In 2023, Washington, D.C. had the highest population density in the United States, with 11,130.69 people per square mile. As a whole, there were about 94.83 residents per square mile in the U.S., and Alaska was the state with the lowest population density, with 1.29 residents per square mile. The problem of population density Simply put, population density is the population of a country divided by the area of the country. While this can be an interesting measure of how many people live in a country and how large the country is, it does not account for the degree of urbanization, or the share of people who live in urban centers. For example, Russia is the largest country in the world and has a comparatively low population, so its population density is very low. However, much of the country is uninhabited, so cities in Russia are much more densely populated than the rest of the country. Urbanization in the United States While the United States is not very densely populated compared to other countries, its population density has increased significantly over the past few decades. The degree of urbanization has also increased, and well over half of the population lives in urban centers.

In 2021, the per capita income in San Francisco city was at 80,383 U.S. dollars. San Francisco was followed in this regard by Seattle and Washington, D.C. The most populated cities in the U.S. are ranked by per capita income in this statistic. While New York, New York had the highest population, San Francisco had the highest per capita income in 2021. The median household income in San Francisco in 2020 was 119,136 dollars, the highest among the most populated cities in the United States.

A dataset listing Washington cities by population for 2024.

In 2022, San Francisco had the highest median household income of cities ranking within the top 25 in terms of population, with a median household income in of 136,692 U.S. dollars. In that year, San Jose in California was ranked second, and Seattle, Washington third.

Following a fall after the great recession, median household income in the United States has been increasing in recent years. As of 2022, median household income by state was highest in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Utah, and Massachusetts. It was lowest in Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas. Families with an annual income of 25,000 and 49,999 U.S. dollars made up the largest income bracket in America, with about 25.26 million households.

Data on median household income can be compared to statistics on personal income in the U.S. released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income rose to around 21.8 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022, the highest value recorded. Personal income is a measure of the total income received by persons from all sources, while median household income is “the amount with divides the income distribution into two equal groups,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Half of the population in question lives above median income and half lives below. Though total personal income has increased in recent years, this wealth is not distributed throughout the population. In practical terms, income of most households has decreased. One additional statistic illustrates this disparity: for the lowest quintile of workers, mean household income has remained more or less steady for the past decade at about 13 to 16 thousand constant U.S. dollars annually. Meanwhile, income for the top five percent of workers has actually risen from about 285,000 U.S. dollars in 1990 to about 499,900 U.S. dollars in 2020.

Washington, D.C. had the highest net migration for 18 to 24-year-olds in 2021, making it the most attractive city among the generation Z population. The number of Zoomers who moved in less the number of Zoomers who moved out of Washington stood at ******. Columbia, SC, and Boston, MA, were the two other cities where this figure where the net migration exceeded 10,000.

This statistic shows annual median household incomes in the United States in the largest metropolitan areas (measured by population). In 2019, the annual median household income in the metropolitan area of New York-Newark-Jersey City was 83,160 U.S. dollars.

In 2023, New York had the busiest heavy rail transit system in the United States at an annual ridership of over two billion passenger trips. Washington, D.C.'s heavy rail network was the second-busiest system in the United States, with over 136 million passenger trips reported in that year.

In 2017, Washington, D.C. spent the most amount of money on police protection per capita out of the 25 most-populous cities in the United States, having spent 844.50 2012 U.S. dollars per capita in that year.

In District of Columbia, the average rent per square foot was 2.95 U.S. dollars in 2018, whereas renters in Oregon were expected to pay half as much in rent per square foot. DC was the most expensive state for renters, followed by New York, Hawaii, Massachusetts and California.

Why is DC so expensive?

District of Columbia is the center of the U.S. political system with all three branches of federal government sitting there: Congress (legislative), President (executive) and the Supreme Court (judicial). The above average household incomes of its residents mean that high rents are still sustainable for the rental market.

Limited space in DC

DC has the largest share of apartment dwellers in the country. This is most likely due to limited space, as the federal district has a much higher population density than the states. The political importance of DC and the high population density suggest that the federal district is likely to retain its spot as the most expensive rental market in the future.

This statistic shows the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest share of employment in the service industry in the United States in 2017. Percentage employed in service sector is shown as a percent of total nonfarm employment. In 2017, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria in Washington D.C. was ranked first with about 20.6 percent of total nonfarm employees was working in professional, scientific or technical services.

New York City was the leading destination in the United States based on the number of international association meetings in 2019. In that year, this city hosted a total of 57 events. Boston and Washington, D.C. followed on the list, recording 47 and 41 international association meetings, respectively.