Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area

"Baltwash" redirects here. For the highway linking the two cities, see Baltimore–Washington Parkway.

The Washington–Baltimore combined metropolitan statistical area is a statistical area, including the overlapping metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, three counties in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and one county in south-central Pennsylvania. It is the most educated, highest-income, and third-most populous combined statistical area in the United States behind New York City–Newark, NJ and Los Angeles–Long Beach.^[1][2]

Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area
Combined Statistical Area
Washington–Baltimore–Arlington, DC–VA–MD–WV–PA Combined Statistical Area
National Mall in Washington, D.C. Inner Harbor in Baltimore Skyline of Rosslyn in Arlington County
Interactive Map of Washington–Baltimore–Arlington, DC–VA–MD–WV–PA CSA   Washington, D.C.   Baltimore, MD   Washington–Arlington–Alexandria MSA   Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD MSA   Hagerstown–Martinsburg, MD–WV MSA   Lexington Park, MD MSA   Chambersburg, PA MSA   Winchester, VA–WV MSA   Easton, MD μSA   Lake of the Woods, VA μSA   Cambridge, MD μSA
Coordinates: 38.97°N 77.32°W / 38.97; -77.32
Country	United States
State or area	Washington, D.C. Maryland Virginia West Virginia Pennsylvania
Constituent metropolitan & micropolitan areas	Core areas: Washington Metropolitan Area Baltimore Metropolitan Area Outlying areas: Hagerstown–Martinsburg Metropolitan Area California–Lexington Park, Maryland Metropolitan Area Chambersburg–Waynesboro, PA Metropolitan Area Winchester, Virginia–West Virginia Metropolitan Area Easton, Maryland Micropolitan Area Lake of the Woods, Virginia Micropolitan Area Cambridge, Maryland Micropolitan Area
Principal cities	Washington, D.C. In Maryland: Baltimore Annapolis Bethesda Bowie Columbia Easton Frederick Gaithersburg Hagerstown Lexington Park Rockville Silver Spring Towson In Pennsylvania: Chambersburg Waynesboro In Virginia: Arlington Alexandria Fairfax Falls Church Fredericksburg Manassas Manassas Park Reston Tysons Winchester In West Virginia: Martinsburg
Population  (2020)
• CSA	9,973,383 (3rd)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Area codes	202/771, 301/240/227, 304/681, 410/443/667, 540/826, 703/571, 717/223

Map of the 2012 OMB-designated Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area.

The area is designated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the Washington–Baltimore–Arlington, DC–MD–VA–WV–PA Combined Statistical Area. It is composed primarily of two major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV MSA and the Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area. Five smaller urban areas not contiguous to the main urban area but having strong commuting ties with the main area are included in the metropolitan area:^[3]Hagerstown–Martinsburg, Maryland–West Virginia MSA, the Chambersburg–Waynesboro, Pennsylvania MSA, the Winchester, VA–WV MSA, the California–Lexington Park, Maryland MSA, and the Easton, Maryland micropolitan statistical area (μSA).

Some counties, such as Caroline and King George County, Virginia, are not officially designated by OMB as members of this metropolitan area but still consider themselves members anyway.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} 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 Washington–Baltimore Combined Statistical Area as of the 2020 census was 9,973,383. The area's most-populous city is Washington, D.C. with a population of 689,545, and the area's most populous county is Fairfax County, Virginia, with a population of 1,150,309.^[9]

Components of the combined statistical area

The counties and independent cities and their groupings that comprise the area are listed below with their 2012 population estimates. Central counties/cities (designated as such by OMB) for each MSA are shown in italics.

• Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Area (5,860,342)
  
  Main article: Washington metropolitan area
  • Arlington–Alexandria–Reston, VA–WV Metropolitan Division
    • Arlington County, Virginia
    • Clarke County, Virginia
    • Culpeper County, Virginia
    • Fairfax County, Virginia
    • Fauquier County, Virginia
    • Loudoun County, Virginia
    • Prince William County, Virginia
    • Rappahannock 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
  • Frederick–Gaithersburg–Bethesda, MD Metropolitan Division (1,244,291)
    • Frederick County, Maryland
    • Montgomery County, Maryland
  • Washington, DC–MD Metropolitan Division (4,616,051)
    • Washington, District of Columbia
    • Charles County, Maryland
    • Prince George's County, Maryland
• Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD Metropolitan Area (2,753,149)
  
  Main article: Baltimore metropolitan area
  • Baltimore City
  • Anne Arundel County
  • Baltimore County
  • Carroll County
  • Harford County
  • Howard County
  • Queen Anne's County
• Hagerstown–Martinsburg, MD–WV Metropolitan Area (256,278)
  • Washington County, Maryland
  • Berkeley County, West Virginia
  • Morgan County, West Virginia
• Chambersburg, PA Metropolitan Area (151,275)
  • Franklin County, Pennsylvania
• Winchester, VA–WV Metropolitan Area (130,907)
  • Frederick County, Virginia
  • Winchester city, Virginia
  • Hampshire County, West Virginia
• California–Lexington Park, MD Metropolitan Area (108,987)
  • Calvert County
  • St. Mary's County
• Easton, MD Micropolitan Area (38,098)
  • Talbot County, Maryland
• Lake of the Woods, VA Micropolitan Area
  • Orange County, Virginia
• Cambridge, MD Micropolitan Area
  • Dorchester County, Maryland

Regional organizations

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Main article: Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Founded in 1957, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is a regional organization of 23 Washington-area local governments, 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.^[10]

The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, a component of MWCOG, is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the metropolitan Washington area.^[11]

Baltimore Metropolitan Council

The Baltimore Metropolitan Council is the equivalent organization for the Baltimore portion of the combined Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.^[12] The BMC, which was created in 1992 as the successor to the Regional Planning Council and Baltimore Regional Council of Governments, consists of the Baltimore region's elected executives, representing Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties.^[13]

The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board is the federally recognized Metropolitan Planning Organization for transportation planning in the Baltimore region.^[13]

Principal cities

For a full list, see List of cities in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.^[14]

Major cities

• Baltimore, Maryland
• Washington, D.C.

Baltimore area

• Baltimore
• Aberdeen, Maryland
• Annapolis, Maryland
• Arbutus, Maryland
• Bel Air, Maryland
• Brooklyn, Maryland
• Brooklyn Park, Maryland
• Catonsville, Maryland
• Cockeysville, Maryland
• Columbia, Maryland
• Curtis Bay, Maryland
• Dundalk, Maryland
• Eldersburg, Maryland
• Elkridge, Maryland
• Ellicott City, Maryland
• Essex, Maryland
• Fullerton, Maryland
• Glen Burnie, Maryland
• Halethorpe, Maryland
• Linthicum, Maryland
• Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland
• Middle River, Maryland
• North Laurel, Maryland
• Owings Mills, Maryland
• Overlea, Maryland
• Parkville, Maryland
• Pasadena, Maryland
• Perry Hall, Maryland
• Pikesville, Maryland
• Randallstown, Maryland
• Reisterstown, Maryland
• Savage, Maryland
• Severna Park, Maryland
• Towson, Maryland
• Westminster, Maryland
• Woodlawn, Maryland

Washington, D.C. area

• Washington, D.C.
• Bethesda, Maryland
• Bowie, Maryland
• Chevy Chase, Maryland
• College Park, Maryland
• Frederick, Maryland
• Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Germantown, Maryland
• Laurel, Maryland
• Potomac, Maryland
• Rockville, Maryland
• Silver Spring, Maryland
• Upper Marlboro, Maryland
• Alexandria, Virginia
• Annandale, Virginia
• Arlington, Virginia
• Ashburn, Virginia
• Chantilly, Virginia
• Fairfax, Virginia
• Falls Church, Virginia
• Fredericksburg, Virginia
• Great Falls, Virginia
• Herndon, Virginia
• Langley, Virginia
• Leesburg, Virginia
• Manassas, Virginia
• Manassas Park, Virginia
• Massaponax, Virginia
• McLean, Virginia
• Mt. Vernon, Virginia
• Reston, Virginia
• Springfield, Virginia
• Tysons, Virginia
• Vienna, Virginia
• Charles Town, West Virginia
• Martinsburg, West Virginia^[15]

Economy

Primary industries

Biotechnology

Maryland's Washington suburbs are a major center for biotechnology. Prominent local biotechnology 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 Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland to be close to the Pentagon in Arlington. Local defense contractors include Lockheed Martin, the largest, as well as Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, BAE Systems Inc., Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Booz Allen Hamilton, Leidos, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Notable company headquarters in the region

Numbers denote Fortune 500 ranking.

Maryland

Baltimore area:

• Advertising.com (Baltimore)
• Allegis Group (Hanover)
• Black & Decker (Towson)
• Ciena Corporation (Hanover)
• Colfax Corporation (Annapolis Junction)
• Constellation Energy (Baltimore)
• Corporate Office Properties Trust (Columbia)
• The Cordish Companies (Baltimore)
• CoverGirl (Hunt Valley)
• Fila USA (Sparks)
• Firaxis Games (Sparks)
• Legg Mason (Baltimore)
• McCormick & Company (Hunt Valley) 482
• MICROS Systems (Columbia)
• Millennial Media (Baltimore)
• Nielsen Audio (Columbia)
• Pandora Jewelry USA (Baltimore)
• T. Rowe Price (Baltimore) 447
• Transamerica Corporation (Baltimore)
• Sinclair Broadcast Group (Hunt Valley) 465
• Sourcefire (Columbia)
• Sylvan Learning (Baltimore)
• Under Armour (Baltimore)
• W.R. Grace & Co. (Columbia)
• The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (Towson)^[16]

Washington area:

• 2U (company) (Lanham, Maryland)
• ASRC Aerospace Corporation (Greenbelt, Maryland)
• Bethesda Softworks (Rockville)
• Clark Construction (Bethesda)
• Choice Hotels (Rockville)
• Coventry Health Care (Bethesda)
• EagleBank (Bethesda)
• Enviva (Bethesda)
• Federal Realty Investment Trust (Rockville)
• GEICO (Chevy Chase)
• Host Hotels & Resorts (Bethesda) 472
• Hughes Network Systems (Germantown)
• Inovalon (Bowie, Maryland)
• JBG Smith (Chevy Chase)
• Lockheed Martin (Bethesda) 49
• Marriott International (Bethesda) 293
• MedImmune (Gaithersburg)
• New Enterprise Associates (Chevy Chase)
• Novavax (Gaithersburg)
• Radio One (Lanham)
• Ritz-Carlton (Chevy Chase)
• Travel Channel (Chevy Chase)
• TV One (Silver Spring)
• United Therapeutics (Silver Spring)

Northern Virginia

Main article: List of companies headquartered in Northern Virginia

• AES Corporation (Arlington) 194
• Amazon (Crystal City)
• Appian Corporation (Tysons Corner)
• AvalonBay Communities (Arlington)
• Airbus North America (Herndon)
• BAE Systems Inc. (Arlington)
• Bechtel (Reston)
• Bloomberg Industry Group (Arlington)
• Boeing (Arlington) 58^[17]
• Booz Allen Hamilton (McLean) 481
• CACI (Arlington)
• Capital One (McLean) 100
• Carfax (Centreville, Virginia)
• Computer Sciences Corporation (Falls Church) 379
• Communications Satellite Corporation (Herndon)
• Comscore (Reston)
• Cvent (Tysons Corner)
• DynCorp International (Falls Church)
• Freddie Mac (McLean) 39
• FNH USA (Fredericksburg)
• FLIR Systems Government and Defense (Arlington)
• Graham Holdings (Arlington)
• Gannett Company (McLean)
• General Dynamics (Falls Church) 90
• GTT Communications (Tysons Corner)
• Hilton Hotels Corporation (McLean) 241
• ICF International (Fairfax)
• Iridium Communications (McLean)
• Stride, Inc. (Herndon)
• Kellogg Brown and Root Services (Arlington)
• Leidos (Reston) 381
• Ligado Networks (Reston)
• Mars, Incorporated (McLean)
• M.C. Dean, Inc. (Dulles)
• MicroStrategy (Tysons Corner)
• Naviance (Arlington)
• Navy Federal Credit Union (Vienna)
• NII Holdings (Reston)
• Northrop Grumman (Falls Church) 114
• NVR Incorporated (Reston) 446
• Orbital Sciences (Dulles)
• Park Hotels & Resorts (Tysons Corner)
• Parsons Corporation (Centreville)
• Rolls-Royce North America (Reston)
• Rosetta Stone (Arlington)
• Science Applications International Corporation (McLean)
• SLM Corporation (Reston) "Sallie Mae"
• Strategic Education, Inc. (Herndon)
• Space Adventures (Vienna)
• Tegna Inc. (Tysons Corner)
• The Motley Fool (Alexandria, Virginia)
• The Teaching Company (Chantilly)
• Verisign (Reston)
• Verizon Business (Ashburn)
• Volkswagen Group of America (Herndon)
• VSE Corporation (Alexandria, Virginia)
• XO Communications (Herndon)

Washington, D.C.

• &pizza
• APCO Worldwide
• Atlantic Media
• Black Entertainment Television
• Blackboard Inc.
• Bluemercury
• Carlyle Group
• Chemonics
• Cogent Communications
• CoStar Group
• Danaher Corporation 239
• Fannie Mae 53
• FiscalNote
• Framebridge
• Gallup
• Mapbox
• Morning Consult
• National Geographic Society
• NGP VAN
• Pepco Holdings 279
• Social Tables
• The Washington Post Company
• Vox Media
• XM Satellite Radio

Sports

M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home field of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League

Commanders Field in Landover, Maryland, home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League

Table of professional teams and venues

Club	Sport	League	Founded	Venue
Washington Capitals	Hockey	NHL	1974	Capital One Arena
Washington Nationals	Baseball	MLB	2005[lower-alpha 1]	Nationals Park
Baltimore Orioles	Baseball	MLB	1954[lower-alpha 1]	Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Washington Wizards	Basketball	NBA	1973[lower-alpha 1]	Capital One Arena
Baltimore Ravens	Football	NFL	1996	M&T Bank Stadium
Washington Commanders	Football	NFL	1937[lower-alpha 1]	Commanders Field
D.C. United	Soccer	MLS	1996	Audi Field
Washington Mystics	Basketball	WNBA	1998	St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena
Washington Spirit	Soccer	NWSL	2011[lower-alpha 2]	Maryland SoccerPlex (primary) Audi Field (secondary) Segra Field (secondary)
Old Glory DC	Rugby Union	Major League Rugby	2018	Segra Field

1. Year team moved to current location
2. Founded as D.C. United Women; rebranded as Washington Spirit in 2012 and started NWSL play in 2013.

Transportation

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Crystal City, Virginia, the nation's 23rd-busiest airport and busiest airport in the Washington-Baltimore area

Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), the nation's 25th-busiest airport and second-busiest airport in the Washington-Baltimore area

Dulles International Airport, the nation's 28th-busiest airport and third-busiest airport in the Washington-Baltimore area

Washington Metro

The Capital Beltway (I-495) in Northern Virginia

Baltimore Metro SubwayLink

Commercial airports

Airport	IATA code	ICAO code	County	State	Note
Baltimore/Washington International Airport	BWI	KBWI	Anne Arundel County	Maryland	The closest airport to Baltimore and region's second-busiest airport[18]
Dulles International Airport	IAD	KIAD	Loudoun County	Virginia	Most international traffic in region
Hagerstown Regional Airport	HGR	KHGR	Washington County	Maryland	Serves Western Maryland, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and portions of south-central Pennsylvania and northwestern Virginia along the Interstate 81 corridor
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport	DCA	KDCA	Arlington County	Virginia	Region's busiest airport and its closest airport to Washington, D.C.

Rail transit systems

• Amtrak
• Baltimore Light Rail
• DC Streetcar
• MARC Train
• Metro Subway
• Purple Line (future light rail)
• Virginia Railway Express
• Washington Metro

Major highways

Interstates

• Interstate 66
• Interstate 70
• Interstate 81
• Interstate 83
• Interstate 95
• Interstate 97
• Interstate 195
• Interstate 270
• Interstate 295
• Interstate 370
• Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)
• Interstate 395 (Maryland)
• Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)
• Interstate 595 (Unsigned)
• Interstate 695 (District of Columbia)
• Interstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway)
• Interstate 795
• Interstate 895

U.S. Routes

• U.S. Route 1
• U.S. Route 11
• U.S. Route 15
• U.S. Route 29
• U.S. Route 40
• U.S. Route 50
• U.S. Route 301
• U.S. Route 340

State Routes

• Maryland Route 2
• Maryland Route 4
• Maryland Route 5
• Maryland Route 26
• Maryland Route 32
• Maryland Route 97
• Maryland Route 100
• Maryland Route 200 (Intercounty Connector)
• Baltimore–Washington Parkway (Maryland Route 295)
• Maryland Route 355
• Virginia State Route 3
• Virginia State Route 7
• Virginia State Route 9
• Virginia State Route 28
• Virginia State Route 267
• Virginia State Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway)
• Virginia State Route 289 (Franconia–Springfield Parkway)
• West Virginia Route 9

See also

• Baltimore portal
• United States portal

• Beltway Series
• List of parks in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area
• National Capital Region
• United States metropolitan area

References

1. "CSA Median household income". Greaterbaltimore.org. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
2. "Raleigh-Durham area ranks third in U.S. for college degrees". Triangle.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
3. "OMB BULLETIN NO. 18-04: Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on Uses of the Delineations of These Areas". Office of Management and Budget. September 14, 2018.
4. "Caroline County Economic Development". Archived from the original on 2015-07-11. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
5. "Washington DC South". washingtondcsouth.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
6. "King George County Department of Economic Development". King George County Department of Economic Development. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
7. Gardner, D'Vera Cohn and Amy (16 March 2006). "3 Virginia Exurbs Near Top of U.S. in Growth". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
8. "FAMPO Technical Committee – FAMPO". Fampo.gwregion.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
9. "2020 Population and Housing State Data". U.S. Census Bureau. August 12, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
10. "COG & Our Region - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments". Mwcog.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
11. "Transportation Planning Board - Transportation - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments". Mwcog.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
12. O'Leary, __Sara Ann. "Home - Baltimore Metropolitan Council". Baltometro.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
13. About BMC – Baltimore Metropolitan Council Archived 2007-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
14. "U.S. Census Bureau – Principal cities of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas". Census.gov. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
15. "Metropolitan And Micropolitan Statistical Areas And Principal Cities, November 2007, with codes". Census.gov. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
16. "Whiting-Turner Contracting on the Forbes America's Largest Private Companies List". Forbes.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
17. "The Boeing Company: General Information". www.boeing.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
18. As according to Federal Aviation Administration CY 2011 Enplanement Data^{[permanent dead link]}, BWI exceeded Dulles by less than 24,000 passengers. As of 2010^[update], however, Dulles has an edge in international traffic.