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District of Columbia

While expanding firms continue to flock to the Maryland and Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., companies are finding that the District itself offers advantages. For one, the Greater Washington Metropolitan area is home to the nation's highest percentage of college-educated people, the most graduate degree holders, and the most students enrolled in nationally competitive universities and colleges.

Over the past decade, Greater Washington has emerged as the nation's fastest growing major science and technology center. Dun and Bradstreet data indicates that more than 12,000 firms based in Washington, D.C., northern Virginia and suburban Maryland are involved in producing high technology goods and services from electronics to bioscience.

With 230,700 workers in high-tech occupations, Greater Washington leads the nation in this sector. Contrary to common belief, only 22 percent of the region's workforce is employed by the government, including federal, state and local.

Besides having a workforce that is 33 years younger on average than Atlanta, Boston, New York and Silicon Valley, more than $570 million in venture capital was placed with businesses in the Washington, D.C., region in 1998. The Washington region was ranked as second only to Salt Lake City as the best metropolitan region in which to live in North America, according to the 1999 Places Rated Almanac.