Growth Slowing in Washington D.C.

Carol Morello reports on recent demographic figures released by the Brookings Insitution that show a dramatic deceleration of growth in Washington D.C. Between July 2012 and July 2013, according to census figures, the nation’s capital experienced a next influx of just 4,500 people—one fifth of the city’s rate of growth two years earlier.

“The census figures reflect a region whose growth is decelerating after high growth in most of the previous decade, driven by federal spending after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and fueled further during the recession when few other places in the country had jobs,” writes Morello. Among the region’s employment base, “federal jobs, which account for a third of all employment in the Washington region and carry some of the highest salaries, actually shrank…”

The article also makes several observations about dichotomy of experience between the city and its suburbs. "Six jurisdictions, including the region’s biggest counties of Montgomery, Fairfax and Prince George’s, showed net declines in what demographers call domestic migration, or the influx of residents from elsewhere within the country." And much of the growth of D.C. resulted from residents of nearby suburbs moving into the city.