Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area
The Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area is a combined statistical area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. 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 fourth largest combined statistical area in the United States.[1][2]
Officially, 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 (MSA), the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV MSA and the Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD MSA. In addition, five other smaller urban areas not contiguous to the main urban area but having strong commuting ties with the main area are also included in the metropolitan area.[3] These are: the Hagerstown–Martinsburg, MD–WV MSA, the Chambersburg–Waynesboro, PA MSA, the Winchester, VA–WV MSA, the California–Lexington Park, MD MSA, and the Easton, MD micropolitan statistical area (µSA).
Some counties such as Caroline and King George County, Virginia are not officially designated by the 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 Census Bureau's 2012 Population Estimates is 9,331,587.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The most populous city is Washington, DC, with a population of 681,170.[16] The most populous county is Fairfax County, Virginia, with a population exceeding 1.1 million.
Components of the metropolitan area
The counties and independent cities and their groupings that comprise the metropolitan 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)
- Silver Spring–Frederick–Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division (1,244,291)
- Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Division (4,616,051)
- Washington, District of Columbia
- Calvert County, Maryland
- Charles County, Maryland
- Prince George's County, Maryland
- 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
- Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD Metropolitan Area (2,753,149)
- Hagerstown–Martinsburg, MD–WV Metropolitan Area (256,278)
- Chambersburg–Waynesboro, PA Metropolitan Area (151,275)
- Winchester, VA–WV Metropolitan Area (130,907)
- California–Lexington Park, MD Metropolitan Area (108,987)
- Easton, MD Micropolitan Area (38,098)
Regional organizations
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, 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.[17]
The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, a component of MWCOG, is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the metropolitan Washington area.[18]
Baltimore Metropolitan Council
The Baltimore Metropolitan Council is the equivalent organization for the Baltimore portion of the combined Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.[19] 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.[20]
The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board is the federally recognized Metropolitan Planning Organization for transportation planning in the Baltimore region.[20]
List of principal cities
See List of cities in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area for a full list.[21]
Baltimore area
- Baltimore, Maryland
- 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
- Owings Mills, Maryland
- Overlea, Maryland
- Parkville, Maryland
- Pasadena, Maryland
- Perry Hall, Maryland
- Pikesville, Maryland
- Randallstown, Maryland
- Reisterstown, Maryland
- Severna Park, Maryland
- Towson, Maryland
- Westminster, Maryland
- Woodlawn, Maryland
Washington area
- Washington, District of Columbia
- 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
Economy
Primary industries
Biotechnology
Not limited to its proximity to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, 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) 125
- 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)
- MICROS Systems (Columbia)
- Millennial Media (Baltimore)
- New Enterprise Associates (Baltimore)
- Nielsen Audio (Columbia)
- Pandora Jewelry USA (Baltimore)
- T. Rowe Price (Baltimore)
- Transamerica Corporation (Baltimore)
- Sinclair Broadcast Group (Hunt Valley)
- Sourcefire (Columbia)
- Sylvan Learning (Baltimore)
- Under Armour (Baltimore)
- W.R. Grace & Co. (Columbia)
- The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. (Towson)[23]
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) 56
- Marriott International (Bethesda) 163
- MedImmune (Gaithersburg)
- Novavax (Gaithersburg)
- Radio One (Lanham)
- Ritz-Carlton (Chevy Chase)
- Travel Channel (Chevy Chase)
- TV One (Silver Spring)
- United Therapeutics (Silver Spring)
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 Advisory Board Company
- The Washington Post Company
- Vox Media
- XM Satellite Radio
Northern Virginia
- AES Corporation (Arlington) 194
- Appian Corporation (Tysons Corner)
- AvalonBay Communities (Arlington)
- Airbus North America (Herndon)
- BAE Systems Inc. (Arlington)
- Bechtel (Reston)
- Bloomberg Industry Group (Arlington)
- Boeing Defense, Space & Security (Arlington)
- 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)
- K12 (company) (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)
Transportation
Major airports
- Baltimore–Washington International Airport (Anne Arundel County, Maryland – closest to Baltimore and busiest in region)[24]
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Arlington County, Virginia – closest to Washington.)
- Washington Dulles International Airport (Chantilly, Virginia – the region's main international airport.)
Rail transit systems
- Amtrak
- Washington Metro
- Virginia Railway Express
- MARC Train
- Baltimore Light Rail
- Metro Subway
- DC Streetcar
- Purple Line (future light rail)
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 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
- United States metropolitan area
- National Capital Region
- List of parks in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area
- Beltway Series
References
- "CSA Median household income". Greaterbaltimore.org. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Raleigh-Durham area ranks third in U.S. for college degrees". Triangle.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- 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 Archived 2020-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Office of Management and Budget. September 14, 2018.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-11. Retrieved 2015-07-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "- Washington DC South". washingtondcsouth.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "King George County Department of Economic Development". King George County Department of Economic Development. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- 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.
- "FAMPO Technical Committee - FAMPO". Fampo.gwregion.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2017-12-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "CO-EST2006-01-11.xls". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "CO-EST2006-01-24.xls". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "EST2006-01-51.xls". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "CO-EST2006-01-54.xls". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Wayback Machine". Census.gov. 9 February 2006. Archived from the original on 9 February 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "List6.txt". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "QuickFacts District of Columbia". U.S. Census Bureau. December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
- "COG & Our Region - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments". Mwcog.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Transportation Planning Board - Transportation - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments". Mwcog.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- O'Leary, __Sara Ann. "Home - Baltimore Metropolitan Council". Baltometro.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- About BMC – Baltimore Metropolitan Council Archived 2007-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
- "U.S. Census Bureau – Principal cities of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas". Census.gov. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Metropolitan And Micropolitan Statistical Areas And Principal Cities, November 2007, with codes". Census.gov. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Whiting-Turner Contracting on the Forbes America's Largest Private Companies List". Forbes.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- As according to Federal Aviation Administration CY 2011 Enplanement Data, BWI exceeded Dulles by less than 24,000 passengers. As of 2010, however, Dulles has an edge in international traffic.