The most educated city in America
Abound with passionate, brilliant people and businesses, Washington, DC's diverse, worldly, transgressive, and mission-oriented community gathers in the nation's epicenter to identify the right questions, create better solutions, and reinvent the future.
Washington, DC has the highest proportion of college graduates of any metro area, is home to 20 colleges and universities, and has the highest-educated adult population in the country. DC offers a deep labor pool, strong university programs, and a vibrant technology and STEM sector.
Resident educational attainment
Source: Census Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, 2017. Includes all Adult Civilian Persons
Experienced local executives
It is not just students, technology workers, and trained professionals that feed DC’s strong talent pool. Greater Washington is one of the top metropolitan areas in the nation for executive talent, with over 76 people filling managerial roles for every one thousand employees. The 236,190 people in those occupations include chief executives, computer and information systems managers, and human resources managers.
Over 300,000 people fill roles in technology, business, and financial operations.
A city of world-class schools
Students in Washington, DC’s higher education institutions are comprised of local residents and national and international students seeking the best education at top universities.
Graduates and postgraduates from the top 20 universities throughout the US disproportionately end up in DC to launch their careers. The metro area attracts more than four times the concentration of graduates from top schools, compared to the nationwide concentration of enrollment in those schools.
3rd Highest Concentration of Educational Institutions in the US
- American University
- Catholic University of America
- Gallaudet University
- George Washington University
- Georgetown University
- Howard University
- Trinity Washington University
- University of the District of Columbia
A thriving tech hub primed for a new anchor
From government regulation and higher education to improving data analytics and healthcare, Washington, DC’s access to federal funding, research labs, and talent has accelerate the rapid growth of its technology sector.
For the past three years, DC has been named the best place for women in tech by SmartAsset. The city was also ranked No. 1 for entrepreneurial talent in the sixth annual Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI). Though Washington, DC is typically stereotyped as a hub for humanities and law students, 52% of DC-resident college graduates have degrees (bachelor's or higher) in science, engineering, or related fields.
Technology is a major driver of employment and innovation in DC. In July 2018, Washington was ranked by CBRE as the third most talented city in technology. In 2018, the DC metro areas was ranked third among major cities with the highest concentration of local job postings in tech, according to Indeed Hiring Lab. And DC’s share of tech jobs is growing at a faster rate than any other tech hub except Seattle.
The #DCTech Meetup community is one of the largest in the world, with more than 25,000 members.
Source: SmartAsset
“Washington, DC is a natural place for Yelp's next office, offering a vibrant local community and access to top-tier talent. The city's burgeoning technology sector is a welcoming setting for Yelp as we focus on building the best technical products to connect people with local business.”
Local #DCTech groups focus on diversity and inclusion.
Beacon DC
Tour de Code
Code for DC
Black Girls Code
Women Who Code
Tech Lady Hackathon
Color Coded
Technicolor
Tech Noir
DC Fem Tech
Hear Me Code