D.C. is under an invasion. And no, not an invasion of body snatchers, but of millennials.

According to a close analysis of new Census data and reports, the D.C. metropolitan area is now the most popular area in America for millennials. The Wall Street Journal reports that, between 2010 and 2012, the D.C. metropolitan area, which includes the surrounding suburbs in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia (?), “saw an average annual net gain of 12,583 people [between] the ages [of] 25 to 34.” This is the biggest gain in the country.

Of course, this boom comes after the recession, wherein D.C. was ranked number 33 in the country during 2007-2009 for millennials (a time when words “millennial” and “hipster” were not yet used in every other New York Times article). The analysis suggests that the millennial boom in the D.C. area is due in part to the changing of administrations, as well as “a handful of thriving ‘knowledge-based’ or high-tech economies that are jumping up the attractive-to-Millennial charts.”

Following D.C. are many of the long-standing “hip” cities for young people; Denver, Portland, Houston, and Austin. The data also suggests that, while D.C. has seen a significant gain in millennials in recent years, the 25-to-34-year-old-demographic isn’t moving around as much as it seems like, and it’s actually the nation’s seniors that are getting a serious case of wanderlust:

While younger people tend to move a lot more than older people, their migration numbers look especially muted when compared with the nation’s seniors, Brookings’ Mr. Frey said. This so-called “risk aversion” makes sense: The housing crash and 2007-2009 recession were especially hard on Millennials, since many were knee-deep in debt, having just bought homes at the top of the market or splurged on educations. Younger people also tend to have less cash in the stock market, which plunged 37% in 2008 but has since notched records. Even though the economy improved a bit last year, the share of young adults living with their parents edged up.

No word on what Courtland Milloy thinks about all this yet, but one can guess.