Arlington County, Virginia#Local government

{{Further|Colony of Virginia}}

Present-day Arlington County was part of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia during the colonial era. Land grants from the British Crown were awarded to prominent Englishmen in exchange for political favors and efforts as part of the county's early development. One of the grantees was Thomas Fairfax for whom both Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax are named. The county's name was derived from Arlington Mansion in Northampton County, Virginia. Some sources state that the name of the Northampton County property derived from Henry Bennet {{Cite web|date=February 16, 2012|title=Why Is It Named Arlington?|url=https://ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/16/why-is-it-named-arlington/|access-date=January 2, 2022|website=Ghosts of DC|language=en-US}} while other sources state that it was named after Arlington, Gloucestershire, the birthplace and early home of Henry Custis, the father of John Custis Sr..{{cite web |title=Custis Tombs/ Arlington Plantation |url=https://www.co.northampton.va.us/visitors/tourism/free_things_to_see_and_do/free_history_lessons/custis_tomb__arlington_plantation |website=Welcome to Northampton County |access-date=22 March 2025}} The estate was later passed down to Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and then later seized by the U.S. federal government in a tax sale.{{cite web|url=http://www.nathanielturner.com/willofgeorgewashingtonparkecustis.htm |title=Will of George Washington Parke Custis |publisher=Nathanielturner.com |date=June 29, 2008 |access-date=November 4, 2011}} The property later became the Arlington National Cemetery.

{{Main|Residence Act}}

File:Map of the District of Columbia, 1835.jpg, prior to the retrocession of Alexandria County]]

Present-day Arlington County and most of present-day Alexandria were ceded to the new federal government by Virginia. On July 16, 1790, the Congress passed the Residence Act, which authorized the relocation of the capital from Philadelphia to a location to be selected on the Potomac River by U.S. President George Washington. The Residence Act originally only allowed the President to select a location in Maryland as far east as the Anacostia River. President Washington, however, shifted the federal territory's borders to the southeast in order to include the existing town of Alexandria.

In 1791, Congress, at Washington's request, amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, including the territory ceded by Virginia.{{cite book |last=Crew |first=Harvey W. |author2=William Bensing Webb|author3=John Wooldridge |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C. |publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=Dayton, Ohio |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ/page/n96 89]–92 }} The amendment to the Residence Act prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the River Potomac."(1) United States Statutes at Large: Volume 1: 1st Congress: 3rd Session; Chapter 17> XVII.—An Act to amend "An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States"
(2) {{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.2170010p/|title=An ACT to amend "An act for establishing the TEMPORARY and PERMANENT SEAT of the GOVERNMENT of the United States.|work= Congress of the United States: at the third session, begun and held at the city of Philadelphia, on Monday the sixth of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety|date=March 3, 1791|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Printed by Francis Childs and Johnn Swaine (1791)|access-date=October 16, 2020|quote=Provided, That nothing herein contained, shall authorize the erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac, as required by the aforesaid act.|via=Library of Congress}}

The initial shape of the federal district was a square, measuring {{convert|10|mi|km|}} on each side, totaling {{convert|100|sqmi|km2|}}. In 1791 and 1792, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants placed boundary stones at every mile point. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia, and many of the stones are still standing.{{cite web|url=http://www.boundarystones.org/ |title=Boundary Stones of Washington, D.C. |publisher=BoundaryStones.org |access-date=May 27, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080515194639/http://www.boundarystones.org/| archive-date= May 15, 2008 | url-status= live}}

When Congress arrived in the new capital from Philadelphia, one of their first acts was to pass the Organic Act of 1801, officially organizing the District of Columbia and placing the entire federal territory, including present-day Washington, D.C., Georgetown, and Alexandria under the exclusive control of Congress. The territory in the District was organized into two counties: the County of Washington to the east of the Potomac River and the County of Alexandria to the west. It included almost all of present-day Arlington County and part of present-day Alexandria.{{cite book |last=Crew |first=Harvey W. |author2=William Bensing Webb|author3=John Wooldridge |title=Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C.|chapter=IV. Permanent Capital Site Selected|publisher=United Brethren Publishing House |year=1892 |location=Dayton, Ohio |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5Q81AAAAIAAJ/page/n110 103] }}

The Act established the borders of the area that eventually became Arlington, but the citizens in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which represented the end of their federal representation in Congress.{{cite web|url=http://www.abanet.org/poladv/letters/electionlaw/060914testimony_dcvoting.pdf |title=Statement on the subject of The District of Columbia Fair and Equal Voting Rights Act |access-date=July 10, 2008 |date=September 14, 2006 |publisher=American Bar Association | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080725102618/http://www.abanet.org/poladv/letters/electionlaw/060914testimony_dcvoting.pdf| archive-date= July 25, 2008 | url-status= live}}

{{main|District of Columbia retrocession}}

File:12-07-15-arlington-friedfhof-RalfR-026.jpg, located on land confiscated by the Union from Confederate General Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War]]

Prior to retrocession, residents of Alexandria County expected the proximity of the federal capital to result in higher land prices and the growth of regional commerce. The county instead found itself struggling to compete with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown, which was farther inland and on the northern side of the Potomac River next to Washington, D.C.{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions About Washington, D.C. |url=http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |publisher=Historical Society of Washington, D.C. |access-date=October 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918042009/http://www.historydc.org/aboutdc.aspx |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |url-status=dead }} Members of Congress from other areas of Virginia used their influence to prohibit funding for projects, including the Alexandria Canal, which would have increased competition with their home districts. Congress also prohibited the federal government from establishing any offices in Alexandria, which made the county less important to the functioning of the national government.{{cite journal|last=Richards |first=Mark David |date=Spring–Summer 2004 |title=The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801–2004 |journal=Washington History |publisher=www.dcvote.org |pages=54–82 |url=http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |access-date=January 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118053203/http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |archive-date=January 18, 2009 |url-status=dead }}

Alexandria was a center for the slave trade; Franklin and Armfield Office in Alexandria was once an office used in slave trading. Rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the District, an act that, at the time, would have further depressed Alexandria's slavery-based economy.{{cite book |last=Greeley |first=Horace |title=The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States|publisher=G. & C.W. Sherwood |year=1864 |location=Chicago |url=https://archive.org/details/americanconflic06greegoog |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanconflic06greegoog/page/n154 142]–144}} At the same time, an active abolitionist movement arose in Virginia that created a division on the question of slavery in the Virginia General Assembly. Pro-slavery Virginians recognized that if Alexandria were returned to Virginia, it could provide two new representatives who favored slavery in the state legislature. Some time after retrocession, during the American Civil War, this division led to the formation of West Virginia as a state, which comprised the 51 counties then in the northwest part of the state that favored abolitionism.{{cite journal|last=Richards |first=Mark David |date=Spring–Summer 2004 |title=The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801–2004 |journal=Washington History |publisher=Historical Society of Washington, D.C. |pages=54–82 |url=http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |access-date=January 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118053203/http://www.dcvote.org/pdfs/mdrretro062004.pdf |archive-date=January 18, 2009 |url-status=dead }}

Largely as a result of the economic neglect by Congress, divisions over slavery, and the lack of voting rights for the residents of the District, a movement grew to return Alexandria to Virginia from the District of Columbia. From 1840 to 1846, Alexandrians petitioned Congress and the Virginia legislature to approve such a transfer, known as retrocession. On February 3, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept the retrocession of Alexandria if Congress approved. Following additional lobbying by Alexandrians, Congress passed legislation on July 9, 1846, to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to Virginia, pursuant to a referendum, and President James K. Polk signed the legislation the next day. A referendum on retrocession was held on September 1 and 2, 1846, and the voters in Alexandria voted in favor of the retrocession by a margin of 734 to 116, while those in the rest of Alexandria County voted against retrocession 106 to 29. Pursuant to the referendum, President Polk issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846. However, the Virginia legislature did not immediately accept the retrocession offer. Virginia legislators were concerned that Alexandria County residents had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, on March 13, 1847, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept the retrocession legislation.

In 1852, the Virginia legislature voted to incorporate a portion of Alexandria County as the City of Alexandria, which until then had been administered only as an unincorporated town within the political boundaries of Alexandria County.{{cite web| url= http://alexandriava.gov/city/about-alexandria/about.html#history| title= Alexandria's History| access-date= August 30, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060829220638/http://alexandriava.gov/city/about-alexandria/about.html#history| archive-date= August 29, 2006| url-status= dead| df= mdy-all}}

{{Further|Virginia in the American Civil War}}

File:Arlington House.jpg (background), once the residence of Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee, appears on Arlington's seal, flag, and logo.]]

During the American Civil War, Virginia seceded from the Union following a statewide referendum on May 23, 1861; the voters from Alexandria County approved secession by a vote of 958–48, indicating the degree to which its only town, Alexandria, was pro-secession and pro-Confederate. Rural county residents outside Alexandria were largely Union loyalists and voted against secession.{{cite book |author=Bradley E. Gernand |title=A Virginia Village Goes to War: Falls Church During the Civil War |location= Virginia Beach |publisher= Donning Co Pub |year= 2002 |page=23 |isbn=978-1578641864}}

For the duration of the Civil War, the Confederacy claimed the whole of antebellum Virginia, including the more staunchly Union-supporting northwestern counties that eventually broke away and were later admitted to the Union in 1863 as West Virginia. However, the Confederacy never fully controlled all of present-day Northern Virginia. In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed a law that required that obligated owners of property in districts where active Confederate insurrections were occurring to pay their real estate taxes in person.(1) s: Bennett v. Hunter
(2) {{cite journal |last=Wallace|first=John William|author-link=John William Wallace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QL0GAAAAYAAJ|title=Bennett v. Hunter|journal=Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Supreme Court of the United States, December Term, 1869|volume=9|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=William H. Morrison|year=1870|pages=326–338|access-date=August 22, 2011}}

In 1864, during the Civil War, the U.S. federal government confiscated the Abingdon estate, which was located on and near the present Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, when its owner failed to pay the estate's property tax in person because he was serving in the Confederate States Army. The government then sold the property at auction, and the purchaser leased the property to a third party.

In 1865, after the end of the Civil War, the Abingdon estate's heir, Alexander Hunter, filed a federal lawsuit to recover the property. James A. Garfield, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War and later became the 20th President of the United States, was an attorney on Hunter's legal team. In 1870, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the U.S. federal government had illegally confiscated the property and ordered that it be returned to Hunter.

The property included the former residence of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's family at and around Arlington House, which had been subjected to an appraisal of $26,810, on which a real estate tax of $92.07 was assessed. Likely fearing an encounter with Union officials, Lee's wife, Mary Anna Custis Lee, the owner of the property, chose not pay the tax in person. She instead sent an agent on her behalf, but Union officials refused to accept it.{{cite web|access-date=September 30, 2011|url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/historical_information/arlington_house.html|title=Arlington House|work=History of Arlington National Cemetery|publisher=Arlington National Cemetery|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100913093837/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/historical_information/arlington_house.html|archive-date=September 13, 2010}}(1) s: United States v. Lee Kaufman
(2) {{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U03AAAAIAAJ|title=United States v. Lee; Kaufman and another v. Same, December 4, 1882 (106 U.S. 196)|journal=Supreme Court Reporter. Cases Argued and Determined in the United States Supreme Court, October Term, 1882: October, 1882-February, 1883|volume=1|pages=240–286|editor=Desty, Robert|location=Saint Paul, MN|publisher=West Publishing Company|year=1883|access-date=August 22, 2011}} As a result of the 1862 law, the U.S. federal government confiscated the property, and transformed it into a military cemetery.

After the Civil War ended and his parents died, George Washington Custis Lee, the Lees' eldest son, initiated a federal legal action in an attempt to recover the property. In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the U.S. federal government illegally confiscated the property without due process, and the property was returned to Custis Lee. In 1883, the U.S. Congress purchased the property from Lee for its fair market value of $150,000, whereupon the property became a military reservation and eventually Arlington National Cemetery. Although Arlington House is within the National Cemetery, the National Park Service presently administers the House and its grounds as a memorial to Robert E. Lee.

Confederate incursions from Falls Church, Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill, then securely in Confederate hands, occurred as far east as the present-day Ballston. On August 17, 1861, 600 Confederate soldiers engaged the 23rd New York Infantry Regiment near Ballston, killing a Union Army soldier. Later that month, on August 27, another large incursion of 600 to 800 Confederate soldiers clashed with Union soldiers at Ball's Crossroads, Hall's Hill, and at the present-day border between the Falls Church and Arlington. A number of soldiers on both sides were killed. However, the territory in present-day Arlington never fell under Confederate control and was not attacked.Gernand, A Virginia Village Goes to War, pp. 73–74, 89.

{{anchor|Secession of Alexandria}}

File:1878 Alexandria County Virginia.jpg]]

In 1870, the City of Alexandria was legally separated from Alexandria County by an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that made all Virginia incorporated cities (though not incorporated towns) independent of the counties with which they had previously been a part. Confusion between the city and the county of Alexandria having the same name led to a movement to rename Alexandria County.

In 1896, an electric trolley line was built from Washington, D.C. through Ballston; Northern Virginia trolleys were a significant factor in the county's growth. In 1920, the county was named Arlington County, after Arlington House, the home of the American Civil War Confederate general Robert E. Lee later seized by the Union in a tax sale, located on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

File:Seal of Arlington County, Virginia (1983–2007).svg

File:Looking W at Netherlands Carillon - GW Memorial Parkway - Arlington VA USA - between 1980 and 2006.jpg]]

File:US Navy 061013-F-3500C-443 View over the U.S. Navy Annex, showing the completed U.S. Air Force memorial.jpg and Air Force Memorial]]

In 1900, Black people constituted more than a third of Arlington County's population. Over the course of the century, the Black population dwindled. Neighborhoods in Arlington set up racial covenants and forbade Black people from owning or domiciling property.{{Cite web |date=October 8, 2020 |title=New Video Tackles Arlington's History of Race and Housing {{!}} ARLnow.com |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2020/10/08/new-video-tackles-arlingtons-history-of-race-and-housing/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=ARLnow.com {{!}} Arlington, Va. local news |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=September 8, 2023 |title=A restrictive covenant used to block a duplex also barred non-white people from buying or renting it {{!}} ARLnow.com |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2023/09/08/a-restrictive-covenant-used-to-block-a-duplex-also-barred-non-white-people-from-buying-or-renting-it/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=ARLnow.com {{!}} Arlington, Va. local news |language=en}} In 1938, Arlington banned row houses, a type of housing that was heavily used by Black residents. By October 1942, not a single rental unit was available in the county.Arlington Sun Gazette, October 15, 2009, "Arlington history", page 6, quoting from the Northern Virginia Sun In the 1940s, the federal government evicted black neighborhoods to build the Pentagon and make room for highway construction.

In 1908, Potomac was incorporated as a town in Alexandria County, and was annexed by Alexandria in 1930.

In 1920, the Virginia legislature renamed the area Arlington County to avoid confusion with the City of Alexandria which had become an independent city in 1870 under the new Virginia Constitution adopted after the Civil War.

In the 1930s, Hoover Field was established on the present site of the Pentagon; in that decade, Buckingham, Colonial Village, and other apartment communities also opened. World War II brought a boom to the county, but one that could not be met by new construction due to rationing imposed by the war effort.

In October 1949, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville created an extension center in the county named Northern Virginia University Center of the University of Virginia. This campus was subsequently renamed University College, then the Northern Virginia Branch of the University of Virginia, then George Mason College of the University of Virginia, and finally to its present name, George Mason University.October 1, 1949: {{Hanging indent | {{Cite book| last = Finley| first = John Norville Gibson| title = Progress Report of the Northern Virginia University Center| date = July 1, 1952| url = http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/2698/Mann_53_1_1_v.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y| archive-date = February 20, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170220225740/http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/2698/Mann_53_1_1_v.pdf| quote = "The report that follows is a progress report on the Northern Virginia University Center since its beginnings in 1949 by its Local Director, Professor J. N. G. Finley." George B. Zehmer, Director Extension Division University of Virginia}}}} Northern Virginia University Center of the University of Virginia: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=C. Harrison|title=C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers|date=1832–1979|publisher=George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center|location=Arlington, Virginia|url=http://sca.gmu.edu/finding_aids/mann.html|access-date=February 23, 2017}}}} University College, the Northern Virginia branch of the University of Virginia: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=C. Harrison Jr.|title=House Joint Resolution 5|date=February 24, 1956|publisher=Virginia General Assembly|location=Richmond|page=1|url=http://ahistoryofmason.gmu.edu/archive/files/8e80e948d96eba1ccf790954fb595bc5.jpg|access-date=April 30, 2017|archive-date=March 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331072721/http://ahistoryofmason.gmu.edu/archive/files/8e80e948d96eba1ccf790954fb595bc5.jpg|url-status=dead}}}} George Mason College of the University of Virginia: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=McFarlane|first1=William Hugh|title=William Hugh McFarlane George Mason University history collection|date=1949–1977|publisher=George Mason University Special Collections and Archives|location=Fairfax, VA|url=http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=gmu/vifgm00002.xml|access-date=February 23, 2017}}}} George Mason University: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book| publisher = Fairfax County Board of Supervisors| isbn = 978-0-9601630-1-4| last = Netherton| first = Nan| title = Fairfax County, Virginia: A History| date = January 1, 1978}}{{rp|588}}}} The Henry G. Shirley Highway, also known as Interstate 395, was constructed during World War II, along with adjacent developments such as Shirlington, Fairlington, and Parkfairfax.

In February 1959, due to the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education striking down the previous Plessy v. Ferguson, Arlington Public Schools desegregated racially at Stratford Junior High School, which is now Dorothy Hamm Middle School, with the admission of black pupils Donald Deskins, Michael Jones, Lance Newman, and Gloria Thompson. The elected Arlington County School Board presumed that the state would defer to localities, and in January 1956 announced plans to integrate Arlington schools.

The state responded by suspending the county's right to an elected school board. The Arlington County Board, the ruling body for the county, appointed segregationists to the school board and blocked plans for desegregation. Lawyers for the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed suit on behalf of a group of parents of both white and black students to end segregation. Black pupils were still denied admission to white schools, but the lawsuit went before the U.S. District Court, which ruled that Arlington schools were to be desegregated by the 1958–59 academic year. In January 1959 both the U.S. District Court and the Virginia Supreme Court had ruled against Virginia's massive resistance movement, which opposed racial integration.Les Shaver, "Crossing the Divide: The Desegregation of Stratford Junior High", Arlington Magazine November/December 2013, pp. 62–71 The Arlington County Central Library's collections include written materials as well as accounts in its Oral History Project of the desegregation struggle in the county.{{cite web |url=http://library.arlingtonva.us/center-for-local-history/virginiana-collection/ |title=Virginiana Collection |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706005712/https://library.arlingtonva.us/center-for-local-history/virginiana-collection/ |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |url-status=dead |publisher=Arlington Public Library |access-date=August 29, 2022}}

During the 1960s, Arlington experienced challenges related to a large influx of newcomers during the 1950s. M.T. Broyhill & Sons Corporation was at the forefront of building the new communities for these newcomers, which would lead to the election of Joel Broyhill as the representative of Virginia's 10th congressional district for 11 terms.{{cite news|last1=Clark|first1=Charlie|title=Our Man in Arlington|url=https://fcnp.com/2013/01/30/our-man-in-arlington-12/|access-date=January 27, 2018|work=fncp.com|publisher=Falls Church News-Press Online|date=January 30, 2013}} The old commercial districts did not have ample off-street parking and many shoppers were taking their business to new commercial centers, such as Parkington and Seven Corners. Suburbs further out in Virginia and Maryland were expanding, and Arlington's main commercial center in Clarendon was declining, similar to what happened in other downtown centers. With the growth of these other suburbs, some planners and politicians pushed for highway expansion. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 would have enabled that expansion in Arlington. The administrator of the National Capital Transportation Agency, economist C. Darwin Stolzenbach, saw the benefits of rapid transit for the region and oversaw plans for a below ground rapid transit system, now the Washington Metro, which included two lines in Arlington. Initial plans called for what became the Orange Line to parallel I-66, which would have mainly benefited Fairfax County.

Arlington County officials called for the stations in Arlington to be placed along the decaying commercial corridor between Rosslyn and Ballston that included Clarendon. A new regional transportation planning entity was formed, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. Arlington officials renewed their push for a route that benefited the commercial corridor along Wilson Boulevard, which prevailed. There were neighborhood concerns that there would be high-density development along the corridor that would disrupt the character of old neighborhoods.

With the population in the county declining, political leaders saw economic development as a long-range benefit. Citizen input and county planners came up with a workable compromise, with some limits on development. The two lines in Arlington were inaugurated in 1977. The Orange Line's creation was more problematic than the Blue Line's. The Blue Line served the Pentagon and National Airport and boosted the commercial development of Crystal City and Pentagon City. Property values along the Metro lines increased significantly for both residential and commercial property. The ensuing gentrification caused the mostly working and lower middle class white Southern residents to either be priced out of rent or in some cases sell their homes. This permanently changed the character of the city, and ultimately resulted in the virtual eradication of this group over the coming 30 years, being replaced with an increasing presence of a white-collar transplant population mostly of Northern stock.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

While a population of white-collar government transplant workers had always been present in the county, particularly in its far northern areas and in Lyon Village, the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw the complete dominance of this group over the majority of Arlington's residential neighborhoods, and mostly economically eliminated the former working-class residents of areas such as Cherrydale, Lyon Park, Rosslyn, Virginia Square, Claremont, and Arlington Forest, among other neighborhoods.{{cn|date=February 2025}} The transformation of Clarendon is particularly striking. This neighborhood, a downtown shopping area, fell into decay. It became home to a vibrant Vietnamese business community in the 1970s and 1980s known as Little Saigon. It has now been significantly gentrified. Its Vietnamese population is now barely visible, except for several holdout businesses. Arlington's careful planning for the Metro has transformed the county and has become a model revitalization for older suburbs.Kevin Craft, "When Metro Came to Town: How the fight for mass transit was won. And how its arrival left Arlington Forever Changed", Arlington Magazine, November/December 2013, pp. 72–85.Zachary Schrag, The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.

In 1965, after years of negotiations, Arlington swapped some land in the south end with Alexandria, though less than originally planned. The land was located along King Street and Four Mile Run. The exchange allowed the two jurisdictions to straighten out the boundary and helped highway and sewer projects to go forward. It moved into Arlington several acres of land to the south of the old county line that had not been a part of the District of Columbia.{{cite news |last1=Cheek III |first1=Leslie |title=Arlington Approves Alexandria Land Swap |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 11, 1965}}

{{Further|American Airlines Flight 77}}

File:9-11 Pentagon Exterior 09.jpg following the September 11 attacks]]

File:ArlingtonCoNatGateway.jpg

File:ArlingtonCounty-PotomacYard.jpg

File:ArlingtonCoAquaticCenter.jpg

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On September 11, 2001, five al-Qaeda hijackers deliberately crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, killing 115 Pentagon employees and 10 contractors in the building, and all 53 passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers on board the aircraft. The coordinated attacks were the most deadly terrorist attack in world history.[https://www.statista.com/statistics/1330395/deadliest-terrorist-attacks-worldwide-fatalities/ "Deadliest terrorist attacks worldwide from 1970 to January 2024, by number of fatalities and perpetrator"], Statista

In 2009, Turnberry Tower, located in the Rosslyn neighborhood, was completed. At the time of completion, Turnberry Tower was the tallest residential building in the Washington metropolitan area.{{cite news |title=House of the Week {{!}} Arlington penthouse for $3.975M |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2014/11/07/house-of-the-week-arlington-penthouse-for-3-975m/}}{{cite news |title=Coming to Rosslyn, The Height of Luxury Condo Market Is Ready, Resort Developer Says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/realestate/2006/03/04/coming-to-rosslyn-the-height-of-luxury-span-classbankheadcondo-market-is-ready-resort-developer-saysspan/0c7c0937-3a6e-4856-b564-71785f82f02b/}}

In 2017, Nestlé USA chose 1812 N Moore in Rosslyn as their U.S. headquarters.{{cite news |title=Nestlé to move U.S. headquarters to Arlington, bringing 750 jobs |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/nestle-to-move-us-headquarters-to-arlington-bringing-750-jobs-to-the-region/2017/02/01/0ff6ec34-e40c-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html}}

In 2018, Amazon.com, Inc. announced that it would build its co-headquarters in the Crystal City neighborhood, anchoring a broader area of Arlington and Alexandria that was simultaneously rebranded as National Landing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/11/13/where-amazon-hq-2-national-landing-long-island-city/1987015002/|title=National Landing? Long Island City? This is where Amazon's headquarters are located|work=USA Today|access-date=November 20, 2018|language=en}}

By 2020, single-family detached homes accounted for nearly 75% of zoned property in Arlington.

In 2023, the Arlington County city council unanimously approved a modest zoning change to permit sixplexes, so-called "missing middle" housing, on lots previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes. The change reversed exclusionary zoning laws that were initially erected to keep low-income people and minorities out of the county. In 2024, Arlington County circuit court judge David Schell overturned this zoning change after a small group of NIMBY homeowners filed a lawsuit against the county. Schell ruled that Arlington County did not study the potential impacts adequately.{{Cite news |last=Armus |first=Teo |date=2024-09-27 |title=Circuit judge strikes down Arlington's 'missing middle' housing plan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/09/27/missing-middle-ruling-lawsuit-housing-arlington/ |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web |last=Britschgi |first=Christian |date=2024-10-01 |title=America's trial courts have a NIMBY problem |url=https://reason.com/2024/10/01/americas-trial-courts-have-a-nimby-problem/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2024-09-27 |title=BREAKING: Judge overturns Missing Middle zoning changes |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2024/09/27/breaking-judge-overturns-missing-middle-zoning-changes/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFpT_lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWdMdcX1gM49NyB6WA8NPrLmGA9XGO791g_o_2dQPpfOwsmiLj93Yd_Qug_aem_7L4PJAaUN9dfeyjt-xVl0Q |website=www.arlnow.com |language=en-US}}

{{see also|List of neighborhoods in Arlington County, Virginia}}

File:ArlingtonTODimage3.jpg is concentrated within 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the county's Metrorail stations, such as in Rosslyn, Courthouse, and Clarendon (shown in red from upper left to lower right).]]

{{Location map+ | USA Virginia Alexandria region

| caption = Jurisdictions South and West of Washington, D.C.

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{{Location map~ | USA Virginia Alexandria region

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{{Location map~ | USA Virginia Alexandria region

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{{Location map~ | USA Virginia Alexandria region

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{{Location map~ | USA Virginia Alexandria region

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Arlington County is located in Northern Virginia and is surrounded by Fairfax County and Falls Church to the west, the city of Alexandria to the southeast, and the national capital of Washington, D.C. to the northeast across the Potomac River, which forms the county's northern border. Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill represent the county's western borders.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|26.1|sqmi|1}}, {{convert|26.0|sqmi|1}} of which is land and {{convert|0.1|sqmi|1}} (0.4%) of which is water.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}} It is the smallest county by area in Virginia and is the smallest self-governing county in the United States.{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About_Counties/County_Government/A_Brief_Overview_of_County_Government.htm |title=National Association of Counties |access-date=September 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708090111/http://www.naco.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About_Counties/County_Government/A_Brief_Overview_of_County_Government.htm |archive-date=July 8, 2008 |url-status=dead }} About {{convert|4.6|sqmi|1}} (17.6%) of the county is federal property. The county courthouse and most government offices are located in the Courthouse neighborhood.

Since the late 20th century, the county government has pursued a development strategy of concentrating much of its new development near transit facilities, such as Metrorail stations and the high-volume bus lines of Columbia Pike.{{cite web|url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/planning/CPHDPlanningSmartGrowth.aspx |title=Smart Growth : Planning Division : Arlington, Virginia |publisher=Arlingtonva.us |date=March 7, 2011 |access-date=November 4, 2011}} Within the transit areas, the government has a policy of encouraging mixed-use and pedestrian- and transit-oriented development.{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/planning/powerpoint/rbpresentation/rbpresentation_060107.pdf |title=Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development - Departments & Offices |publisher=Arlingtonva.us |access-date=April 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924171835/http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/planning/powerpoint/rbpresentation/rbpresentation_060107.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2011 |url-status=dead }} Some of these "urban village" communities include:

{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Aurora Highlands
• Ballston
• Barcroft
• Bluemont
• Broyhill Heights
• Claremont
• Clarendon
• Courthouse
• Crystal City
• Glencarlyn
• Greenbrier
• High View Park (formerly Halls Hill)
• Lyon Village
• Palisades
• Pentagon City
• Penrose
• Radnor - Fort Myer Heights
• Rosslyn
• Shirlington
• Virginia Square
• Waycroft-Woodlawn (formerly Woodlawn Park)
• Westover
• Williamsburg Circle

{{div col end}}

In 2002, Arlington received the EPA's National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for "Overall Excellence in Smart Growth."{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/arlington.htm |title=Arlington County, Virginia – National Award for Smart Growth Achievement – 2002 Winners Presentation |publisher=Epa.gov |date=June 28, 2006 |access-date=November 4, 2011}} In 2005, the County implemented an affordable housing ordinance that requires most developers to contribute significant affordable housing resources, either in units or through a cash contribution, in order to obtain the highest allowable amounts of increased building density in new development projects, most of which are planned near Metrorail station areas.{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/housing/development/CPHDHousingDevOrdinance.aspx |title=Housing Development – Affordable Housing Ordinance : Housing Division : Arlington, Virginia |publisher=Arlingtonva.us |date=August 4, 2011 |access-date=November 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315032048/http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/housing/development/CPHDHousingDevOrdinance.aspx |archive-date=March 15, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

A number of the county's residential neighborhoods and larger garden-style apartment complexes are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and/or designated under the County government's zoning ordinance as local historic preservation districts.[http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/ons/CPHDOnsHistoricPreservation.aspx Arlington County Government Historic Preservation Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118175157/http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/ons/CPHDOnsHistoricPreservation.aspx |date=January 18, 2008 }} Official Arlington County Government Website. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.[http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/planning/zoning/pdfs/Ordinance_Section31a.pdf Arlington County Zoning Ordinance: Section 31.A. Historic Preservation Districts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226230400/http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/planning/zoning/pdfs/Ordinance_Section31a.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/planning/zoning/pdfs/Ordinance_Section31a.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |date=February 26, 2008 }} Official Arlington County Government Website. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.

These include Arlington Village, Arlington Forest, Ashton Heights, Buckingham, Cherrydale, Claremont, Colonial Village, Fairlington, Lyon Park, Lyon Village, Maywood, Nauck, Penrose, Waverly Hills and Westover.[http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/ons/hp/CPHDOnsHpDistricts.aspx List of Arlington County Government Designated Local Historic Districts] Official Arlington County Government Website. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.[http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/ons/hp/CPHDOnsHpHpNrsites.aspx List of Arlington County Sites in the National Register of Historic Places] Official Arlington County Government Website. Retrieved on February 5, 2008. Many of Arlington County's neighborhoods participate in the Arlington County government's Neighborhood Conservation Program (NCP).[http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/ons/CPHDOnsConservation.aspx Neighborhood Conservation Program] Official Arlington County Government Website. Retrieved on February 5, 2008. Each of these neighborhoods has a Neighborhood Conservation Plan that describes the neighborhood's characteristics, history and recommendations for capital improvement projects that the County government funds through the NCP.[http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/ons/conservation/CPHDOnsConservationPlans.aspx Neighborhood Conservation Plans] Official Arlington County Government Website. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.

Arlington is often spoken of as divided between North Arlington and South Arlington, which designate the sections of the county that lie north and south of Arlington Boulevard. Places in Arlington are often identified by their location in one or the other. Much consideration is given to socioeconomic and demographic differences between these two portions of the county and the respective amounts of attention they receive in the way of public services.{{Cite web|date=April 27, 2015|title=Are There Two Arlingtons?|url=https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/are-there-two-arlingtons/|access-date=February 11, 2022|website=Arlington Magazine|language=en-US}}

Arlington ranks fourth in the nation, immediately after Washington, D.C., for park access and quality in the 2018 ParkScore ranking of the top 100 park systems across the United States, according to the ranking methodologies of Trust for Public Land.{{Cite web|url=http://www.parkscore.tpl.org/rankings.php|title=ParkScore|website=www.parkscore.tpl.org|language=en-US|access-date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=May 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524003623/http://www.parkscore.tpl.org/rankings.php|url-status=dead}}

The climate in the county is characterized by hot, humid summers, mild to moderately cold winters, and pleasant spring and fall seasons. Arlington County averages 41.82 inches of precipitation that is fairly evenly spread out during the year. Snowfall averages 13.7 inches per year. The snowiest months are January and February, although snow also falls in December and March; scarce snow may fall in November or April. The county usually has 60 nights with lows below freezing and 40 days with highs in the 90s. Hundred degree temperatures readings are rare, even more so negative temperature readings in Fahrenheit, last occurring August 13, 2016, and January 19, 1994, respectively.{{Cite news|title=120-year-old record low broken in D.C., one of many today and in the past week|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/02/20/120-year-old-record-low-broken-in-d-c-one-of-many-today-and-in-the-past-week/|access-date=January 9, 2022|issn=0190-8286}}{{cite web |title=Climate |url=https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=lwx |publisher=National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast Office}} According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Arlington County has a slightly colder version of the humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.{{cite web|title=Climate Summary for Arlington County, Virginia|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=150427&cityname=Arlington%2C+Virginia%2C+United+States+of+America&units=|access-date=October 3, 2014|work=Weatherbase}}

{{Washington, D.C. weatherbox}}

{{US Census population

|1800= 5949

|1810= 8552

|1820= 9703

|1830= 9573

|1840= 9967

|1850= 10008

|1860= 12652

|1870= 16755

|1880= 17546

|1890= 18597

|1900= 6430

|1910= 10231

|1920= 16040

|1930= 26615

|1940= 57040

|1950= 135449

|1960= 163401

|1970= 174284

|1980= 152599

|1990= 170936

|2000= 189453

|2010= 207627

|2020= 238643

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing from 1790-2000|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=January 24, 2022}}
1790-1960{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=January 2, 2014}} 1900-1990{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/va190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=January 2, 2014}}
1990-2000{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=January 2, 2014}}
2010-2020{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-population-and-housing-state-data.html|title=2020 Population and Housing State Data|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 14, 2021}} 2010 2020

}}

As of the 2010 census,{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/planning/data_maps/Census/2010Census/file83139.pdf |title=2010 Census Highlights Arlington County, Virginia |access-date=October 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124121405/http://arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/planning/data_maps/Census/2010Census/file83139.pdf |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |url-status=dead }} there were 207,627 people, 98,050 households, and 41,607 families residing in Arlington. The population density was 8,853 people per square mile, the second highest of any county in Virginia.

According to the US Census, the racial makeup of the county in 2012 was 63.8% Non-Hispanic white, 8.9% Non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.8% Non-Hispanic Native American, 9.9% Non-Hispanic Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.29% Non-Hispanic other races, 3.0% Non-Hispanics reporting two or more races. 15.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race (3.4% Salvadoran, 2.0% Bolivian, 1.7% Mexican, 1.5% Guatemalan, 0.8% Puerto Rican, 0.7% Peruvian, 0.6% Colombian). 28% of Arlington residents were foreign-born as of 2000.

There were 86,352 households, out of which 19.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.30% were married couples living together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.50% were non-families. 40.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.96.

Families headed by single parents were the lowest in the DC area, under 6%, as estimated by the Census Bureau for the years 2006–2008. For the same years, the percentage of people estimated to be living alone was the third highest in the DC area, at 45%.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/27/AR2009102702019.html |title=Single living surges across D.C. region |author=Carol Morello |author2=Dan Keating |date=October 28, 2009 |newspaper=The Washington Post |pages=A20 }} In 2009, Arlington was highest in the Washington DC Metropolitan area for the percentage of people who were single – 70.9%. 14.3% were married. 14.8% had families.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110604170.html |title=Fresh faces, thick wallets |author=Annie Gowen |date=November 7, 2009 |newspaper= Washington Post |pages=B4 }} In 2014 Arlington had the 2nd highest concentration of roommates after San Francisco among the 50 largest U.S. cities.{{cite web|url=http://priceonomics.com/where-is-the-roommate-capital-of-the-united-states/|title=Where Is the Roommate Capital of the United States?|date=November 24, 2015 |publisher=Priceonomics}}

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the county was $94,876, and the median income for a family was $127,179.{{cite web |author=American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_S1901&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=st&-tree_id=307&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=16000US5103000&-format=&-_lang=en |title=Arlington CDP, Virginia |publisher=Factfinder.census.gov |access-date=November 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212210147/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_S1901&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=st&-tree_id=307&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=16000US5103000&-format=&-_lang=en |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=dead }} Males had a median income of $51,011 versus $41,552 for females. The per capita income for the county was $37,706. About 5.00% of families and 7.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.10% of those under age 18 and 7.00% of those age 65 or over.

The age distribution was 16.50% under 18, 10.40% from 18 to 24, 42.40% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from 45 to 64, and 9.40% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.70 males.

CNN Money ranked Arlington as the most educated city in 2006 with 35.7% of residents having held graduate degrees. Along with five other counties in Northern Virginia, Arlington ranked among the twenty American counties with the highest median household income in 2006.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/01/22/counties-rich-income-forbeslife-cx_mw_0122realestate.html|title=Real Estate: America's Richest Counties|last=Woolsey|first=Matt|date=January 22, 2008|work=Forbes|access-date=May 5, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090513081046/http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/22/counties-rich-income-forbeslife-cx_mw_0122realestate.html| archive-date= May 13, 2009 | url-status= live}} In 2009, the county was second in the nation (after nearby Loudoun County) for the percentage of people ages 25–34 earning over $100,000 annually (8.82% of the population).The highest was Loudoun County, Virginia In September 2012, CNN Money ranked Arlington fourth in the country in its listing of "Best Places for the Rich and Single."{{Cite web |title=Best Places to Live 2012 — Top 25 for rich and single — from MONEY Magazine |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/best-places/2012/top25s/qualitylife/mostsingles.html |access-date=May 13, 2024 |website=money.cnn.com}}

In 2008, 20.3% of the population did not have medical health insurance.{{cite web |url=http://www.wtop.com/?nid=720&sid=1493997 |title=Hundreds of thousands in region lack health insurance |author=Hank Silverberg |date=October 9, 2008 |work= WTOP FM Radio }} In 2010, AIDS prevalence was 341.5 per 100,000 population. This was eight times the rate of nearby Loudoun County and one-quarter the rate of the District of Columbia.{{cite news | first= Darryl| last=Fears | title=Suburbs trail D.C. in fighting AIDS, study says | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604338.html| newspaper=Washington Post | location=Washington, DC | pages= A5 | date=April 27, 2010 }}

Crime statistics for 2009 included the report of 2 homicides, 15 forcible rapes, 149 robberies, 145 incidents of or aggravated assault, 319 burglaries, 4,140 incidents of larceny, and 297 reports of vehicle theft. This was a reduction in all categories from the previous year.{{Cite news | title=Violent Crime Down 8.3 Percent | url=http://www.co.arlington.va.us/departments/Communications/PressReleases/page75824.aspx | publisher=The Arlington Connection | location=Arlington, Virginia | page=5 | date=April 14–20, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728062119/http://www.co.arlington.va.us/departments/Communications/PressReleases/page75824.aspx | archive-date=July 28, 2011 | url-status=dead }}

According to a 2016 study by Bankrate.com, Arlington is the best place to retire, with nearby Alexandria coming in at second place. Criteria of the study included cost of living, rates of violent and property crimes, walkability, health care quality, state and local tax rates, weather, local culture and well-being for senior citizens.[https://www.nbcnews.com/business/retirement/arlington-virginia-named-best-place-retire-study-n599941 "Arlington, Virginia Named Best Place to Retire: Study"] NBC News, June 27, 2016, Accessed September 16, 2016.

2023 marked the sixth consecutive year that the American College of Sports Medicine named Arlington the "Fittest City in America" in their annual Fitness Index.{{Cite web |title=News Detail |url=https://www.acsm.org/news-detail |access-date=May 13, 2024 |website=ACSM_CMS}} Arlington topped the list of 100 cities in both the Personal and the Community & Environment Health metrics.

For the last two decades, Arlington has been a Democratic stronghold at nearly all levels of government.{{cite web|url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/voterregistration/VoterRegistrationElected.aspx|title=Arlington County Elected Officials|work=Voting & Elections|access-date=October 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930064814/http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/VoterRegistration/VoterRegistrationElected.aspx|archive-date=September 30, 2013|url-status=dead}} However, during a special election in April 2014, a Republican running as an independent, John Vihstadt, captured a County Board seat, defeating Democrat Alan Howze 57% to 41%; he became the first non-Democratic board member in fifteen years.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/attorney-john-vihstadt-wins-arlington-board-seat/2014/04/07/8537211a-be87-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html|title=Attorney John Vihstadt wins Arlington County Board seat; first non-Democrat since 1999 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 28, 2014}} This was in large part a voter response to plans to raise property taxes to fund several large projects, including a streetcar and an aquatics center. County Board Member Libby Garvey, in April 2014, resigned from the Arlington Democratic Committee after supporting Vihstadt's campaign over Howze.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/garvey-quits-arlington-democratic-leadership-over-endorsement-of-vihstadt-over-howze/2014/04/29/160e4456-cfaf-11e3-b812-0c92213941f4_story.html|title=Garvey quits Arlington Democratic leadership over endorsement of Vihstadt over Howze |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 29, 2014}} Eight months later, in November's general election, Vihstadt won a full term; winning by 56% to 44%.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/john-vihstadt-beats-democrat-alan-howze-in-race-for-arlington-county-board-seat/2014/11/04/ffd6bcd6-533e-11e4-892e-602188e70e9c_story.html?tid=hpModule_99d5f542-86a2-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394|title=John Vihstadt beats Democrat Alan Howze in race for Arlington County Board seat|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 29, 2014}} This is the first time since 1983 that a non-Democrat won a County Board general election.{{cite web|url=http://www.arlnow.com/2014/11/05/vihstadt-victory-could-signal-sea-change-in-arlington-politics/|title=Vihstadt Victory Could Signal Sea Change in Arlington Politics|work=arlnow.com|date=November 5, 2014}} In 2018, without the controversial streetcar issue to bolster his campaign, Vihstadt lost.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/arlington-alexandria-voters-jam-the-polls-for-election-day/2018/11/06/bd432292-dd23-11e8-b732-3c72cbf131f2_story.html|title=Vihstadt loses Arlington County Board race in high-turnout election|newspaper=The Washington Post }}

The county is governed by a five-person County Board; members are elected at-large on staggered four-year terms. They appoint a county manager, who is the chief executive of the County Government. Like most Virginia counties, Arlington has five elected constitutional officers: a clerk of court, a commissioner of revenue, a commonwealth's attorney, a sheriff, and a treasurer. The budget for the fiscal year 2009 was $1.177 billion.{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/ManagementAndFinance/budget/fy09adopted/C.2_Budget%20REsolution.pdf |title=Department of Management and Finance - Departments & Offices |publisher=Arlingtonva.us |access-date=April 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225070658/http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/ManagementAndFinance/budget/fy09adopted/C.2_Budget%20REsolution.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

{{Further|Administrative divisions of Virginia}}

{{see also|Unincorporated area (United States)}}

Under Virginia law, the only municipalities that may be contained within counties are incorporated towns; incorporated cities are independent of any county. Arlington, despite its population density and largely urban character, is wholly unincorporated with no towns inside its borders. In the 1920s, a group of citizens petitioned the state courts to incorporate the Clarendon neighborhood as a town, but this was rejected; the Supreme Court of Virginia held, in Bennett v. Garrett (1922), that Arlington constituted a "continuous, contiguous, and homogeneous community" that should not be subdivided through incorporation.{{Cite web|last=Office of the County Manager (Arlington, Virginia)|date=1967|title=A History of the Boundaries of Arlington County, Virginia|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36902/36902-h/36902-h.htm#27|access-date=July 13, 2020|website=Project Gutenberg}}

Current state law would prohibit the incorporation of any towns within the county because the county's population density exceeds 200 persons per square mile.{{Cite book|last1=Peaslee|first1=Liliokanaio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nF92AwAAQBAJ&q=Bennett%20v.%20Garrett,%20112%20S.E.%20772&pg=PA137|title=Virginia Government: Institutions and Policy|last2=Swartz|first2=Nicholas J.|date=October 7, 2013|publisher=CQ Press|isbn=978-1-4833-0146-4|pages=136–137|language=en}} In 2017, then-county board chairman Jay Fisette suggested that the county as a whole should incorporate as an independent city.{{Cite web|title=No Longer A County Boy: Arlington Official Says County Should Become A City|url=https://wamu.org/story/17/07/14/no-longer-county-boy-arlington-official-says-county-become-city/|access-date=July 13, 2020|website=WAMU|language=en}}

In 2009, Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell won Virginia by a 59% to 41% margin, but Arlington voted 66% to 34% for Democratic State Senator Creigh Deeds.{{cite news |url=http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/04/mcdonnell-republicans-sweep-virginia/ |title= McDonnell, Republicans Sweep Virginia |author=Carl M. Cannon |date=November 4, 2009 |newspaper= Washington Post |pages= A1, A6 }} The voter turnout was 42.78%.{{citation |title=Northern Virginia Voter Turnout |date=November 5, 2009 |work= Falls Church News-Press |publisher=Falls Church News Press |page=5 }}

Arlington elects four members of the Virginia House of Delegates and two members of the Virginia State Senate. State Senators are elected for four-year terms, while Delegates are elected for two-year terms.

In the Virginia State Senate, Arlington is split between the 30th, 31st, and 32nd districts, represented by Adam Ebbin, Barbara Favola, and Janet Howell, respectively. In the Virginia House of Delegates, Arlington is divided between the 45th, 47th, 48th, and 49th districts, represented by Mark Levine, Patrick Hope, Rip Sullivan, and Alfonso Lopez, respectively. All are Democrats.

Arlington is part of Virginia's 8th congressional district, represented by Democrat Don Beyer.

{{PresHead|place=Arlington County, Virginia|source={{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org}}}}

{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|25,223|100,446|3,892|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|22,318|105,344|3,037|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|20,186|92,016|9,137|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|34,474|81,269|1,865|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|29,876|78,994|1,283|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|29,635|63,987|1,028|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|28,555|50,260|4,744|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|26,106|45,573|3,697|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|26,376|47,756|8,452|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|34,191|40,314|860|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|34,848|37,031|363|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1980|Republican|30,854|26,502|9,505|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|30,972|32,536|1,091|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1972|Republican|39,406|25,877|1,100|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1968|Republican|28,163|26,107|7,056|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|20,485|33,567|311|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1960|Republican|23,632|22,095|250|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1956|Republican|21,868|16,674|1,183|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1952|Republican|22,158|14,032|190|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1948|Republican|10,774|7,798|1,539|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1944|Republican|8,317|7,122|60|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|4,365|5,440|57|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|2,825|4,971|39|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|2,806|3,285|143|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1928|Republican|4,274|1,444|0|Virginia}}

{{PresRow|1924|Republican|1,307|1,209|405|Virginia}}

{{PresFoot|1920|Republican|997|835|38|Virginia}}

The U.S. Postal Services designates Zip Codes starting with "222" for exclusive use in Arlington County. However, federal institutions, like Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and The Pentagon use Washington, D.C. Zip Codes.

{{see also|List of federal agencies in Northern Virginia|List of companies headquartered in Northern Virginia}}

File:Rosslyn (VA) at 1800 North Nash Street November 2013.jpg (right) and Turnberry Tower (left)]]

Arlington has consistently had the lowest unemployment rate of any jurisdiction in Virginia.[https://archive.today/20120914170435/http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2009/12/10/arlington/news/nw334.txt Arlington Unemployment Drops Below 4 Percent], Arlington Sun Gazette, December 4, 2009 The unemployment rate in Arlington was 1.9% in July 2023.{{cite news|url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/VAARLI0URN |title=Northern Virginia jobless rate falls to 5% |publisher=Bizjournals.com |date= September 1, 2009|access-date=November 4, 2011 |first=Jeff |last=Clabaugh}} 60% of office space in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is leased to government agencies and government contractors.{{cite news|last=Meyer |first=Eugene L. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/realestate/commercial/07ballston.html |title=An Oasis of Stability Amid a Downturn |location=Washington (DC) |work=The New York Times |date=October 6, 2009 |access-date=November 4, 2011}} There were an estimated 205,300 jobs in the county in 2008. About 28.7% of these were with the federal, state or local government; 19.1% technical and professional; 28.9% accommodation, food and other services.{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/ManagementAndFinance/budget/fy09adopted/C.1_County%20Profile.pdf |title=The Department of Management and Finance (DMF) |access-date=November 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225070838/http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/ManagementAndFinance/budget/fy09adopted/C.1_County%20Profile.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

In October 2008, BusinessWeek ranked Arlington as the safest city in which to weather a recession, with a 49.4% share of jobs in "strong industries".{{cite web|last=Gopal |first=Prashant |url=http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/oct2008/bw20081014_006902.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017172048/http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/oct2008/bw20081014_006902.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 17, 2008 |title=Some Cities Will Be Safer in a Recession |publisher=Businessweek.com |date=October 14, 2008 |access-date=November 4, 2011}} In October 2009, during the Great Recession, the unemployment in the county reached 4.2%. This was the lowest in the state, which averaged 6.6% for the same time period, and among the lowest in the nation, which averaged 9.5% for the same time.{{cite web |url=http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2009/11/05/arlington/news/nw377.txt |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130222142328/http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2009/11/05/arlington/news/nw377.txt |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 22, 2013 |title=Arlington Unemployment Up Slightly, Still Lowest Statewide |author=Scott McCaffrey |date=November 5, 2009 |work=Sun Gazette |page=4 }}

In 2021, there were an estimated 119,447 housing units in the county.{{Cite web |title= QuickFacts: Arlington County, Virginia |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/arlingtoncountyvirginia/NES010219 |access-date=January 25, 2023 |website=U.S. Census Bureau |language=en}} In 2010, there were an estimated 90,842 residences in the county.{{Cite news | title=If you have questions about Arlington, we have answers | publisher=Arlington Sun Gazette | location=Arlington, Virginia | page= 25 | date=September 23, 2010 }} In March 2024, the median home cost $717,500 and the average cost $881,925.{{Cite web |title=Market Statistics: March 2024 |url=https://www.nvar.com/realtors/news/market-statistics/market-statistics-march-2024 |access-date=May 13, 2024 |website=www.nvar.com}} 4,721 houses, about 10% of all stand-alone homes, were worth $1 million or more. By comparison, in 2000, the median single family home price was $262,400. About 123 homes were worth $1 million or more.{{Cite news | first=Julia | last=O'Donohue | title=Housing Market Looking Up | url=http://files.connectionnewspapers.com/PDF/current/Arlington.pdf | format=PDFwork=Arlington Connection | publisher=Files.connectionnewspapers.com | location=Melbourne, Florida | page=2 | date=April 7–13, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511162223/http://files.connectionnewspapers.com/PDF/current/Arlington.pdf | archive-date=May 11, 2011 | df=mdy-all }}

In 2010, 0.9% of the homes were in foreclosure. This was the lowest rate in the DC area.{{cite news | first=Renae | last=Merle | title=Federal aid forestalls fraction of foreclosures | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/14/AR2010041404336.html| newspaper=Washington Post | location=Washington, DC | pages= A16 | date=April 15, 2010 }}

14% of the nearly 150,000 people working in Arlington live in the county, while 86% commute in, with 27% commuting from Fairfax County. An additional 90,000 people commute out for work, with 42% commuting to DC, and 29% commuting to Fairfax County.{{Cite web |url=http://virginialmi.com/report_center/community_profiles/5104000013.pdf |title=Virginia Community Profile Arlington County |access-date=November 16, 2017 |archive-date=November 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117003118/http://virginialmi.com/report_center/community_profiles/5104000013.pdf |url-status=dead }}

A number of federal agencies are headquartered in Arlington, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, American Battle Monuments Commission, DARPA, Diplomatic Security Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Foreign Service Institute, the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, Office of Naval Research, Transportation Security Administration, United States Department of Defense, United States Marshals Service, the United States Trade and Development Agency, and the U.S. AbilityOne Commission.

File:2345 Crystal Drive Hbrackett.jpg headquarters in Crystal City]]

Companies headquartered in Arlington include Amazon (its second headquarters), AES, Axios, Axios HQ, Alcalde and Fay, Arlington Asset Investment, AvalonBay Communities, Bloomberg Industry Group, CACI, Graham Holdings, Naviance, Rosetta Stone, Save America, and Nestlé USA. Boeing announced on May 5, 2022, that it would be moving its global headquarters to Arlington after more than 20 years in Chicago.{{cite news |last1=Shepardson |first1=David |last2=Johnson |first2=Eric M. |title=Boeing to move headquarters from Chicago to Virginia |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-set-move-headquarters-arlington-virginia-sources-2022-05-05/ |work=Reuters |date=May 5, 2022 |access-date=May 31, 2022}} On June 7, 2022, RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon) announced its global headquarters relocation to Arlington.{{Cite web |last=Kira |date=June 29, 2022 |title=Raytheon moving global HQ to Arlington |url=https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/raytheon-moving-global-hq-to-arlington-2/ |access-date=January 25, 2023 |website=Virginia Business |language=en-US}} On February 13, 2024, CoStar Group announced the move of their global headquarters to Arlington after more than 10 years in DC.{{Cite news |title=Real estate firm CoStar will move HQ from downtown D.C. to Arlington, Va. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/13/costar-downtown-dc-arlington-virginia-move/ |access-date=May 12, 2024}} Arlington is also the location of Washington, D.C. area regional offices for several consulting firms and is the global headquarters of many aerospace manufacturing and defense industry companies.

Organizations located here include the American Institute in Taiwan, Army Emergency Relief, The Conservation Fund, Conservation International, the Consumer Electronics Association, The Fellowship, the Feminist Majority Foundation, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, The Nature Conservancy, the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, the Public Broadcasting Service, United Service Organizations, and the US-Taiwan Business Council.

Arlington also has an annex of the South Korean embassy.{{cite web |title=Korean Embassy offers Arlington County land to use for free |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/morning_call/2013/05/korean-embassy-offers-arlington-free.html |publisher=Washington Business Journal}}

Politico, a political focused digital based newspaper is based in Arlington.{{cite news |last1=Barr |first1=Jeremey |title=Politico sold to German publisher Axel Springer |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/08/26/politico-sold-axel-springer/ |access-date=16 August 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=August 26, 2021}}

Axios, an American news website, founded by former Politico employees, focused on multiple subjects, in particular the collision between Technology and other subjects.{{Cite magazine |date=November 30, 2016 |title=Exclusive: Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei Reveal Their Plan for Media Domination |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/11/mike-allen-and-jim-vandehei-reveal-their-plan-for-media-domination-axios |access-date=April 5, 2024 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Arlington's Axios HQ says internal comms for many U.S. companies is in dire straits {{!}} ARLnow.com |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2024/03/11/arlingtons-axios-hq-says-internal-comms-for-many-u-s-companies-is-in-dire-straits/ |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=ARLnow.com {{!}} Arlington, Va. local news |language=en}}

File:Virginia Hospital Center.jpg

According to the county's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,{{cite web |title=Arlington County, Virginia Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, for the Year ended June 30, 2023 |url=https://www.arlingtonva.us/files/sharedassets/public/v/2/budget/documents/accounting-reporting-and-control/final-fy23-acfr-12-15-2023-online-version.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513004312/https://www.arlingtonva.us/files/sharedassets/public/v/2/budget/documents/accounting-reporting-and-control/final-fy23-acfr-12-15-2023-online-version.pdf |archive-date=May 13, 2024}} the top employers in the county are:

Arlington has been recognized as a strong incubator for start-up businesses, with a number of public/private incubators and resources dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in the county.{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/anna-hensel/3-reasons-to-start-a-business-in-arlington-virginia.html|title=Why Cutting-Edge Startups Are Flocking to Arlington, Virginia|last=Hensel|first=Anna|date=October 15, 2015|website=Inc.com|access-date=March 27, 2020}}

File:Arlington National Cemetery Amphitheater.jpg hosts major Veterans Day and Memorial Day events.]]

File:Honorary Marine Daran Wankum, third from left, salutes during a wreath laying ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va, June 13, 2013 130613-M-KS211-013.jpg, commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, at Arlington Ridge Park]]

{{Main|Arlington National Cemetery}}

Arlington National Cemetery is an American military cemetery established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's home, Arlington House (also known as the Custis-Lee Mansion). It is directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., north of the Pentagon. With around 400,000 graves covering 639 acres, Arlington National Cemetery is the second-largest national cemetery in the United States.{{Cite web |title=History of Arlington National Cemetery |url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/History-of-Arlington-National-Cemetery |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Arlington National Cemetery}}

Arlington House was named after the Custis family's homestead on Virginia's Eastern Shore. It is associated with the families of Washington, Custis, and Lee. Begun in 1802 and completed in 1817, it was built by George Washington Parke Custis. After his father died, young Custis was raised by his grandmother and her second husband, the first US President George Washington, at Mount Vernon. Custis, a far-sighted agricultural pioneer, painter, playwright, and orator, was interested in perpetuating the memory and principles of George Washington. His house became a "treasury" of Washington heirlooms.{{Cite web |title= Founders and Frontiersmen (Arlington House) |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/founders/sitea30.htm |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=National Park Service |date=August 29, 2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225172036/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/founders/sitea30.htm |archive-date= February 25, 2024 }}

In 1804, Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh. Their only child to survive infancy was Mary Anna Randolph Custis, born in 1808. Young Robert E. Lee, whose mother was a cousin of Mrs. Custis, frequently visited Arlington. Two years after graduating from West Point, Lieutenant Lee married Mary Custis at Arlington on June 30, 1831. For 30 years, Arlington House was home to the Lees. They spent much of their married life traveling between U.S. Army duty stations and Arlington, where six of their seven children were born. They shared this home with Mary's parents, the Custis family.{{Citation |title=Arlington House |url=http://npshistory.com/brochures/arho/1987.pdf |journal=}}

When George Washington Parke Custis died in 1857, he left the Arlington estate to Mrs. Lee for her lifetime and afterward to the Lees' eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee.{{Cite web |title=Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial |url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/History-of-Arlington-National-Cemetery/Arlington-House |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Arlington National Cemetery}}

After the secession of Virginia towards the beginning of the Civil War, Mary Custis and Robert E. Lee left the estate permanently. Citing a failure to pay taxes, the U.S. government confiscated Arlington House and {{convert|200|acre|ha}} of property from the Lees on January 11, 1864. On June 15, 1864, the U.S. government and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton designated the grounds as a military cemetery. In 1882, after many years in the lower courts, the matter of the ownership of Arlington House and its land was brought before the United States Supreme Court by George Washington Custis Lee. The Court decided that the property rightfully belonged to the Lee family. Shortly, the United States Congress appropriated the sum of $150,000 for the purchase of the property from the Lee family in March 1883.

Veterans from all the nation's wars are buried in the cemetery, from the American Revolution through the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Pre-Civil War dead were re-interred after 1900.{{citation needed|date = March 2022}}

The Tomb of the Unknowns, also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, stands atop a hill overlooking Washington, DC. President John F. Kennedy is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and some of their children. His grave is marked with an eternal flame. His brothers, Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, are also buried nearby. William Howard Taft, who was also a Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, is the only other President buried at Arlington.

Other frequently visited sites near the cemetery are the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, the U.S. Air Force Memorial, the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, the Netherlands Carillon and the U.S. Army's Fort Myer.{{citation needed|date = March 2022}}

{{Main|The Pentagon}}

File:The Pentagon US Department of Defense building.jpg looking northeast with the Potomac River and Washington Monument in the distance]]

File:Pentagon Memorial-5097.jpg, commemorating victims in the September 11 attacks]]

The Pentagon in Arlington is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. It was dedicated on January 15, 1943, and it is the world's second-largest office building. Although it is located in Arlington County, the United States Postal Service requires that "Washington, D.C." be used as the place name in mail addressed to the six ZIP codes assigned to The Pentagon.{{cite web|url=http://pentagon.afis.osd.mil/facts-zip.html |title=Facts & Figures: Zip Codes |publisher=Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311141422/http://pentagon.afis.osd.mil/facts-zip.html|archive-date=March 11, 2008 |access-date=July 12, 2017}}

The building is pentagon-shaped and houses about 24,000 military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel. It has five floors and each floor has five ring corridors. The Pentagon's principal law enforcement arm is the United States Pentagon Police, the agency that protects the Pentagon and various other DoD jurisdictions throughout the National Capital Region.{{Cite web |title=Pentagon - Air Force {{!}} Base Overview & Info {{!}} MilitaryINSTALLATIONS |url=https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/in-depth-overview/pentagon-air-force#:~:text=The%20Pentagon%20houses%20approximately%2024,000,3,000%20non-defense%20support%20personnel. |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=installations.militaryonesource.mil}}

Built during World War II, the Pentagon is the world's largest low-rise office building with {{convert|17.5|mi|km}} of corridors, yet it takes only seven minutes to walk between its furthest two points.{{Cite web |title=10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Pentagon |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/1650913/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-pentagon |access-date=August 29, 2022 |website=U.S. Department of Defense |language=en-US}}

It was built from {{convert|689000|ST}} of sand and gravel dredged from the nearby Potomac River that were processed into 435,000 cubic yards (330,000 m³) of concrete and molded into the pentagon shape. Very little steel was used in its design due to the needs of the war effort.{{Cite web |last=Maranzani |first=Barbara |title=9 Things You May Not Know About the Pentagon |url=https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-pentagon |access-date=August 5, 2022 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}

The open-air central plaza in the Pentagon is the world's largest "no-salute, no-cover" area (where U.S. servicemembers need not wear hats nor salute). Before being torn down in 2006, a hot dog stand occupied Ground Zero at the center of the courtyard. The food stand was reportedly a Soviet target during the Cold War due to the legend of a secret bunker entrance hidden beneath it.{{Cite web |title=The hot dog stand in the Pentagon's center courtyard, which has long been a source of Cold War speculation, folklore and legend, will be torn down in the coming months. During the Cold War, the Soviets reportedly thought the hot dog stand led to a secret underground bunker. Photo by Steven Donald Smith |url=https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Photos/igphoto/2001080694/ |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=www.defense.gov}}

During World War II, the earliest portion of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway was built in Arlington in conjunction with the parking and traffic plan for the Pentagon. Land for parking and roads was acquired by the exercise of eminent domain over the African-American neighborhood of Queen City, in East Arlington, displacing hundred of Black families.{{Cite web |title=From Freedman’s Village to Queen City |url=https://library.arlingtonva.us/2018/01/31/from-freedmans-village-to-queen-city-one-communitys-evolution/ |website=Arlington Public Library |publisher=Arlington County Government |date=January 31, 2018 |access-date=February 4, 2025}}{{Cite web |title=Queen City: The lost Black community swallowed up by The Pentagon |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240619-queen-city-the-lost-black-community-swallowed-up-by-the-pentagon |website=BBC |date=June 19, 2024 |access-date=February 4, 2025}} This early freeway, opened in 1943 and completed to Woodbridge, in 1952, is now part of I-395.{{citation needed|date = March 2022}}

The Pentagon Memorial, commemorating victims in the September 11 attacks, is located outside of the Pentagon and is a major tourist attraction.

File:2019-06-26 11 51 06 View south along Interstate 395 (Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway) from the overpass for U.S. Route 1 southbound (Richmond Highway) in Arlington County, Virginia.jpg southbound in Arlington, near the Pentagon]]

{{main|Streets and highways of Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County, Virginia, street-naming system}}

Arlington forms part of the region's core transportation network. The county is traversed by two interstate highways: I-66 in the northern part of the county and I-395 in the eastern part, both with HOV lanes or restrictions. In addition, the county is served by the George Washington Memorial Parkway. In total, Arlington County maintains {{convert|376|mi}} of roads.{{cite web|url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/EnvironmentalServices/uepd/snow/EnvironmentalServicesSnow.aspx |title=County website |publisher=Arlingtonva.us |access-date=November 4, 2011}}

The street names in Arlington generally follow a unified countywide convention. The north–south streets are generally alphabetical, starting with one-syllable names, then two-, three- and four-syllable names. The first alphabetical street is Ball Street. The last is Arizona. Many east–west streets are numbered. Route 50 divides Arlington County. Streets are generally labeled North above Route 50, and South below.

Arlington has more than {{convert|100|mi|km}} of on-street and paved off-road bicycle trails.{{cite web|title=BikeArlington|url=http://www.bikearlington.com/|publisher=Arlington County Department of Environmental Services|access-date=July 5, 2014}} Off-road trails travel along the Potomac River or its tributaries, abandoned railroad beds, or major highways, including Four Mile Run Trail that travels the length of the county; the Custis Trail, which runs the width of the county from Rosslyn; the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail (W&OD Trail) that travels {{convert|45|mi|km}} from the Shirlington neighborhood out to western Loudoun County; and the Mount Vernon Trail that runs for {{convert|17|mi|km}} along the Potomac, continuing through Alexandria to Mount Vernon.

{{Further|Arlington Transit|Virginia Railway Express|Washington Metro}}

File:Ballston–MU (WMATA station) - 02.jpg and Silver lines of the Washington Metro. Arlington is home to the first suburban stations on the Washington Metrorail system.]]

Forty percent of Virginia's transit trips begin or end in Arlington, with the vast majority originating from Washington Metro rail stations.{{cite web|url=http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/36079630?rel=0&startSlide=7|title=FY 2015-FY 2024 Proposed Capital Improvement Plan|access-date=October 3, 2014}}

Arlington is served by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA or Metro), the regional transit agency covering parts of Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Arlington has stations on the Blue, Orange, Silver and Yellow lines of the Washington Metro rail system. Arlington is also served by WMATA's regional Metrobus service. This includes Metroway, the first bus rapid transit (BRT) in the D.C. area, a joint project between WMATA, Arlington County, and Alexandria, with wait times similar to those of Metro trains. Metroway began service in August 2014.{{cite news |url=http://www.wmata.com/about/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5738 |title=Metroway premium transit service starting this summer |date=July 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815052153/http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5738 |archive-date=August 15, 2016 |url-status=live |author=WMATA}}

Arlington also operates its own county bus system, Arlington Transit (ART), which supplements Metrobus service with in-county routes and connections to the rail system.{{Cite web|url=https://www.arlingtontransit.com/pages/about/|title=About ART - Arlington Transit|website=www.arlingtontransit.com|access-date=March 20, 2019}}

The Virginia Railway Express commuter rail system has one station in Arlington County, at the Crystal City station. Public bus services operated by other Northern Virginia jurisdictions include some stops in Arlington, most commonly at the Pentagon. These services include DASH (Alexandria Transit Company), Fairfax Connector, PRTC OmniRide (Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission), and the Loudoun County Commuter Bus.{{Cite web|url=https://www.commuterpage.com/ways-to-get-around/local-bus-systems/|title=Local Bus Systems|website=www.commuterpage.com|access-date=March 20, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.commuterpage.com/ways-to-get-around/commuter-buses/|title=Commuter Buses|website=www.commuterpage.com|access-date=March 20, 2019}}

File:Reagan Terminal B-C.JPG in Crystal City]]

File:Capital Bikeshare DC 09 2010 515.JPG]]

File:DCA 07 2011 hybrid taxi 3139.jpgs in Pentagon City]]

Capital Bikeshare, a bicycle sharing system, began operations in September 2010 with 14 rental locations primarily around Washington Metro stations throughout the county.{{cite web|url=http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/|title=Capital Bikeshare has launched!|publisher=Capital Bikeshare|access-date=September 22, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101029164741/http://capitalbikeshare.com/| archive-date= October 29, 2010 | url-status= live}}

Arlington County is home to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which provides domestic air services to the Washington, D.C., area. In 2009, Condé Nast Traveler readers voted it the country's best airport.[http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/501691 "2009 Business Travel Awards from Conde Nast Traveler"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006090122/http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/501691 |date=October 6, 2009 }} Retrieved October 27, 2009. Nearby international airports are Washington Dulles International Airport, located in Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia, and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

In 2007, the county authorized EnviroCAB, a new taxi company, to operate exclusively with a hybrid-electric fleet of 50 vehicles and also issued permits for existing companies to add 35 hybrid cabs to their fleets. As operations began in 2008, EnvironCab became the first all-hybrid taxicab fleet in the United States, and the company not only offset the emissions generated by its fleet of hybrids, but also the equivalent emissions of 100 non-hybrid taxis in service in the metropolitan area.{{cite web|url=http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/10/20/all-hybrid-taxi-fleet-debuts-sunny-phoenix|title=All-Hybrid Taxi Fleet Debuts in Sunny Phoenix|publisher=GreenBiz|date=October 20, 2009|access-date=July 10, 2010}} The green taxi expansion was part of a county campaign known as Fresh AIRE, or Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions, that aimed to cut production of greenhouse gases from county buildings and vehicles by 10 percent by 2012.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/19/AR2007091902438.html|title=Arlinton County: Board Gives Go-Ahead to Eco-Friendly Taxicabs|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 7, 2007|access-date=July 10, 2010 | first=Kirstin | last=Downey}} Arlington has a higher than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 13.4 percent of Arlington households lacked a car, and dropped slightly to 12.7 percent in 2016. The national average is 8.7 percent in 2016. Arlington averaged 1.40 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.{{cite journal|title=Car Ownership in U.S. Cities Data and Map|journal=Governing|date=December 9, 2014 |url=http://www.governing.com/gov-data/car-ownership-numbers-of-vehicles-by-city-map.html|access-date=May 3, 2018}}

{{Further|Arlington Public Schools}}

File:Gmu law school.jpg's Antonin Scalia Law School]]

File:USS Arlington (LPD-24) underway in August 2014.JPG, the third U.S. Navy ship named for Arlington{{cite web|url=http://ingalls.huntingtoningalls.com/events/lpd24comm/index|title=LPD 24 Commissioning|access-date=May 28, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508144346/http://ingalls.huntingtoningalls.com/events/lpd24comm/index|archive-date=May 8, 2016}}]]

Arlington Public Schools operates the county's public K-12 education system of 22 elementary schools, six middle schools, Dorothy Hamm Middle School, Gunston Middle School, Kenmore Middle School, Swanson Middle School, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and Williamsburg Middle School, and three public high schools, Wakefield High School, Washington-Liberty High School, and Yorktown High School. H-B Woodlawn and Arlington Tech are alternative public schools. Arlington County spends about half of its local revenues on education. For the FY2013 budget, 83 percent of funding was from local revenues, and 12 percent from the state. Per pupil expenditures are expected {{when|date=April 2025}} to average $18,700, well above its neighbors, Fairfax County ($13,600) and Montgomery County ($14,900).{{cite web |url=http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/wabe/ |title=Washington Area Boards of Education |access-date=December 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530205425/http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/wabe/ |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

Arlington has an elected five-person school board whose members are elected to four-year terms. Virginia law does not permit political parties to place school board candidates on the ballot.{{cite web|url=https://www.apsva.us/school-board-members/ |title=School Board |publisher=apsva.us |access-date=February 13, 2018}}

Through an agreement with Fairfax County Public Schools approved by the school board in 1999, up to 26 students residing in Arlington per grade level may be enrolled at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax at a cost to Arlington of approximately $8,000 per student. For the first time in 2006, more students (36) were offered admission in the selective high school than allowed by the previously established enrollment cap.{{cite web| url= http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/mediapub/pressrel/tjhsstadmisstats2005-06.pdf| title= TJHSST Admissions Statistics for 2005–06| access-date= August 30, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060822061827/http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/mediapub/pressrel/tjhsstadmisstats2005-06.pdf| archive-date= August 22, 2006| url-status= dead| df= mdy-all}}

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington helps provide Catholic education in northern Virginia, with early learning centers, elementary and middle schools at the parish level. Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School is the diocese's Catholic high school within Arlington County.

Marymount University is the only university with its main campus located in Arlington County. Founded in 1950 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary as Marymount College of Virginia, both its main campus and its Ballston Center are located on North Glebe Road, with a shuttle service connecting the two.

George Mason University operates an Arlington campus in the Virginia Square area between Clarendon and Ballston. The campus houses the Antonin Scalia Law School, the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs, and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

In June 2011, Virginia Tech opened the Virginia Tech Research Center - Arlington in Ballston, providing a teaching and research base for graduate students in computer research and engineering to interact with organizations and research agencies in the National Capital area.[http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2011/06/062911-ncr-researchcenteropening.html "Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington opens to expand capability for scientific inquiry, extend university footprint in National Capital Region"] VT News. Retrieved October 1, 2011.

Rosslyn is a location for some of the University of Virginia's business programs, including McIntire School of Commerce Master of Science in the Management of Information Technology, and Darden School of Business Master of Business Administration (Executive/Global Executive).

Other private and technical schools maintain a campus in Arlington, including the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, the John Leland Center for Theological Studies, the University of Management and Technology, DeVry University. Strayer University has a campus in Arlington as well as its corporate headquarters.

Anthem Education Group, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Northern Virginia Community College, Troy University, the University of New Haven, and the University of Oklahoma all have campuses in Arlington.

Arlington Sister City Association (ASCA) is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Arlington County, Virginia. ASCA works to enhance and promote the region's international profile and foster productive exchanges in education, commerce, culture and the arts through a series of activities. Established in 1993, ASCA supports and coordinates the activities of Arlington County's five sister cities:{{cite web|title=Sister Cities|url=http://arlingtonsistercities.org/sister-cities/|publisher=Arlington Sister City Association|access-date=October 31, 2020|archive-date=October 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029155501/http://arlingtonsistercities.org/sister-cities/|url-status=dead}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• {{flagicon|GER}} Aachen, Germany
• {{flagicon|MEX}} Coyoacán (Mexico City), Mexico
• {{flagicon|UKR}} Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
• {{flagicon|FRA}} Reims, France
• {{flagicon|SLV}} San Miguel, El Salvador

{{div col end}}

File:Sandra_Bullock_in_July_2013.jpg]]

File:Couric.PNG]]

{{main|List of people from Arlington, Virginia}}

Notable individuals who reside or who have resided in Arlington County include:

• Patch Adams, social activist and physician
• Aldrich Ames, Soviet double agent
• Warren Beatty, actor
• Sandra Bullock, actress
• Katie Couric, television journalist
• Roberta Flack, musician
• John Glenn, former U.S. Senator and Mercury-Atlas 6 astronaut
• Al Gore, 45th U.S. vice president in the Clinton administration
• Grace Hopper, U.S. Navy rear admiral
• Robert E. Lee, Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War
• Shirley MacLaine, actress
• Jim Morrison, lead singer and songwriter, The Doors{{Cite web |title=Jim Morrison {{!}} Bigwig Digs |url=https://www.bigwigdigs.com/homes/jim-morrison/61 |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=www.bigwigdigs.com}}
• George S. Patton, U.S. Army general during World War IIJim Morrison:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Ravindranath|first1=Mohana|title=Jim Morrison's childhood home listed in Arlington|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2013/07/12/jim-morrisons-childhood-home-listed-in-arlington/|access-date=April 13, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|date=July 12, 2013}} }}{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Mark|title=Jim Morrison's Not So Happy Homecoming|url=http://blogs.weta.org/boundarystones/2013/06/10/jim-morrison%E2%80%99s-not-so-happy-homecoming|access-date=April 13, 2017|publisher=WETA-TV|date=June 10, 2013}}}}Al Gore:{{Hanging indent | {{cite magazine|last1=Fineman|first1=Howard|title=Al and Tipper Gore's Separation Isn't a Huge Surprise|url=http://www.newsweek.com/al-and-tipper-gores-separation-isnt-huge-surprise-214384|access-date=April 13, 2017|magazine=Newsweek|date=May 31, 2010}} }}Robert E. Lee:{{Hanging indent | {{Cite book|first=Michael|last=Fellman|title=The Making of Robert E. Lee|publisher=Random House|year=2000|isbn=0-679-45650-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/makingofrobertel00fell}}{{rp|24–25}} }}George S. Patton, Jr.:{{Hanging indent | {{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115225416/http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon14.pdf|archive-date=November 15, 2014|url=http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon14.pdf|title=The Many Faces of George S. Patton, Jr.|work=USAFA Harmon Memorial Lecture #14|first=Martin|last=Blumenson|year=1971|publisher=United States Air Force Academy|location=Colorado Springs, Colorado}} }}John Glenn:{{Hanging indent | {{cite web|author=Public Information Officer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822172833/http://library.arlingtonva.us/2012/02/14/john-glenn-first-arlingtonian-in-orbit/|archive-date=August 22, 2013|url=http://library.arlingtonva.us/2012/02/14/john-glenn-first-arlingtonian-in-orbit|title=John Glenn, First Arlingtonian in Orbit|work=Arlington County Library|publisher=Arlington County government|date=February 14, 2012|access-date=November 15, 2014}} }}Warren Beatty:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Dan|title=4 Famous People You Didn't Know Were From Arlington|url=https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/4-famous-people-you-didnt-know-were-arlington|access-date=April 13, 2017|publisher=Arlington Patch|date=October 14, 2016}} }}Sandra Bullock:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Dan|title=4 Famous People You Didn't Know Were From Arlington|url=https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/4-famous-people-you-didnt-know-were-arlington|access-date=April 13, 2017|publisher=Arlington Patch|date=October 14, 2016}} }}

Shirley MacLaine:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Dan|title=4 Famous People You Didn't Know Were From Arlington|url=https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/4-famous-people-you-didnt-know-were-arlington|access-date=April 13, 2017|publisher=Arlington Patch|date=October 14, 2016}} }}Katie Couric:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Dan|title=4 Famous People You Didn't Know Were From Arlington|url=https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/4-famous-people-you-didnt-know-were-arlington|access-date=April 13, 2017|publisher=Arlington Patch|date=October 14, 2016}} }}Roberta Flack:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Jessica|first1=Goldstein|title=Roberta Flack: From Arlington to stardom|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/roberta-flack-from-arlington-to-stardom/2012/10/18/5394ea7a-147e-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html|access-date=April 13, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|date=October 19, 2012}} }}Zac Hanson:{{Hanging indent | {{Cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/zac-hanson-21292563|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204234825/http://www.biography.com/people/zac-hanson-21292563|url-status=dead|title=Zac Hanson Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story|date=February 4, 2014|website=Biography.com|archive-date=February 4, 2014}} }}Patch Adams:

{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Dan|title=4 Famous People You Didn't Know Were From Arlington|url=https://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/4-famous-people-you-didnt-know-were-arlington|access-date=April 13, 2017|publisher=Arlington Patch|date=October 14, 2016}} }}Aldrich Hazen Ames:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Dan|title=4 Famous People You Didn't Know Were From Arlington|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/23/us/a-spy-s-story-in-a-world-of-many-sided-betrayal.html|access-date=January 10, 2021|work=The New York Times|date=February 22, 1994}} }}Grace Hopper:{{Hanging indent | {{cite news|last1=Markoff|first1=John|title=Rear Adm. Grace M. Hopper Dies; Innovator in Computers Was 85|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/03/us/rear-adm-grace-m-hopper-dies-innovator-in-computers-was-85.html|access-date=April 13, 2017|newspaper=NY Times|date=January 3, 1992}} }}

{{Portal|Virginia}}

• Arlington Hall
• Arlington Independent Media
• List of federal agencies in Northern Virginia
• List of neighborhoods in Arlington, Virginia
• List of people from Washington, D.C.
• List of tallest buildings in Arlington, Virginia
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Arlington County, Virginia

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{commons category}}

{{wikivoyage|Arlington (Virginia)}}

• {{official website|https://www.arlingtonva.us/}}
• [http://www.arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/ Arlington Historical Society]
• [https://projectdaps.org/ Project DAPS] – an online archive of primary sources related to School Desegregation in Arlington.
• [http://ghostsofdc.org/2012/02/16/why-is-it-named-arlington/ Why is it Named Arlington?] - history of the county's name

{{Geographic Location

|Centre = Arlington County, Virginia

|North = Washington, D.C.

|Northeast =

|East = Washington, D.C.

|Southeast =

|South = City of Alexandria

|Southwest = City of Falls Church

|West = Fairfax County

|Northwest = Fairfax County

}}

{{Arlington County, Virginia|state=collapsed}}

{{DCMetroArea|state=collapsed}}

{{Virginia|state=collapsed}}

{{District of Columbia|state=collapsed}}

{{Northeast Megalopolis}}

{{Virginia county seats and independent cities}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1801 establishments in Virginia

Category:History of the District of Columbia

Category:Northern Virginia counties

Category:Populated places established in 1801

Category:Virginia counties

Category:Virginia counties on the Potomac River

Category:Washington metropolitan area