Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area

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
Coordinates: 38°58′N 77°19′W / 38.97°N 77.32°W / 38.97; -77.32
CountryUnited States
State or area
Constituent metropolitan & micropolitan areasCore 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
Population
 (2023)
 • CSA
10,069,592 (3rd)
GDP
[1]
 • CSA$941.502 billion (2022)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Area codes202/771, 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 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.[2][3]

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:[4]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.[5][6][7][8][9] 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.[10]

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.

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, 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.[11]

The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, a component of MWCOG, is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the metropolitan Washington area.[12]

Baltimore Metropolitan Council

The Baltimore Metropolitan Council is the equivalent organization for the Baltimore portion of the combined Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.[13] 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.[14]

The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board is the federally recognized Metropolitan Planning Organization for transportation planning in the Baltimore region.[14]

Principal cities

For a full list, see List of cities in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.[15]

Major cities

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

Outlying areas

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), Orbital Sciences Corporation, and AAI Corporation.

Notable company headquarters in the region

Numbers denote Fortune 500 ranking.

Maryland

Baltimore area:

  • AAI Corporation (Hunt Valley)
  • 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)
  • First Friday's Group (Baltimore)
  • 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)[17]

Washington area:

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[18]
  • 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.

Sports

M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home field of the Baltimore Ravens 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[a] Nationals Park
Baltimore Orioles Baseball MLB 1954[a] Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Washington Wizards Basketball NBA 1973[a] Capital One Arena
Baltimore Ravens Football NFL 1996 M&T Bank Stadium
Washington Commanders Football NFL 1937[a] Northwest Field
D.C. United Soccer MLS 1996 Audi Field
Washington Mystics Basketball WNBA 1998 CareFirst Arena
Washington Spirit Soccer NWSL 2011[b] Maryland SoccerPlex (primary)
Audi Field (secondary)
Segra Field (secondary)
Maryland Whipsnakes Lacrosse PLL 2019 Homewood Field
  1. ^ a b c d 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

Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area is located in Maryland
IAD
IAD
DCA
DCA
BWI
BWI
HGR
HGR
Location of commercial airports in the Washington-Baltimore combined statistical area
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 busiest[19] airport
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 second-busiest[19] airport and its closest airport to Washington, D.C.

Rail transit systems

Intercity Rail

Commuter/Regional Rail

  • MARC Train
  • Virginia Railway Express

Heavy Rail Subway

Light Rail

  • Baltimore Light RailLink
  • DC Streetcar (until 2026)[20]
  • Purple Line (under construction; projected opening 2027)

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

  • District of Columbia Route 295[note 1] (Anacostia Freeway)
  • 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)
  • Maryland Route 410 (East-West Highway)
  • Baltimore–Washington Parkway[note 2] (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

Notes

  1. ^ Signed as a DC state route following the MD-295 interchange in Tuxedo.
  2. ^ 295 is maintained by the National Park Service south of MD-175, by the Baltimore Dept. of Transportation in city limits, and by the Maryland State Highway Department all other sections.

References

  1. ^ "Gross Domestic Product by County and Metropolitan Area". Federal Reserve Economic Data. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  2. ^ "CSA Median household income". Greaterbaltimore.org. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Raleigh-Durham area ranks third in U.S. for college degrees". Triangle.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "Caroline County Economic Development". Archived from the original on 2015-07-11. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  6. ^ "Washington DC South". washingtondcsouth.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  7. ^ "King George County Department of Economic Development". King George County Department of Economic Development. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "FAMPO Technical Committee – FAMPO". Fampo.gwregion.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. ^ "2020 Population and Housing State Data". U.S. Census Bureau. August 12, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "COG & Our Region - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments". Mwcog.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  12. ^ "Transportation Planning Board - Transportation - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments". Mwcog.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  13. ^ O'Leary, __Sara Ann. "Home - Baltimore Metropolitan Council". Baltometro.org. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  14. ^ a b About BMC – Baltimore Metropolitan Council Archived 2007-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau – Principal cities of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas". Census.gov. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  16. ^ "Metropolitan And Micropolitan Statistical Areas And Principal Cities, November 2007, with codes". Census.gov. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  17. ^ "Whiting-Turner Contracting on the Forbes America's Largest Private Companies List". Forbes.com. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  18. ^ "The Boeing Company: General Information". www.boeing.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  19. ^ a b "Final CY23 Enplanements at All Commercial Service Airports" (PDF). 2 October 2024.
  20. ^ Weiner, Rachel (9 Oct 2025). "Budget cut means D.C. Streetcar will shut down in March". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 Oct 2025. Retrieved 20 Oct 2025.
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