MARKET: WASHINGTON, D.C. |
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OVERVIEW
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The current 2007 U.S. Census Bureau data estimates the District's population at 588,292 residents, continuing a trend of population growth in the city since the 2000 Census. The trend reverses what had been a 50-year decline in the District's population.[1] During the workweek, however, the number of commuters from the suburbs into the city swells the District's population by an estimated 71.8%, to a daytime population of over one million people.[60] The Washington Metropolitan Area, which includes the surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia, is the eighth-largest in the United States with more than five million residents. When combined with Baltimore and its suburbs, the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area has a population exceeding eight million residents, the fourth-largest in the country.[61]
The "Friendship Arch" is at the center of Chinatown.
In 2006, the population distribution was 55.4% African American, 34.5% Caucasian, 8.2% Hispanic (of any race), 5.1% other (including Native Americans, Alaskans, Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders), 3.4% Asian, and 1.5% mixed (two or more races).[62] Even though they comprise the city's largest ethnic group, Washington has a steadily declining black population, due to many African Americans leaving the city for suburbs. At the same time, the city's white population has steadily increased, in part due to effects of gentrification in many of Washington's traditionally black neighborhoods.[63] This is evident in a 6.2% decrease in the African American population, and a corresponding 13.8% increase in the Caucasian population since 2000.[62]
The 2000 census revealed that an estimated 33,000 adults identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual in the District of Columbia, about 8.1% of the city's adult population.[64] Despite the city's sizable LGBT population and liberal political climate, same-sex marriage is not legal in the District, due in part to opposition in Congress.[65] However, Washington's domestic partnership law does provide same-sex couples legal recognition similar to civil unions offered in other jurisdictions.[65]
A 2007 report found that about one-third of Washington residents are functionally illiterate, compared to a national rate of about one in five. This is attributed in part to the nearly 74,000 Hispanic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Somali, and other immigrants that made up 12.6% of the District's population in 2006, but are not proficient in English.[62][66] In contrast, 45% of D.C. residents have at least a four-year college degree, the fourth-highest rate in the nation.[67] A 2005 study shows that 85.16% of Washington, D.C. residents age five and older speak only English at home and 8.78% speak Spanish. French is the third-most-spoken language at 1.35%.[68] According to data from 2000, more than half of District residents identify themselves as Christian; 28% of residents are Catholic, 6.8% are Southern Baptist, 1.3% are Eastern Orthodox, and 21.8% are members of other Protestant denominations. Residents who practice Islam make up 10.6% of the population, followers of Judaism comprise 4.5%, and 26.8% of residents do not practice a religion.[69]
