Bethesda Retail Report 2023

With more than 28,000 homes averaging over $1 million, Bethesda is one of the most renowned communities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Known as a go-to place for a variety of restaurants, great shopping and many other trendy hot spots, Bethesda has become a premier site for retailers as it draws customers not only from surrounding neighborhoods, but from the greater Washington metropolitan area as well. Bethesda Row, the submarket’s prime retail neighborhood, is located just off the Capital Crescent Trail in between heavily-trafficked Wisconsin Avenue and Arlington Road, with proximity to the Bethesda Metro station off the Red Line providing convenient connections to downtown Washington D.C. and other parts of the region. With a residential population reaching over 68,000 and a median household income at nearly $185,000, Bethesda remains among the most affluent submarkets in all the Mid-Atlantic compared to the regional median household income of $113,904 of more than 6.5 million people.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Bethesda retail has been one of the stars of the entire Washington, D.C. metro region in comparison to other submarkets in the area. Bethesda remained resilient during the peak of uncertainty and shows continued strength as we enter a post-pandemic world. The Live-Work-Play atmosphere paired with a wealthy population that collectively has a discretionary spending total over $1.5 billion, allowed Bethesda to avoid many of the pandemic pitfalls that other urban submarkets are still dealing with to this day.