More than 6 million people live in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, but only about 700,000 live in the actual District of Columbia. The rest live in the suburbs, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.

Thanks to a federal government that spends $6 trillion per year — more than one-fifth of the entire economy — these suburbs are doing very well. Five of the seven wealthiest counties in the United States, it is often noted, are within commuting distance of downtown Washington, D.C.