The ongoing battle to land the new FBI headquarters has prompted a tussle between Maryland and Virginia about where most of the bureau’s staff actually live, the Washington Post reports.
According to a previously unreleased study from 2012 by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Maryland is the most popular home for headquarters employees.
“Based on commuting data of the Census block groups of the current FBI location, we estimate that 43.2% of current FBI headquarters employees reside in Maryland, 33.4% in Virginia and 17.4% in DC,” the report states. ” Outside of Washington DC, the largest number of commuters resides in Montgomery County (16.4%), Prince George’s County (16.3%) and Fairfax County (15.4%).”
The Washington Post reports that residency is important and could give Maryland the advantage.
But little could be gained from an income tax standpoint.
“The only way that Maryland would gain income tax revenue from FBI employees would be if they relocate from either D.C. or Virginia,” wrote the Maryland researchers, in their report. “Currently, 75 percent of workers around the FBI headquarters commute from within a 25-mile radius and would be unlikely to relocate. Very few of the current FBI workers would be likely to relocate to Maryland in the near term.”
