The Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro is home to 6.3M residents (per 2024 ACS 5-year Estimates ), with a 2024 median household income of $127K, median home value of $580K, median age of 38, and a 54% bachelor's-degree share among adults 25 and older. The analysis below clusters neighborhoods within the metro's urbanized areas, covering 5.0M of those 6.3M residents. Wealth and education concentrate in a western arc of inner suburbs running from Arlington and McLean north through Bethesda, while the lowest values, incomes, and degree shares sit in Prince George's County to the east and southeast, and the divide between the two halves of the metro repeats across nearly every metric.
Median home value
The neighborhoods north of Arlington top the metro at $1.5M, the highest median home value among the metro's neighborhoods. The area sits beside McLean , home to the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters and a long-standing magnet for diplomats and senior government officials. At the other end, the neighborhoods south of Suitland sit lowest at $331K, with the area west of Summerfield close behind at $338K — both in Prince George's County. The high end clusters tightly in the western inner suburbs: south of Great Falls reaches $1.3M, and north of Bethesda, east of McLean, and south of Chevy Chase all sit near $1.2M. Values fall off sharply moving east and southeast across the Anacostia into Prince George's County, where neighborhoods north of Forestville ($348K) and north of Oxon Hill ($365K) round out the bottom.
Median household income
The neighborhoods north of Arlington again lead at $247K, followed closely by north of Bethesda at $243K and north of Potomac at $228K — a band of affluent western suburbs. Bethesda anchors the high end as a center for medical research and government employment, home to the National Institutes of Health and Walter Reed. The bottom sits south of the District: neighborhoods south of Washington come in at $64K and $66K, with the area east of Washington at $69K. The pattern tracks home value almost exactly — incomes above $220K ring the western inner suburbs while the lowest fall in the close-in neighborhoods south and east of the District.
Median age
The oldest neighborhoods are around Potomac at 48 and south of Woodmore at 47, the affluent western and eastern outer suburbs where families have aged in place. East of Friendly (47), north of North Potomac (46), and north of Aspen Hill (46) follow. The youngest sit close to the core: neighborhoods south of Riverdale Park at 32 and east Arlington at 33, alongside north Washington (33) and north of Adelphi (33). Prince George's County hosts the University of Maryland's flagship campus near Riverdale Park and Adelphi, pulling the median age down. Unlike value and income, age does not split cleanly along the metro's east–west wealth divide — the oldest neighborhoods sit in both the wealthy western suburbs and the eastern edge, while the youngest cluster around the urban core and the university.
Adults 25+ with bachelor's degree
Degree attainment peaks in west Washington at 89% and north of Bethesda at 89%, with the neighborhoods north of Arlington (88%) and south of Chevy Chase (87%) just behind — the same western inner-suburban arc that leads on value and income. The lowest shares sit east and south: south of New Carrollton and south of Washington both at 24%, south of Suitland at 24%, and north of Manassas Park at 25% out on the metro's southwestern exurban edge. The metro-wide share is 54%, and the gap between the high and low neighborhoods — roughly 65 percentage points — is the widest spread of any metric here.
Where the metrics overlap
The western inner suburbs stack every advantage: the neighborhoods north of Arlington and north of Bethesda rank at or near the top simultaneously on home value, household income, and bachelor's share. Prince George's County mirrors that in reverse — the areas south of Suitland and west of Summerfield sit at the bottom on all three at once. Age is the metric that breaks the pattern: the oldest neighborhoods appear in both the affluent west (Potomac) and the eastern edge (Woodmore), while the youngest gather around the university and the inner core rather than along the wealth axis.
Key Takeaways
- The neighborhoods north of Arlington top the metro on home value ($1.5M), household income ($247K), and bachelor's share (88%).
- Median home values span from $331K south of Suitland to $1.5M north of Arlington.
- Household incomes range from $64K south of Washington to $247K north of Arlington, against a metro median of $127K.
- Bachelor's-degree shares range from 24% in the east and south to 89% north of Bethesda and in west Washington, versus 54% metro-wide.
- The oldest neighborhoods sit around Potomac at 48 and the youngest south of Riverdale Park at 32, near the University of Maryland.
- The metro's wealth, income, and education all concentrate in the western inner suburbs and bottom out in Prince George's County to the east and southeast.