Northwest (NW or N.W.) is the northwestern
quadrant of
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, the capital of the United States, and is located north of the
National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...
and west of
North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast quadrants of the city.
Route description
North Capitol Street begins at D Street in Lower ...
. It is the largest of the four quadrants of the city (NW,
NE,
SW and
SE), and it includes the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
, the
Federal Triangle
Federal Triangle is a Triangle, triangular area in Washington, D.C., formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large c ...
, and the museums along the northern side of the National Mall, as well as many of the District's historic neighborhoods.
Politically, Northwest is made up of parts of Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, with Wards 1 and 3 being the only wards located entirely within the quadrant. The Northwest is the wealthiest quadrant of the city, particularly west of
16th Street.
Demographics
The population of Northwest is 340,531, based on the data collected in the latest U.S. Census Bureau release. The population is 48.33% male, and 51.67% female. There are 146,397 households, with 57,445 being family households, and 88,951 being non-family households.
Geography

Northwest Washington, D.C., includes the following 58 neighborhoods:
*
Adams Morgan
Adams Morgan (abbreviated as AdMo) is a Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in the city’s Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest quadrant. Adams Morgan is noted as a historic hub for Counterculture of ...
*
American University Park
American University Park is a Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., named for American University. AU Park, as it is often abbreviated, is situated against the Maryland border in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., No ...
*
Barnaby Woods
*
Berkley
*
Bloomingdale
*
Brightwood
*
Burleith
*
Cathedral Heights
Cathedral Heights is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. Primarily residential, the neighborhood has a commercial corridor of shops and restaurants along Wisconsin Avenue. Cathedral Heights is named for Washington Nation ...
*
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...
*
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
*
Cleveland Park
Cleveland Park is a residential neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C.
It is located at and bounded approximately by Rock Creek Park to the east, Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues to the west, Klingle and Woodley Roads to the sou ...
*
Colonial Village
*
Columbia Heights
*
Crestwood
*
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
*
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...
*
Embassy Row
Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded ...
*
Foggy Bottom
Foggy Bottom is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, located in the city's northwest quadrant. It stretches west of the White House towards the Potomac River, north of the National Mall, east of Georgetown, south of the West ...
*
Forest Hills
*
Foxhall
*
Friendship Heights
*
Georgetown
*
Glover Park
*
Hawthorne
*
Judiciary Square
*
Sheridan-Kalorama
*
Kalorama Triangle
*
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
*
LeDroit Park
*
Logan Circle
*
Manor Park
*
Massachusetts Heights
Massachusetts Heights is a small neighborhood in Northwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed ...
*
McLean Gardens
*
Mount Pleasant
*
Mount Vernon Square
Mount Vernon Square is a town square, city square and neighborhood in the Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest Address (geography)#Quadrants, quadrant of Washington, D.C. The square is located where the following streets would otherwise inters ...
*
Mount Vernon Triangle
*
NoMa
Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to:
Places
* NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US
** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro
* Noma, Florida, US
* NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England
* Noma District, ...
*
North Cleveland Park
*
North Gate
*
Observatory Circle
*
The Palisades
*
Park View
*
Penn Quarter
*
Petworth
*
Pleasant Plains
*
Shaw
*
Shepherd Park
*
Sixteenth Street Heights
Sixteenth Street Heights is a large neighborhood of terraced house, rowhouses, duplex (building), duplexes, and American Craftsman and American Foursquare detached houses in Washington, D.C. (northwest), Northwest Washington, D.C.
Geography
Def ...
*
Spring Valley
*
Takoma
*
Tenleytown
Tenleytown is a historic neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest, Washington, D.C.
History
In 1790, locals began calling the neighborhood "Tennally's Town" after area tavern owner John Tennally. Over time, the spelling has evolve ...
*
Truxton Circle
*
U Street Corridor
*
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
*
West End
*
Woodland Normanstone
*
Woodley Park
*
Woodmont
Landmarks

Northwest contains many college campuses, including
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
,
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
,
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
,
Howard University
Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
, and the
University of the District of Columbia. Northwest also contains many primary and secondary schools, many of which are public schools administered by
DCPS (District of Columbia Public Schools). There are 44 DCPS institutions in Northwest, as well as many private schools, including
St. John's College High School,
Sidwell Friends School,
Gonzaga College High School,
Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and
Georgetown Day School, among others.
The
Capital One Arena, home of the
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...
, the
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...
, and the
Georgetown Hoyas as well as the venue for many concerts and other events, is located in the District's
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
in Northwest. The
National Cathedral National Cathedral may refer to:
* Iglesia Filipina Independiente National Cathedral, a cathedral of the Philippine Independent Church in Manila
* National Cathedral of Ghana, a planned interdenominational cathedral in Accra
* National Cathedral ...
, the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
,
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along Rock Cr ...
, and
Embassy Row
Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded ...
are also located in this quadrant.
Transportation

Northwest is bounded by the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...
on the west,
Western Avenue and
Eastern Avenue to the north,
North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast quadrants of the city.
Route description
North Capitol Street begins at D Street in Lower ...
to the east, and the National Mall to the south. Other principal roads include
Connecticut Avenue between Chevy Chase and the White House,
Wisconsin Avenue
Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. The southern terminus begins in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. Wisco ...
between Friendship Heights and Georgetown,
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...
between Georgetown and the
Capitol,
K Street,
Massachusetts Avenue (home to Embassy Row), and
16th Street.
Northwest is served by all six lines of the
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...
: the
Orange,
Silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
,
Red,
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
,
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...
, and
Green Lines. Many
Metrobus lines run through the quadrant.
See also
*SW –
Southwest, Washington, D.C.
*SE –
Southeast, Washington, D.C.
*NE –
Northeast, Washington, D.C.
References
{{Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Geography of Washington, D.C.
Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.