Geographic-scope notice: Brightwood is not a separately-incorporated place in the U.S. Census Bureau's Place geography – it is either a neighborhood within a larger municipality (in District of Columbia) or a town-class subdivision in a state where the Census reports demographics at the town rather than place level. To avoid presenting county-level aggregates as city-level data, this page does not show synthetic Census or health figures for Brightwood. For the surrounding county aggregates, see the District of Columbia state directory.
City safety & data profile
BrightwoodDC
Brightwood, DC is a 18K-resident city in District of Columbia.
District of Columbia, District of Columbia. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Brightwood, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Brightwood has a population larger than 37% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks.
Data updated 2026-07-19
- 18K
- Population
- Top 63%
- By size
The read on Brightwood
Brightwood is one of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks.
The quick read
Reading Brightwood, DC beyond the headline numbers
Brightwood sits inside District of Columbia, District of Columbia, at roughly 38.96°N, -77.03°W. Population 17,624.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Brightwood from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Comparison bars benchmark each metric against the national reference.
Safety Context
Brightwood, DC is located in District of Columbia, District of Columbia. With a population of 18K, Safety alerts for the Brightwood area are monitored from federal and state agencies including FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC.
Safety Guides
Primary source data
EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data
Federal monitoring network, every measurement we report
AirNow - District of Columbia
Real-time AQI for every monitored District of Columbia location
National Weather Service
NOAA active watches, warnings, advisories
CDC Air Quality & Health
Health-impact reference for every AQI category
EPA NAAQS standards
National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the regulatory thresholds
Nearby Cities 8
Using Brightwood's profile
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Brightwood area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
- Compare Brightwood against District of Columbia peers on any ranking lens. Explore District of Columbia
Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (District of Columbia) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census, CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.