Nation's capital presents microcosm of U.S.

Washington— Home to the nation's capital and spreading into West Virginia as well as Virginia and Maryland, the Washington D.C. metro area presents a microcosm of the nation itself, with enclaves of both extreme wealth and extreme poverty, as well as a diverse mix of races and ethnicity and education. The metro area has more than twice the percentage of black and Asian households than the nation as a whole, and about half the percentage of Hispanic households.

During the five years between 2004 and 2009, the D.C. metro area is expected to increase its population of children between the ages of 0 and 5 by 5%, while the teen population is expected to increase even more, up 11%. Projections for kids product spending are slightly slower than for the nation as a whole.

Overall, in 2004 the D.C. metro area ranked fourth in the nation in terms of median household income, and fifth in its population with graduate degrees.

Important to kids retailers, it ranked seventh among the nation's 934 metropolitan and micropolitan areas (metro areas have a core urban area of 50,000 or more while the core area of a micropolitan area is under 50,000) in sales of infant nightwear and loungewear, as well as in the sale of toys, dolls and games, and it ranked eighth in infant accessory sales. It was in the top 20% in sales of both infant furniture and gear, as well as youth furniture.