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Wouldn’t it make more sense for DC to join neighboring Maryland or Virginia? –

The District of Columbia has been separate from Maryland and Virginia for over 200 years. While DC, Maryland, and Virginia work cooperatively on many regional issues, neither Maryland nor Virginia residents are interested in annexing the District of Columbia. Likewise, DC residents prefer the full autonomy that only Statehood can provide. Nineteen Members of Congress from Maryland and Virginia are sponsoring the Washington Admission Act in the 117th Congress.

Why was DC not made a state originally?

Why wasn’t D.C. a state from the beginning? – Well, America’s Founding Fathers decided, when they wrote the Constitution, that it was imperative that the center of government was not in a state. In America’s early post-Revolution days, it would see several different temporary centers of government, all of them northern cities like Philadelphia and New York.

While drafting the Constitution in 1787, the Founding Fathers decided that the new nation should have a permanent capital. But they were reluctant to give that much power to one single state. So they wrote in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution that ” To exercise exclusive Legislationover such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as maybecome the Seat of the Government of the United States.” The article also stated that this 100-mile district would come from land ceded by the states so that the new seat of government would be independent of any state.

Check out more facts about U.S. history you didn’t learn in school, But the location caused more tension between the founders—specifically, northerner Alexander Hamilton and southerner Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton thought having a northern capital would help the north settle outstanding Revolutionary War debts.

• Jefferson was wary about bankers and economic masterminds—who lived mostly in northern states—having too much control.
• So, to compromise, George Washington himself chose a location bordering the Potomac River.
• The northern Maryland and the southern Virginia would be the two states to cede land for this new capital, which was founded in 1790.

So, in short, statehood for D.C. would directly contradict the Constitution. But we’re a long way off from the time of the Founding Fathers, and, after all, the Constitution was made to be amended. So the statehood debate continues.

Why is Washington DC in Maryland and not Washington?

How Was DC First Formed? – Washington DC isn’t a state because it was intended to be a seat for the American government. It is supposed to be a neutral environment where representatives from other states will meet to express their interests in the federal government. George Washington chose the land, now named in his honor, that would become the seat of the United States government. The District of Columbia was formed in 1790 as part of the Residence Act, a Congressional order to create a national capital on the Potomac River.

President George Washington chose the location out of land that would be donated by the states of Virginia and Maryland, which is why DC is located between the two states. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution also says that the seat of the American government would be formed in a district that is less than ten miles square in size.

The district received its official boundaries through the Organic Act of 1801.

Is DC technically in Maryland?

Washington is in neither Virginia nor Maryland. It is in the District of Columbia, which is the district designated way back when for the Federal Government.

What is the difference between Maryland and Washington DC?

Summary – Washington DC vs Maryland – The main difference between Washington DC and Maryland is that Washington DC is a federal district whereas Maryland is a state. Washington DC does not belong to either the state of Maryland or Virginia. It is an independent region which acts the capital of the country.

Why do we have Washington state and Washington DC?

Congress really, really liked the nation’s first president. – Um, could you be a little more specific? Photo by Jupiterimages/Thinkstock. The Washington state Legislature approved gay marriage Wednesday. When Gov. Chris Gregoire signs the bill into law, her state will become the second Washington to recognize gay marriage since Washington, D.C., did so in 2009,

Why do we have two Washingtons? Because it’s better than having two Columbias. The commission tasked with delineating the new national capital in 1791 named it the ” Territory of Columbia,” (Federal statutes vacillated between calling the area a “territory” and a “district” for decades, with the latter becoming the official title in 1871.) When settlers in northern Oregon asked the government to establish an independent ” Columbia Territory ” in 1852, Congress faced a problem.

Speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives, Kentucky Democrat Richard Henry Stanton noted, “We already have a Territory of Columbia.” The confusion could intensify, he added, if the new territory were to add a city called Washington or Georgetown.

Congress agreed to grant the settlers independence from Oregon, but named their new state Washington to honor the first president. Contemporary statesmen would have argued that Washington, D.C., was a city, not a territory or state, so the duplication of the name wouldn’t be such a big deal. There were already lots of localities that shared names with states, such as Florida, N.Y.

, and Georgia, Vt,, not to mention cities that have the same name as their own state, like New York City and Delaware City. By the mid-19th century, there were already dozens of place names that included the word Washington, and there are at least 120 today,

(The first was Fort Washington—now known as Washington Heights—established in New York during the Revolutionary War.) The name of the Washington Territory became a public issue again when the territorial government petitioned for statehood in the 1880s, although duplication was only one element of the discussion.

Prominent lawyer David Dudley Field II —most famous for the reformation and codification of the country’s arcane court procedures—kicked off a nationwide renaming movement with a wonderfully colorful speech to the American Geographic Society in 1885.

1. Field argued that native names invariably sound better than the settlers’ alternatives: “What a name is New York for this queen of Western cities! Compare it with that which the Indian gave it, barbarian as we call him, Manhattan or Manahatta.
2. Who for its euphony and its significance would not wish the old name back again?” Field singled out the place names Tombstone, Wild Cat, Rawhide, and Dirt Town, among a few others, as “disgusting” and suggestive of “semi-barbarous” residents.

Field also pointed out that naming places after prominent people has led to duplication and confusion. He noted, “I make my boast that I am an American but the Brazilians and the Peruvians claim also to be Americans, and the claim cannot be denied.” Field urged the government avoid this mistake by converting the Washington Territory into the state of Tacoma.

Field also objected to the cardinal directions in the names of North and South Dakota, which were petitioning for statehood at the same time, and sought to change the name of the New Mexico Territory to “Sonora.”) Residents of the Washington territory resisted Field’s proposals for name reform. Washingtonians—those from the state, not the city—thought Field’s argument was bunk.

One letter-writer pointed out, “it would be a stupid postal clerk, indeed, who would fail to distinguish” between Washington, D.C., and Washington state. These arguments, paired with sheer inertia, carried the day. By establishing a state of Washington, Congress belatedly fulfilled a century-old wish of the late Thomas Jefferson.

• In 1784, a Jefferson-chaired committee suggested that Congress divide the Northwest Territory into 10 states, for which Jefferson suggested names.
• Most of modern-day Ohio was to be called Washington state.
• Washington, D.C., didn’t exist at the time, so the name wouldn’t have been duplicative.) Incidentally, if Congress had accepted Jefferson’s naming scheme in its entirety, modern-day Michiganders would be living in either Metropotamia or Chersonesus, depending on their location.

People in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois would be residents of Assenispia. Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer, Explainer thanks Jennifer Kilmer of the Washington State Historical Society. * * * Good news! The Explainer is about to deliver a much-needed bundle of explanation to one lucky reader’s doorstep.

We’ve selected five finalists from our reader-submitted, explanatory squabbles, one of which will be resolved in a special “House Call” edition of the column next week. Help decide which dispute is most deserving of the Explainer’s attention by voting on Facebook before Tuesday. Arguments, prepare to be resolved! Ignorance, prepare to be vanquished! Explainer away! Video Explainer: When Did “Flipping The Bird” and the Middle Finger Become The Same Thing? This video was produced from an original Explainer by Brian Palmer,

Want more questions answered? You can now watch video Explainers at Slate ‘s News Channel on YouTube.

Congress

Why are Washington and Washington DC so far apart?

• Categorized under Geography | Difference between Washington and Washington DC People in almost all parts of the world have come across the name of Washington; such is the fame attached to this name! However it must be noted that Washington is not the same as Washington DC. It is common practice to refer to one as the other and use the words interchangeably, especially for people in other parts of the world as compared to the Americas.

People often mean to refer to Washington DC but casually just use the word Washington to refer to it. This is not correct. As we will now make very clear in this article, there are significant differences between the two. Washington DC, as most of us know, is the capital of the United States of America.

The abbreviation DC stands for District of Columbia. Washington, however, which is also referred to as Washington State, is one of the states of the United States. It is a state which is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the US, located to the north of Oregon, south of the Canadian province of BC (British Columbia) on the Pacific Ocean coast, and to the west of Idaho.

The state was named after George Washington who was the first president of the United States. This state was made from the western part of what is called the Washington Treaty, which was ceded by the British in 1846 (by the Oregon Treaty, which was a settlement to the dispute of the Oregon boundary).

It was later added to the Union in 1889 as the 42nd state. On the other hand, Washington DC, also referred to as Washington District, is the capital of the US. The Residence Act, signed on the 16th of July in 1790, approved the creation of a district that was to be the capital.

• It was located along the River Potomac on the East Coast of the country.
• The district is not a part of any US state.
• In order to form the federal district, the states of Virginia and Maryland each donated land.
• The donated land included some existing settlements of Alexandria and Georgetown.
• This is an important difference; Washington is a state but Washington DC is a district that is also the capital.

The latter is where all three branches of the United States’ federal government is. These include the Congress, Supreme Court and the President. Many national museums and monuments are also present in the district as well as 179 embassies. Moreover, the headquarters of a number of international organizations, non-profit organizations, trade unions, professional associations, lobbying groups etc.

are also found in this district. A major difference between Washington and Washington DC is the territorial makeup of the two cities. The latter has a lot of important strategic buildings and offices, some of which have been mentioned above. There is more artificial beauty in Washington DC due to brilliant works of architecture and some very good buildings and monuments.

As opposed to this, Washington is known more for its natural beauty. It is a state that is full of mountains, forests, waterfalls etc. Moving on, the lifestyle observed in the two cities is also very different; in DC, it is common to find working people in suits, executives and so on whereas in Washington State, there is more diversity.

Washington DC is the capital of the United States of America. The abbreviation DC stands for District of Columbia; Washington State is one of the states of the United States

Washington State is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the US, located to the north of Oregon, south of the Canadian province of BC (British Columbia) on the Pacific Ocean coast, and to the west of Idaho; Washington DC is located along the River Potomac, the district is not a part of any US state. Virginia and Maryland donated land for the formation of this district

Washington is on the west coast of the United States of America whereas Washington DC is on the East Coast

Washington DC has a lot of important strategic buildings and offices, more artificial beauty in

Washington DC due to brilliant works of architecture and some very good buildings; Washington is known more for its natural beauty, it is full of mountains, forests, waterfalls etc.

Is the White House in Maryland or Virginia?

The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.

Why did Washington DC return land to Virginia?

Virginia retrocession – There were Federal bills to reunite the southern portion of the District with Virginia as early as 1803, but it was only in the late 1830s that these garnered local support. In fact people from Alexandria actively protested the 1803 effort.

1. Early efforts, supported by the Democratic-Republicans, focused on the lack of home rule and were often combined with retrocession of some or all of the area north of the Potomac as well.
2. The sentiment for retrocession started to grow in the 1830s culminating in the retrocession of Alexandria County in 1847.

The first local effort for retrocession started in 1818, when the Grand Jury for the County of Alexandria voted for retrocession and to appoint a committee to that end. Similar efforts in Georgetown and dissatisfaction elsewhere led to some modest changes, most notably that residents of the City of Washington were allowed to elect their own mayor, but in Alexandria that did little to quell discontent and after an 1822 debate in the local papers, the Grand Jury again voted for retrocession and a committee to promote it.

1. In 1824 Thomson Francis Mason, future mayor of Alexandria and grandson of George Mason, called an informal town meeting at which retrocession was discussed and a resolution passed to create a petition.
2. But a competing group, led by merchant Phineas Janney, held a meeting shortly thereafter and agreed to draw up a petition against retrocession.

A petition with 500 names supporting retrocession was submitted to Congress, as was a letter protesting it, but Congress declined to act on it and the matter died. In 1832, Philip Doddridge, who, as Chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia, was attempting to codify District law and address grievances of residents, asked the Alexandria Town Council if they would like retrocession to Virginia, a delegate to Congress, or a local District legislature.

The vote was held on January 24, 1832, with 437 voting for no change, 402 voting for retrocession, and 1 each for a delegate or legislature. Notably, those from outside Alexandria City voted overwhelmingly for retrocession and the town council of Alexandria opposed all three proposals, but if one were forced on them, they claimed to prefer retrocession.

In 1835, the Common Council of Alexandria appointed a committee to deal with the town’s interests before Congress. They presented an eleven-page memorandum to the District Committee urging retrocession, but it was not taken up. When the proposition of abolishing slavery in the District was brought to the Senate in 1836, Senator William C.

1. Preston of South Carolina introduced a bill to retrocede the entire District to Maryland and Virginia, to “relieve Congress of the burden of repeated petitions on the subject”.
2. But both the abolition effort and retrocession failed to receive a vote that year.
3. In 1837, when Washington City began to agitate for a territorial government for the District, which would necessitate one set of laws for both counties, the subject of retrocession was again debated in Alexandria and Georgetown.

In 1840, retrocession received renewed attention, and concrete steps were taken that would eventually end with retrocession six years later. That year, the banks of the District of Columbia went to Congress to seek rechartering, but the simple measure got wrapped up in national politics and a debate about banks in general.

1. When the recharter bill failed and the banks were forced to cease operations in July, Alexandria called a town meeting at which they unanimously chose to begin pursuing retrocession.
2. At the same time, Senator Robert J.
3. Walker (D-MS) introduced a bill seeking to ascertain the desire of residents outside the limits of the City of Washington with regard to retrocession, but the bill failed.

In August 1840, the people of Alexandria presented a memorial for retrocession to Congress with around 700 signatures in favor and only 12 opposed. On September 28, 1840, the Alexandria Common Council approved a vote on the issue, and on October 12, the vote was overwhelmingly for retrocession (666–211).

• In contrast to the 1832 vote, the vote in the county outside of the town (now Arlington), however, was overwhelmingly against (53–5).
• Even so, the effort temporarily stalled.
• In 1844, four years later, John Campbell of South Carolina introduced a resolution to retrocede the entire District to Maryland and Virginia, to prevent abolitionists from ending slavery in the District, but it was never taken up and he died a year later.

In early 1846, three years after the Alexandria Canal (Virginia) opened, Alexandria Common Council member Lewis McKenzie, motivated by the large corporation taxes that had to be paid to fund the canal, restarted the retrocession movement when he introduced a motion that the mayor resend the results of the 1840 pro-retrocession vote to Congress and the Virginia legislature.

• It was approved unanimously on January 8, 1846.
• Two weeks later, Virginia replied asking that two representatives be sent to Richmond to discuss the matter, and the council chose lawyer Francis L.
• Smith and Common Council member Robert Brockett.
• On February 2, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly suspended their rules to pass unanimously an act accepting the retrocession of Alexandria County if Congress approved.

Retrocession then moved to the U.S. Congress. The Town Committee met with the District Committee of the House to ask for both retrocession and relief from their Canal debt, with the Committee expressing support of relief if retrocession were carried out.

Town leaders then expected a bill that would provide for both, causing many to believe that the issues were tied together and that to vote for retrocession would be to vote for Congress to take on Alexandria’s debt. Later the House decided to decouple the issues and to get it passed had to abandon relief altogether.

On 16 February, the House adopted a resolution to study the retrocession of the District to Maryland and Virginia, and on February 22 adopted a bill for the south portion. In May, the bill was debated in the House of Representatives. There was some concern about the constitutionality of retrocession, and about claims the law was being supported by eastern Virginia leaders to gain them further advantage over the west.

1. Amendments allowing free black residents to vote on retrocession and making the vote District-wide failed, but an amendment preventing Congress from paying any of Alexandria’s debt was approved.
2. The bill as proposed would have retained for the district all the land on the south side that was needed for the Long Bridge abutment, but this clause was removed during debate as it was deemed improper.

The bill passed by a vote of 95–66. Prior to the Senate vote on the bill, those against retrocession were able to gather more than 150 signatures against it, relying on those who had expected retrocession to come with relief from payments for the canal and those who would not be allowed to vote under the House bill.

The Washington City Board of Aldermen and Common council also expressed opposition to retrocession of Alexandria. The Senate passed the retrocession bill on July 2 by a vote of 32–14, with a mix of Southerners and Northerners on each side. It was signed into law by James K. Polk on July 9, 1846. Polk chose commissioners as called for in the law on August 18, most notable among them was George Washington Parke Custis,

Custis had originally opposed retrocession, but once Virginia agreed to provide relief, Custis supported it. The referendum on retrocession was held on September 1–2, 1846. Prior to the referendum a series of public debates were held in August at locations such as the court house and Ball’s Crossroads, and the night before the vote supporters of retrocession held a rally.

The first vote in favor of retrocession was cast by the mayor, William Veitch, and it was never close. The residents of the Alexandria County voted in favor of retrocession, 763 to 222; however, the residents of the county outside of Alexandria City voted against retrocession 106 to 29. President Polk certified the referendum and issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846.

When the results were announced on the evening of the 2nd, a large crowd gathered and marched through town signing songs and celebrating. With the presidential proclamation, Virginia gained title to Alexandria County, but had not extended its jurisdiction to it.

• Locals, however, did not waste any time during this limbo, as clubs began to change their names to note their location in Virginia, and on September 9 the Alexandria Gazette changed its masthead to include the Virginia seal and declare itself printed in “Alexandria, Virginia”.
• The Virginia legislature, however, did not immediately accept the retrocession offer.

Virginia legislators were concerned that the people of Alexandria County had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept the retrocession legislation on March 13, 1847.

• Alexandria had gone into economic decline because of neglect by Congress. Alexandria needed infrastructure improvements in order to compete with other ports in the area such as Georgetown, which was further inland and on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Members of Congress from other areas of Virginia used their power to prohibit funding for projects, such as the Alexandria Canal, which would have increased competition with their home districts. Returning Alexandria to Virginia allowed residents to seek financing for projects without interference from Congress.
• A 1791 amendment to the Residence Act specifically prohibited the “erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac.” The institutions of the federal government, including the White House and the United States Capitol, were therefore located in Washington, on the east side of the Potomac River. This made Alexandria less important to the functioning of the national government.
• At the time, Alexandria was a major market in the slave trade, but rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the nation’s capital, which could have affected the area’s slave-based economy.
• If Alexandria were returned to the Commonwealth of Virginia, the move would add two additional representatives to the Virginia General Assembly,

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The free black population, which Congress did not allow to vote, was strongly opposed to retrocession because they would be subjected to Virginia’s far less friendly laws limiting their movement and property rights, and requiring them to carry papers., As blacks could not vote with their ballots, those who could did with their feet: the number of free blacks in Alexandria plunged by a third, from 1,962 in 1840 to 1,409 in 1850. One argument against retrocession was that the federal government did, in fact, use Alexandria variously as a military outpost, a signal corps site, and a cemetery, Note that the Pentagon as the national military headquarters would not be built until a century later in the 1940s, [ ] ] _53-0″> [ ] ] -53″> Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the District, although not slavery itself. In later years there were several attempts to have retrocession repealed or otherwise undone, each without success. At the start of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln in his first State of the Union address called for the original borders to be restored over security concerns, but this idea was rejected by the Senate. In 1866, Senator Benjamin Wade introduced legislation to repeal retrocession on the grounds that the Civil War proved the necessity of it for defense of the Capital. In 1873 and again in 1890 some residents of Alexandria petitioned congress to repeal retrocession, either because of the state tax burden or a belief that it was unconstitutional. In May 1909, Everis A. Hayes of California introduced a bill in Congress that would return Alexandria County – less the towns of Alexandria and Falls Church – to the District of Columbia, but it was reported adversely by committee despite President Taft’s stated desire that the District be expanded.

Why did Virginia get DC back?

1835 map showing Alexandria as part of original District of Columbia. (Source: Library of Congress ) We have the states of Maryland and Virginia to thank for the land that created the nation’s capital and the greater District of Columbia. It was through their cession of territory via the Residence Act of 1790 that Congress was able to establish a permanent home for a federal government that was up to that point rather itinerant.

The 100-square-mile block called for by Congress that would constitute the District was made up of 69 square miles of territory from Maryland and another 31 square miles from Virginia. The District, which was organized by the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, organized the territory and officially placed it under the control of Congress.

The bill was enacted on February 27, 1801, and almost from the moment of its passage, Virginia was looking for a way to get its territory back. The cession of territory from Virginia resulted in the town of Alexandria being absorbed into the District.

1. Alexandria had previously been the county seat of Fairfax County, so the state of Virginia had to move the county seat and courthouse further inland, away from the District.
2. Additionally, Alexandria residents lost their Virginia state citizenship, and, after 1802, could no longer vote in Congressional or presidential elections.

This did not sit well with those D.C. residents who fought for and supported the Revolution and the drawn out debate over the formation of the new federal government and the Constitution. The bitter irony was that these people would be living in sight of the very capitol that they could not vote to populate with their representatives.

1. This disenfranchisement was made worse when it became known that the mayor and key members of D.C.
2. Municipal government would in fact be appointed by the president and Congress.
3. Additionally, an amendment to the Residence Act in 1791 prohibited the construction of public buildings anywhere other than on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.

This had the effect of essentially keeping the Alexandria area of D.C. as rural farmland while the Maryland side would reap much of the commercial benefits of hosting the nation’s capital. Alexandria could not compete with nearby Georgetown or other ports for widespread commercial traffic, but it did have a thriving commercial hub for the slave trade.

This terrible fact was a blight on the nation’s capital in the eyes of abolitionists in the 1820s and 1830s. They recognized that removing slavery from the Southern states was a formidable task, but it was at least a hope that the slave trade could be abolished in the District. A series of bills were proposed in Congress beginning in 1804 to return the Alexandria portion of D.C.

to Virginia. There were several groups that supported the effort at various times, and while they did not have the same interests at heart, they did have the same final goal in mind. Just as abolitionists wanted to kick Alexandria out of the District because of slavery, pro-slavery advocates from Virginia wanted the territory back because it would add two sympathetic representatives to the state assembly.

Others advocated keeping Alexandria in the District for its potential military value, though the area remained notoriously undeveloped. The federal government had forty years to build a military base there and it never did. Debate raged for years, with some concerned that the District could not be fundamentally changed unless the Constitution was amended.

Alexandria citizens repeatedly petitioned the Virginia state government and Congress to come up with a solution to the situation. The Virginia General Assembly made the first move toward final action in February 1846 when it passed a retrocession bill.

Three weeks after that, the House Committee on the District, the Congressional body that essentially governed D.C., approved the Retrocession Act and sent it to the House floor for a vote. The House passed the bill 96-65, and the Senate later concurred with a 32-14 vote. President James Polk signed the legislation returning Alexandria to Virginia on July 9, 1846.

Analysis of the final vote by historians indicates that the slave trade in D.C. and Virginia’s pro-slavery stance may not have been the deciding factor in the retrocession vote. Historian Mark David Richards writes, “the actual vote in 1846 indicates that the issue was not sharply divided along free versus slave lines.

• A majority of both free and slave states supported retrocession in both the Senate and the House.
• There were no free states in which all members voted against retrocession; in only three slave states did all members approve: Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana.
• Jefferson Davis voted against retrocession and Andrew Johnson voted for it.” The biggest motivator for the citizens of Alexandria to return to their home state may have been the Constitutional neglect they experienced while being under the rule of the District of Columbia.

The battle for equal representation in Congress and adequate home rule in the District would continue for decades after the retrocession of 1846. Alexandrians were the first to successfully fight for their rights, even if it meant leaving the District altogether.

What is the difference between DC and Maryland?

Summary – Washington DC vs Maryland – The main difference between Washington DC and Maryland is that Washington DC is a federal district whereas Maryland is a state. Washington DC does not belong to either the state of Maryland or Virginia. It is an independent region which acts the capital of the country.

Why is DC divided into wards?

Much like states that have to redraw congressional and legislative maps every 10 years after the census, D.C. lawmakers similarly set to redrawing the city’s wards to account for population growth and shifts and to ensure that political representation is evenly spread across the city’s neighborhoods and communities.

Why is DC losing population?

Charts of the week: A pandemic-induced exodus has broken the District’s population boom According to by the U.S. Census Bureau, the District’s population fell by around 3 percent in 2021, to 690,093—a loss of 20,043 residents. Domestic out-migration, or people moving from D.C. to other parts of the country, is the primary source of this decline.

While domestic out-migration has been underway since, over 23,000 residents left the city in 2021, setting a record high for the last two decades. The population growth rate of -2.9 percent is far lower than the national rate (0.12 percent), as well as that of Washington metropolitan area (0.46 percent).

The District had the lowest rates of domestic and net migration among all states, and though its birth, international migration, and natural growth rates ranked second, third, and fourth respectively, those gains were not at all enough to compensate the losses.

• It is important to note that the population estimates for D.C.
• Were revised down significantly upon the completion of the 2020 Decennial Census, but these new estimates are not entirely free of problems.
• We now surmise from the revisions that District’s population never reached 712,000—as had been previously projected by the Census.

But it is possible that the large undercount problems in the Decennial Census, combined with the low response rates in the 2020 American Community Survey, may be producing a population estimate that is not reliable. But the same problems afflict all counties in the metropolitan area, so we used the newly-released Census data on components of population change across counties to identify trends.