Senior Home Care in Northern Virginia

The most common definition of Northern Virginia includes the independent cities and counties on the Virginia side of the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget^[10] within the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

Most narrowly defined, Northern Virginia consists of the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford as well as the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg,

Businesses, governments and non-profit agencies may define the area considered “Northern Virginia” differently for various purposes. Many communities beyond the areas closest to Washington, DC also have close economic ties, as well as important functional ones, to Northern Virginia, especially regarding roads, railroads, airports, and other transportation.

As of April 2020 there were 3,197,076 people in Northern Virginia; approximately 37 percent of the state’s population.^[33]

These population counts include all counties within Virginia that are part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area or the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget^[10] within the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

Of the 3,159,639 people in Northern Virginia in the 2019 estimates, 2,776,960 lived in “central” counties, or those counties and equivalent entities as delineated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget as forming part of the urban core of the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. These counties include Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford and the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg

An additional 390,679 people lived in counties of the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area or the Baltimore-Washington Combined Statistical Area not considered “central.” These counties, largely considered exurban or undergoing suburban change, include Clarke, Culpeper, Frederick, Madison, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Warren, and the independent city of Winchester.

In addition, there are counties outside of the Washington Metropolitan Area that under more broad definitions are referred to as being part of Northern Virginia. The University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service categorizes King George County as part of Northern Virginia, though the county was removed from the Washington Metropolitan Area in 2003.^[34] King George County and Orange County also include areas, such as Lake of the Woods, where the cross-commuting interchange with the Washington Metropolitan Area is high enough to merit inclusion in the Metropolitan Area,^[35] although more far-flung parts of these counties still cause the county-wide commuter interchange to fall below the threshold for inclusion in the Washington Metropolitan Area or Washington-Baltimore Combined Statistical Area. The demographic figures above do not include population counts for these two counties.

The region’s large shopping malls, such as Potomac Mills and Tysons Corner Center, attract many visitors, as do the region’s Civil War battlefields, which include the sites of both the First and Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas and the Battle of Fredericksburg in Fredericksburg.^{[79][circular reference]} Old Town Alexandria is known for its historic churches, townhouses, restaurants, gift shops, artist studios, and cruise boats. The waterfront and outdoor recreational amenities such as biking and running trails (the Washington and Old Dominion Rail Trail leads all the way from Alexandria to the foothills of the Blue Ridge; the Mount Vernon Trail and trails along various stream beds are also popular), whitewater and sea kayaking, and rock climbing areas are focused along the Potomac River, but are also found at other locations in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. Scenic Great Falls Park and historic Mount Vernon (which opened a new visitor center in 2006) are especially noteworthy. The Government Island park and quarry in Stafford County has views of the Potomac River, and Aquia Creek and also is where the building materials for the White House, and United States Capitol are from.^{[80][circular reference]} Also in Stafford County are historic places such as George Washington‘s boyhood home Ferry Farm^{[81][circular reference]}, Civil War headquarters and plantation Chatham Manor^{[82][circular reference]}, and artist Gari Melchers Home & Studio.^{[83][circular reference]}

Arlington National Cemetery is located in the area, as is the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the National Air and Space Museum that contains exhibits that cannot be housed at the main museum in Washington due to space constraints. Many concerts and other live shows are held at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, a setting which has attracted many famous productions over the years.^[84]

Alexandria city, Arlington County, Clarke County, Culpeper County, Fairfax city, Fairfax County, Falls Church city, Fauquier County, Frederick County, Fredericksburg city, Loudoun County, Madison County, Manassas city, Manassas Park city, Prince William County, Rappahannock County, Spotsylvania County, Stafford County, Warren County, Winchester city