Virtual data rooms for Washington deals, audits and legal matters

What sets Washington's economy apart

Compared with the United States as a whole, the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro has an unusually large share of its businesses in data processing and hosting: 717 establishments, 2.0 times the national share. Next come professional, scientific and technical services (34,327 establishments, 1.8 times) and internet and other information services (428 establishments, 1.7 times). Of the 60 metros on these pages with published figures for data processing and hosting, Washington ranks 4th, behind Wilmington, DE and others.

Hosting and data businesses share security audits, customer contracts and infrastructure leases during diligence.

Professional-services firms merge and sell often, and diligence centers on client contracts, staff agreements and work papers. In professional, scientific and technical services, Washington leads every metro on these pages.

How Washington compares

The Census Bureau estimated the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro's population at 6,436,489 in July 2024, up 157,894 or 2.5 percent on the April 2020 base of 6,278,595.

Measured against the 2023 estimate of 6,345,881, the same year as the business count, Washington has 55.3 offices of lawyers per 100,000 residents, 26th of the 59 metro areas on these pages against a median of 52.6; the nearest rates are Providence, RI at 55.0 and Anchorage, AK at 55.8.

The metro with the closest number of law offices is Philadelphia, PA, with 3,246; the metro closest in population, Miami, FL at 6,457,988 residents, has 8,554 law offices and 5,446 accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll establishments.

Counted by accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms instead, Washington's nearest match is Phoenix, AZ, with 2,254.

• Residents, July 2024: 6,436,489
• Residents, April 2020 base: 6,278,595
• Change since 2020: +157,894 (2.5 percent), 31st of 59
• Law offices per 100,000 residents: 55.3, 26th of 59
• Accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll per 100,000 residents: 39.3, 36th of 59
• Securities and investment per 100,000 residents: 31.4, 44th of 59
• Managing offices per 100,000 residents: 19.3, 8th of 59
• Real estate agents and brokers per 100,000 residents: 45.3, 35th of 59
• Employees in offices of lawyers: about 46,000
• Employees in accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll: about 31,000

The courts and regulators behind Washington paperwork

When a Washington dispute reaches federal court, it goes to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

CPAs practicing in D.C. are licensed by the District of Columbia Board of Accountancy.

Locally, securities offerings and investment advisers in D.C. answer to the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (Securities Bureau), so a Washington fund raising money or an adviser facing an exam has documents to produce on request.

If personal information in a Washington deal, audit or case file is exposed, D.C.'s data breach notification law sets who has to be told and when.