Who Moves to DC? Young, Well-Educated Single Women

February 26, 2016 // as featured in Washingtonian

Since 2009 the District's population has surged. More than 1,000 people on average have moved to DC each month, excluding a 2014 dip. The District's growth is part of a larger urban renaissance with many American cities booming. This influx of new residents is reshaping the look and feel of boom cities. In DC change has come in many forms, from new luxury apartments to contentious bike lanes. So who are DC's new residents, and how do they differ from those moving to other major U.S. cities?

Check out the interactive chart below to see the demographics of the District's newest residents, and how that compares to other major U.S. cities.

Nearly 53% of new DC residents are women while other cities have more even gender splits or skew male. The District also attracts a young crowd. Nearly half of New Washingtonians are in their 20s, second only to university town Boston. Unlike Boston, new DC residents tend to be wealthier. They have the second highest rate of income over $75,000 in the past year, behind wealthy tech city San Francisco. DC ranks third behind both cities for highly educated newcomers, unsurprising for such a city of book worms. With fewer than 20% of new DC residents married, this all makes for an active and interesting dating scene.

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Technical notes: Data shown are from the Census American Community Survey, 2010-2014. You can find complete code for this post on my github page.