Boeing is the biggest aircraft maker in the U.S. and one of the largest defense contractors in the world. To be closer to the center of power in defense contracting, Boeing moved its headquarters near Washington, D.C.
Here’s when Boeing moved its headquarters around the Washington, D.C. area and why.
Where is Boeing’s headquarters?
Boeing is based in Arlington, Virginia, and has made the city its global headquarters since 2022. The company first opened an office there in 2014, a 4.7-acre campus in the Crystal City neighborhood.
Why did Boeing move its headquarters to Virginia?
The aerospace and defense company picked the location to be “close to Boeing’s global customers and stakeholders.” Arlington is about 4 miles from Washington, D.C., and even nearer to the Pentagon.
While its commercial airplane division remains a significant source of revenue, defense contracts are a major contributor to sales for its defense, space, and security segment.
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Boeing’s revenue in 2025 totaled $89.5 billion in 2025, up by more than a third from 2024.
Being said in its 2025 annual report that it gets “a substantial portion of [its] revenue from the U.S. government, primarily from defense-related programs with the United States Department of War (DoW) and contracts with other government agencies, including NASA.”
Its defense sales include weapons, the F/A-18 Hornet and F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft, and the MQ-25, which is an autonomous carrier-based refueler.
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How many people work at Boeing’s headquarters?
While Boeing has more than 150,000 employees in the U.S. (which accounts for 85% of its global workforce), only a small percentage work in Arlington. Its Arlington office mainly advocates for Boeing’s initiatives with the U.S. government, and employees engage with key government officials to “inform them about issues of importance to the company.”
Virginia Business reported in 2022 that Boeing’s Northern Virginia office was employing around 400 people.
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How many times has Boeing moved its headquarters?
Boeing has been in Arlington since 2022, which in the span of its 110-year history, is brief. Before Arlington, Boeing was headquartered in Chicago from 2001 to 2022. Before its Chicago base, Seattle, Washington, served as the company’s headquarters since it was founded in 1916, when it began making small airplanes.
The Seattle area remains a significant place for commercial aircraft production. The headquarters for Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is in the St. Louis, Missouri region, where it produces defense aircraft and munitions. In 2017, Boeing moved its defense unit to Arlington from St. Louis, where it had been since 1997. But in early 2026, it moved the unit back to St. Louis to be closer to its manufacturing facilities.
What are the features of Boeing’s headquarters?
Boeing’s Arlington headquarters is a six-story office complex of about 450,000 square feet and is adjacent to Long Bridge Park, according to ARLnow, a local news website.
Related: Boeing’s tumultuous company history: 12 CEOs in 11 decades
