At A Glance: Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Maryland, offers a suburban contrast to city life in nearby Washington, D.C.
The county dates back to the early 17th century, when John Smith first explored the land around the Potomac River, and takes its name from Revolutionary War Gen. Richard Montgomery.
Today, Montgomery County is home to 18 federal government agency headquarters and almost 60 federal government agencies. The Food and Drug Administration’s main campus and laboratory site encompasses 130 acres of the General Services Administration’s 670-acre campus in Silver Spring and the Department of Energy has a main office in Germantown, Maryland.
Montgomery County also boasts some of the best public schools in the U.S. Rockville, Potomac and Bethesda’s high schools top the list of the best public high schools in Maryland. The county is also home to one of the prestigious Sidwell Friends School’s two campuses.
A commitment to resident safety, elite education systems and proximity to downtown D.C. makes Montgomery County an attractive location for Washingtonians, as long as they can tolerate the traffic.