolls-Royce North America, is also headquartered in Reston.
Bechtel, the country's second-largestengineering andconstruction company and one of the largest private companies in the country, is headquartered in Reston.[50]
CoStar Group, which provides information, analytics, and marketing services tocommercial property companies in North America, is headquartered inRosslyn, Virginia. CoStar is the parent company ofHomes.com and Apartments.com.
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Tourism is among the DC region's largest and most important industries. In 2019, the city attracted 24.6 million tourists, including 1.8 million from foreign countries. Collectively, tourists spent $8.15 billion during their stay.[51]
The city and wider Washington region has a diverse array of attractions for tourists. Among these are monuments, memorials, museums, sports events, andnational parks. Within the city, theNational Mall serves as the center of the tourism industry and the location of many of the city's museums and monuments. Just south of the Mall sits theTidal Basin, where several additional memorials and monuments lie, including the popularJefferson Memorial.
Arlington National Cemetery inArlington County, Virginia is among the region's most visited tourist sites.[52] This is a military cemetery that serves as a burial ground for former military combatants. It is also the location of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy's tomb, marked by aneternal flame.[53] PresidentWilliam Howard Taft is also buried in Arlington.[54] TheTomb of the Unknown Soldier is located in the cemetery and is guarded 24/7 by a tomb guard. The changing of the guard is a popular tourist attraction and occurs once every hour from October through March and every half-hour during the rest of the year.[55] Other key tourist attractions in the area include theWashington National Cathedral,The Pentagon, the9/11 Pentagon Memorial, theUnited States Air Force Memorial,Old Town Alexandria,National Harbor, andMount Vernon, the former home ofGeorge Washington.[56]
Washington, D.C., is a global center for media.The Washington Post, founded in 1877, is one of the nation's most widely circulating newspapers. It is headquartered atOne Franklin Square inDowntown Washington.[57]
The Washington Times is a newspaper covering Washington politics from aconservative perspective.[58]
The Atlantic magazine, which has covered politics, international affairs, and cultural issues since 1857, is headquartered at an office building located onthe Wharf.[59]
Other key media sources include the weeklyWashington Blade andMetro Weekly, which focus on LGBT issues; theWashington Informer andThe Washington Afro American, which highlight topics of interest to the black community; andThe Current Newspapers.Congressional Quarterly,The Hill,Politico, andRoll Call are newspapers and online media that mostly report onCongress and the federal government. Other globally circulating publications based in Washington include theNational Geographic magazine, theSmithsonian magazine, and political publications such asThe Washington Examiner,The New Republic, andWashington Monthly.[60]U.S. News & World Report is headquartered in Washington.
USA Today, which covers both politics and popular culture, is headquartered inTysons, Virginia.[61][62]
Several media companies and cable television channels have their headquarters in the area, includingC-SPAN,Radio One, theNational Geographic Channel,Smithsonian Networks,National Public Radio (NPR), andPBS (inArlington County, Virginia). TheTravel Channel (inChevy Chase, Maryland) andDiscovery Communications (inSilver Spring, Maryland) have offices in the area. The headquarters ofVoice of America, the U.S. government's international news service, is near the Capitol in Southwest Washington, D.C.[63]
The New York metro area dwarfs all other cities for economic output by a large margin.
National Landing will be the newly defined interconnected and walkable neighborhood that encompasses Crystal City, the eastern portion of Pentagon City and the northern portion of Potomac Yard.
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