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The economy of the Washington metropolitan area includes the economy of Washington, D.C., and its suburbs, including parts of Maryland, all of Northern Virginia, and Jefferson County, West Virginia. In 2022, the DC metro area had the country's fifth-highest gross metropolitan product, at $541 billion.[1] The region's economy is highly diverse and includes the principal industries of the US federal government, tourism, information technology, research, hospitality, news media, and bioscience.
Key commercial hubs in the Greater Washington area include Downtown, Washington, D.C., Tysons, Virginia, Rosslyn, Virginia, Crystal City, Virginia, Bethesda, Maryland, and Silver Spring, Maryland.
As of 2022, according to Washington's comprehensive annual financial report, the top employers by number of employees in the region in 2022 were Georgetown 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, and Sibley Memorial Hospital.[2]
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As the national 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.[3] Important federal government agencies and departments are also located in suburban Washington. The Pentagon, which houses the US Department of Defense, is headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and the CIA is headquartered in the Langley area of Fairfax County, Virginia. The FBI is planning on moving its headquarters from Downtown Washington to Prince George's County, Maryland.
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. Many lobbying 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 a metonym for lobbying of the US federal government. Among the key lobbying and law firms include Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and Holland & Knight.[4]
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 include defense contractors, civilian contractors, nonprofit organizations, trade unions, industry trade groups, and professional 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: the United States Department of Defense headquartered in the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the United States Postal Service, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Department of Justice.[5]
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The US federal government's demand for military technology has led to the growth of a large defense 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 in Bethesda, Maryland; RTX Corporation is headquartered in Rosslyn, Virginia; Northrop Grumman is headquartered in West Falls Church, Virginia; Boeing, which specializes in commercial aircraft in addition to military technology, is headquartered in Crystal City; and General Dynamics is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.[6]
Other important aviation and aerospace organizations headquartered in the broader Washington region include NASA, the US government's space research organization, which is headquartered in DC. Additionally, Airbus, which specializes in both commercial aviation and military technology, has its North American branch, known as Airbus Group, Inc., headquartered in Fairfax County, Virginia. Blue Origin has major offices in Reston, Virginia and SpaceX has an office in DC.
Washington is home to 185 foreign embassies,[7] 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.[8][9]
In addition to foreign diplomatic missions, the city holds an important role in global finance and international economics. The Federal Reserve ("The Fed"), located along Constitution Avenue, is the United States' central bank. By conducting monetary policy, the members of the Federal Reserve Board impact the value of the US dollar, key interest rates, and the value of currencies around the world.
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (both located in the Golden 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 the Global Financial Centres Index ranked DC as the 8th most competitive financial center in the world.[10]
Key development institutions headquartered in the city include the Inter-American Development Bank and USAID, the US agency charged with leading the government's international 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 as Chemonics International.
Washington is a leading center for both national and international research organizations.
Among the most notable research institutions in the Washington area is the Smithsonian 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: the Archives of American Art and Smithsonian Libraries and Archives are both located in DC while the Museum Conservation Institute is in Prince George's County, Maryland.
Other organizations key to research on a number of subjects include the Library of Congress and the National Archives. The Folger Shakespeare Library, located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, is the world's largest research library focused on Shakespeare and early English-language texts.[11][12][13]
The city is known for having a heavy concentration of think tanks engaged in public policy research, writing, and advocacy.[14] As of 2020, 8% of the country's think tanks were headquartered in the city, including many of the largest and most widely cited;[15] these include the Carnegie 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, and Urban Institute.[16]
The Washington metropolitan area is home to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Other organizations located in the region that specialize in medical research include the Children's National Hospital, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, the National Foundation for Cancer Research, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and the Foundation for Biomedical Research.[17]
In addition to NGOs, the city is home to many for-profit political, geopolitical, and economic risk consultancy organizations. Among these are the Albright Stonebridge Group, McLarty Associates, and major offices for Eurasia Group.
The Big 4 professional services consultancy firms (Deloitte, EY, PwC, and KPMG) all have major offices spread throughout the Washington region.
DC is a global center for human rights and humanitarian non-profit organizations. There are over 500 humanitarian organizations located in the Greater Washington area.[18] These organizations address both domestic and global issues by doing research, running aid programs, and conducting public advocacy. Among these organizations include the UN Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, the National Democratic Institute, Bread for the World, World Central Kitchen, and the National Endowment for Democracy.[19] The American Red Cross, a humanitarian agency part of the global Red Cross network, is also headquartered in the city.[20] Other key humanitarian organizations with major offices in the city include Save the Children and Search for Common Ground, among many others.
The wider Washington region is one of the most important centers for information 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), which invented the internet as it currently exists, was headquartered in Sterling, 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 Dulles Technology Corridor in Northern Virginia, which extends from Dulles International Airport on the west through Alexandria, Virginia on the east, contains a large concentration of tech company headquarters and key satellite offices. Among the companies with offices along this corridor include Google, Amazon Web Services, IBM, Blue Origin, and Leidos, which is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Additionally, Amazon's headquarters is located in the National Landing area of Arlington County, Virginia. The company chose Northern Virginia to be the location of its second headquarters (to support its original headquarters in Seattle), due in part to the proximity of tech knowledge and talent in the area.[21] Tapping into this knowledge hub, Virginia Tech, a university whose main campus is in Blacksburg, Virginia in the southwestern part of the state, is opening a $1 billion "innovation campus" in Potomac Yard, Alexandria, where the university will focus on teaching technology classes and conducting tech research.[22]
Many technology and finance companies are headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, a key commercial and shopping area in Fairfax County, Virginia. As the central business district of Fairfax and a growing mixed-used area, Tysons is an edge city of Washington, DC.
Among the companies headquartered or with major offices in Tysons include Alarm.com,[23] Appian Corporation,[24] Booz Allen Hamilton, MITRE Corporation, M.C. Dean, Inc., Cvent, Freddie Mac, Exelis, MicroStrategy, Logistics Management Institute, Primus Telecom, SAIC, Space Adventures, and Spacenet.[25][26][27] Other tech firms with offices in Tysons include Adobe Systems,[28] BAE Systems Inc.,[29] Compuware,[30] DXC Technology, Palantir Technologies, Deloitte, Ernst & Young,[31] Northrop Grumman,[32] PricewaterhouseCoopers,[33] Xerox,[34] and Vie de France.[35]
Capital One, a bank holding company, has its global headquarters in Tysons, Virginia.[36] The sprawling Capital One complex has multiple office buildings as well as Capital One Hall, a performing arts venue built and run by Capital One. Other key financial players headquartered in the area include Fannie Mae (headquartered in DC and with major offices in Reston, Virginia) and Freddie Mac (headquartered in Tysons).
Other important financial organizations headquartered in the Washington area include the Carlyle Group (Washington, DC), which is a private equity investment firm, PenFed Credit Union (Tysons), and Navy Federal Credit Union (Vienna, Virginia). Geico, a car insurance company, is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just north of the Maryland-DC border.
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 include Georgetown Inn, Hamilton Hotel, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Riggs Hotel, Mayflower Hotel, and the Willard Hotel.
The DC region also serves as the headquarters for key hotel companies. Two of the world's largest hotel chains are headquartered in the DC area. Marriott International, the largest hotel chain in the world, is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.[37][38] Hilton Worldwide, also one of the world's largest hotel chains, is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.[39]
A number of companies producing popular consumer goods are headquartered throughout the Washington region. Mars Inc., a manufacturer of sugary treats as well as pet food, is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia. Mars is the maker of popular treats, such as M&M's, Snickers, and Twix. Nestlé, which manufactures a number of different foods and drinks, has its US headquarters at 1812 North Moore Street in Rosslyn, Virginia. Volkswagen, a car design and manufacturing company, has its North America headquarters in Reston, Virginia.
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.[40]
The city and wider Washington region has a diverse array of attractions for tourists. Among these are monuments, memorials, museums, sports events, and national parks. Within the city, the National 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 the Tidal Basin, where several additional memorials and monuments lie, including the popular Jefferson Memorial.
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia is among the region's most visited tourist sites.[41] This is a military cemetery that serves as a burial ground for former military combatants. It is also the location of President John F. Kennedy's tomb, marked by an eternal flame.[42] President William Howard Taft is also buried in Arlington.[43] The Tomb 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.[44] Other key tourist attractions in the area include the Washington National Cathedral, The Pentagon, the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, the United States Air Force Memorial, Old Town Alexandria, National Harbor, and Mount Vernon, the former home of George Washington.[45]
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 at One Franklin Square in Downtown Washington.[46]
The Washington Times is a newspaper covering Washington politics from a conservative perspective.[47]
The Atlantic magazine, which has covered politics, international affairs, and cultural issues since 1857, is headquartered at an office building located on the Wharf.[48]
Other key media sources include the weekly Washington Blade and Metro Weekly, which focus on LGBT issues; the Washington Informer and The Washington Afro American, which highlight topics of interest to the black community; and The Current Newspapers. Congressional Quarterly, The Hill, Politico, and Roll Call are newspapers and online media that mostly report on Congress and the federal government. Other globally circulating publications based in Washington include the National Geographic magazine and political publications such as The Washington Examiner, The New Republic, and Washington Monthly.[49]
USA Today, which covers both politics and popular culture, is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.[50][51]
Several media companies and cable television channels have their headquarters in the area, including C-SPAN, Radio One, the National Geographic Channel, Smithsonian Networks, National Public Radio (NPR), and PBS (in Arlington County, Virginia). The Travel Channel (in Chevy Chase, Maryland) and Discovery Communications (in Silver Spring, Maryland) have offices in the area. The headquarters of Voice of America, the U.S. government's international news service, is near the Capitol in Southwest Washington, D.C.[52]
XM Satellite Radio is headquartered in Washington.
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