# Federal agencies not headquartered in the DC area **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2016, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137 "2016-11-16T07:52:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/1 "2016-11-16T07:52:53Z")
What federal agencies are **not** headquartered in the Washington DC area? Excluded from this question are regional subdivisions of agencies and military units. So far I’ve come up with only two: 1. CDC (Dekalb County, Georgia, near Atlanta) 2. Social Security Administration (Woodlawn, MD, a suburb of Baltimore) Yes, I know that Baltimore is essentially in the same metro area as DC, but it wasn’t when the Social Security Admin was founded back in the 1930’s. Anyway, are there any others? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/2 "2016-11-16T08:13:11Z")
Does the Tennessee Valley Authority count? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/3 "2016-11-16T08:26:09Z")
The Railroad Retirement Board is headquartered in Chicago. The 12 Federal Reserve Banks are headquarters in their respective cities. The various DOE National Laboratories are all over the place - Los Alamos, Sandia, Berkeley, Idaho, Chicago, Oak Ridge, etc. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in North Bethesda, about half an hour from DC. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/4 "2016-11-16T09:30:07Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Does the Tennessee Valley Authority count? No. It’s actually not a federal agency, but rather a federally-owned corporation. > [@friedo](#): > > The Railroad Retirement Board is headquartered in Chicago. Excellent. Exactly what I was looking for. > [@](#): > > The 12 Federal Reserve Banks are headquarters in their respective cities. Aren’t they also federally-owned corporations? Or owned by the ordinary banks in their regions? > [@](#): > > The various DOE National Laboratories are all over the place - Los Alamos, Sandia, Berkeley, Idaho, Chicago, Oak Ridge, etc. OK. Those are good. > [@](#): > > The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in North Bethesda, about half an hour from DC. That’s part of the Washington Metro area, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/5 "2016-11-16T09:38:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Aren’t [the Federal Reserve Banks] also federally-owned corporations? Or owned by the ordinary banks in their regions? Kinda. They’re organized as shareholder corporations, but the shares are not ordinarily transferable and don’t entitle the member banks who own them to any particular management rights. They are _de facto_ government regulatory bodies despite their somewhat wacky organization. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/6 "2016-11-16T10:01:27Z")
If they’re _de facto_ regulatory bodies, then they’re _de facto_ regional agencies. So I’m going to reject them on that basis. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/7 "2016-11-16T10:24:25Z")
The Bureau of Public Debt in Parkersburg, WV. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/8 "2016-11-16T10:27:24Z")
Be precise about how far away something has to be to be outside the D.C. area. You say that the Social Security Administration is not in the D.C. area, but the Nuclear Regulatory Agency is. How about the National Security Agency, which is usually considered to be right on the border between being in the D.C. area and the Baltimore area? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/9 "2016-11-16T11:40:09Z")
There 's actually a [Washington Metropolitan Area](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_metropolitan_area)(WMA) that’s distinct from the Baltimore Metro Area (although there’s also a [Combined Metro area](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore%E2%80%93Washington_metropolitan_area) for them). I’m looking for HQs outside the WMA. The NSA is on Fort Meade, which is in Anne Arundel County, which is in the Baltimore Metro Area. So it counts, although it’s pretty marginal. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/10 "2016-11-16T12:00:04Z")
Distinguishing between the Washington Metropolitan Area and the Baltimore Metropolitan Area based on crossing the line between Prince George’s County and Anne Arundel County is arbitrary. I’ve driven back and forth between the two counties thousands of times in my life, and there’s no place where you can say that you go from the suburbs of one city to the suburbs of another. Any possible answer to your question in the OP has to depend on an arbitrary distinction. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/11 "2016-11-16T12:06:43Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Any possible answer to your question in the OP has to depend on an arbitrary distinction. And he provided that arbitrary distinction in answer to your specific request for one, so who cares? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/12 "2016-11-16T14:09:57Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If they’re _de facto_ regulatory bodies, then they’re _de facto_ regional agencies. So I’m going to reject them on that basis. This makes no sense. Regulation is not necessarily regional. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/13 "2016-11-16T16:09:00Z")
Not sure what the goal is but the DoE labs are not in DC but the DoE headquarters are. If you count the labs you have opened up counting each military base and federal court. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/14 "2016-11-16T16:13:17Z")
Did you miss the word “headquartered” in the OP _title_? ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/15 "2016-11-16T16:18:53Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Did you miss the word “headquartered” in the OP _title_? Assuming that was in response to me… No. But DoD is “headquartered” in the Pentagon. The 82d Airborne Div is “headquartered” at Ft. Bragg. When a subordinate entity counts as being a separate thing headquartered outside of DC and when it is just part of the larger entity headquartered in DC is not clear. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/16 "2016-11-16T16:26:31Z")
Yes it is. The 82nd airborne is not a Federal agency. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/17 "2016-11-16T16:41:40Z")
I figured one answer would be NASA. I thought their official headquarters would be in Houston or Florida, possibly Greenbelt Maryland at the Goddard Space Flight Center (just outside of the beltway). But no it’s in [D.C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Headquarters) With all the time I spent in D.C. I’m surprised I never saw that building. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/18 "2016-11-16T16:46:49Z")
Would you say the CDC is a Federal agency? As mentioned in the OP, it’s in Atlanta, GA. But the CDC operates under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is HQd in Washington, DC. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/19 "2016-11-16T16:52:41Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Yes it is. The 82nd airborne is not a Federal agency. It is not but agency isn’t a well defined term for the government. If the individual DoE labs are counted, it is a valid question as to when subordinate entities are counted. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137/20 "2016-11-16T17:45:45Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > It is not but agency isn’t a well defined term for the government. If the individual DoE labs are counted, it is a valid question as to when subordinate entities are counted. Which only makes it evident that the question is insufficiently bounded and imprecise. Bureaucracies are hierarchical. How far down the hierarchy is an “agency” in the context of the OP’s interest? This needs to be defined, or else you get pointless tautological stuff like the “Headquarters of the Kansas City FBI Field Office is in Kansas City”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-agencies-not-headquartered-in-the-dc-area/772137.md?page=2)