From the Director: Numbers
I have always liked numbers, statistics. I think it is natural to want to count things, measure them, compare one against another (baseball player, community, etc.). That is why top ten lists are so popular. Out of context, numbers can be meaningless; they usually require a narrative or storyline that makes an important point. This column has no such point, it is just a list of some of the numbers that relate to the Arlington economy. You can make up your own story.
3.1% – The unemployment rate in Arlington in April 2012. This compares to 5.4% in Virginia and 7.7% in the nation.
48 – Consecutive months of month over year job growth in Arlington.
17.0% – The top 19 private employers (0.2% of total) provide 17% of all jobs.
52% – Percent of office space leased by 3.4% of Arlington’s largest tenants.
12.9% – Office vacancy rate in May 2012.
1,416,727 – Square footage of commercial space currently under construction to go along with 9,024 housing units and 183 hotel rooms.
5,089,787 – Square footage of office space currently in review along with 1,567 hotel rooms.
2,089,787 – Square footage of office space leased by GSA in BRAC-impacted buildings with leases expiring in 2013 or later.
122% – Median sales price of an Arlington home compared to the Northern Virginia median; up from 103% in 2007.
49% – The share of Arlington real estate tax revenues assessed to the commercial sector.
52.7% – The percent of all own-source taxes that Arlington collects from the commercial sector.
1.40% - Ratio of tax-supported GO debt to assessed value; Arlington’s policy is not to exceed 4.0%.
7 – Arlington’s ranking in the top ten hotspots for the rich and single.
39% - percentage of those aged 18-34 who either live with their parents or had moved back with their parents due to economic conditions – the “Boomerang Generation” (this is a national statistic but I think it applies locally).
57% - households within a ten minute walk of a grocery store.
400,000+ – number of people buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
6,502 – Number of subsidized affordable housing units in Arlington.
36 – Number of communities with triple-AAA ratings (out of 346 that receive all three ratings).
