Greater Washington Area Dominated by 'Creative Class' Workers

The greater Washington, DC, metro area’s workforce has a large percentage of those in the creative class, according to the Atlantic Cities website.

Utilizing data from the American Community Survey, a statistical survey undertaken by the United States Census Bureau, the article claims that the greater DC area has the third-highest percentage in the country of creative class workers—nearly 47 percent—14 points above the national average of 32.6 percent.

The survey defines "creative class" as those who work in the science and technology, business and management, arts, culture, media, entertainment, law and health care industries.

Creative class wages in the area are more than $90,000 annually on average, significantly higher than the national average of almost $71,000.

A map that accompanies the article shows that creative class workers are concentrated in Northwest DC, Arlington and Alexandria, extending also to Bethesda, Gaithersburg and Frederick.

In the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area, more than 84 percent of the population—nearly double the region’s average—is in the creative class.

Service workers make up the second-largest portion of DC-area workers, at 40.3 percent, close to the national average of 46.6 percent. These workers average $34,336 annually, higher than the national average of $30,597.

People in manufacturing and blue-collar positions make up a scant 12.8 percent of the workforce. Their income is said to be higher than service workers, with an average annual salary of $41,951 (better than the national average of $34,015), but markedly less than the creative class.

The Atlantic Cities has done similar analyses of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago metro areas.