What state is Washington DC under, or in?

Washington DC is not in any state. It occupies its own federal territory - the District of Columbia - bordered by Maryland on three sides and by Virginia to the south across the Potomac River. The land was carved from both states in 1790, but DC has been its own legally distinct jurisdiction ever since, governed by Congress rather than any state government.

DC isn't in a state - here's why

The reason Washington DC is not a state goes back to the founding of the United States. Leaders feared that placing the capital inside a single state would give that state too much power over national affairs, so the solution was to create a neutral federal district, governed by Congress. The legal basis comes from Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which authorizes Congress to establish a district to serve as the seat of government.

Washington DC was founded on July 16, 1790, as the capital of the United States, through the Residence Act passed by Congress. Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, which included the pre-existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria. President Washington shaped the boundaries so Virginia would contribute one-third of the land and Maryland would contribute the other two-thirds.

Congress established a 100-square-mile territory to serve as the permanent seat of the federal government, later named the District of Columbia, within which the city of Washington was built. To define the exact boundaries, surveyor Andrew Ellicott and his assistants, including Benjamin Banneker, surveyed four straight lines, each 10 miles long. Those 40 boundary stones still exist today, scattered along the DC-Maryland line.

Virginia's land came back; Maryland's didn't

In 1846, the portion of the district located south of the Potomac River was returned to Virginia. That area is now Arlington County and the city of Alexandria. Today, all of the District of Columbia sits on land originally ceded by Maryland. Maryland's cession, though, was permanent. The land that now forms Washington DC originally belonged to Maryland, but it was permanently ceded to the federal government. Maryland does not govern DC, and DC is not subject to Maryland state laws.

So what's on each side of DC today?

Washington DC sits on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern border with Virginia, and it borders Maryland to its north and east. Three rivers flow through or along it: the Potomac and its tributaries Rock Creek and the Anacostia.

The metro region surrounding DC - often called the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) - is a single economic and cultural zone even if the legal lines are sharp. The Washington metropolitan area covers nearly 4,000 square miles and encompasses 10 counties: five in Maryland (Montgomery, Prince George's, Frederick, Charles, and Calvert) and five in Virginia (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Stafford, and Prince William).

DC residents and their rights

DC is not part of any U.S. state, and the capital district is under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress. That has real consequences for the people who live there. The nearly 700,000 residents of Washington DC do not have full voting representation in Congress, even though they are American citizens, pay federal taxes, and serve in the military.

They do vote for president. In 1961, the Twenty-Third Amendment gave District of Columbia residents the right to vote in national presidential elections - a right that was ratified when Ohio approved the amendment. The District gets three electoral votes in the Electoral College. On November 3, 1964, DC residents voted in a presidential election for the first time since 1800.

Washington DC remains a territory, not a state, and since 1974 it has been governed by a locally elected mayor and city council over which Congress retains the power of veto.

The statehood push

DC statehood is an active political fight, not an abstract debate. The District has more people than Vermont and Wyoming and historically a large Black population - a point statehood advocates raise constantly. On June 26, 2020, H.R. 51 - the Washington DC Admission Act - passed the House by a vote of 232-180, the first time a chamber of Congress had passed such legislation. On April 22, 2021, the House passed the DC statehood bill a second time, 216-208. The Senate has not passed it.

The bill would create the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, from most of DC's territory, while designating a separate Capital area to continue hosting federal government functions. That framework would convert DC's local government into a state government with two U.S. senators and one representative, eliminating the nonvoting delegate status currently held by DC's House representative.

Sources

• The Hotel Washington: What State Is Washington DC In?
• Britannica: Washington, DC
• Virginia Places: Virginia-District of Columbia Boundary
• FindLaw: Twenty-Third Amendment
• DC Statehood: Congress
• Brennan Center for Justice: DC Statehood, Explained
• Not Bored in DC: Which State is Washington DC In?