Alexandria is part of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and is located eight miles southwest of DC. The city is a center of growing high-technology firms, management consulting companies, professional services, and trade and professional association headquarters.

In fact, Alexandria is fourth in the United States for the number of associations headquartered in the city, like Pentagon Federal Credit Union and DCS Corporation, which is included on the Top 50 employers of Alexandria. In total, they employ nearly 11,000 people. This certainly does not hurt the fact that the D.C.-Alexandria-Arlington Area was named the best place to find work by Forbes, as its unemployment rate is also low. Additionally, the city offers the The Alexandria Small Business Development Center to assist small businesses.

More than 19,000 people live and work in Alexandria, which is about 14 percent of the metro population. Additionally, there are more than 50,000 Alexandrians that commute to D.C. and surrounding areas, which is a little more than 40 percent of the population.

Getting Around the Area

Alexandria is conveniently located along I-495, or the Capital Beltway, and I-395 on the western side of the city provides a direct route to D.C. Other major routes, like U.S. Highway 1 and State Route 236, are located here. Alexandrians also have access to the Virginia Railway Express, or VRE, and the Alexandria Union Station, an Amtrak and VRE station. The bus system, DASH, DC’s METRO bus and the blue and yellow lines of the D.C. Metro also offer commuter options.

Airports

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is less than a mile away in Arlington County, VA. It is a part of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and is a major commercial domestic airport. The airport serves flights coast to coast, in addition to seasonal international destinations, such as Halifax, Canada and Bermuda. Ronald Reagan serves more than 850 flights daily and includes airlines such as Delta, U.S. Airways, Jet Blue and Air Canada.

Dulles International Airport is also part of the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority. The international hotspot has 22 carriers that fly to 43 international destinations including London, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Moscow and others. A little less than 400 weekly flights depart from Dulles on airlines such as Delta, American Airlines, Virgin America, British Airlines, Continental Airlines and other specialized airlines. The airport also flies domestically on airlines such as Southwest Airlines.

See a list of top employers in Alexandria, VA.