Following are the top five think tanks based on events held. The Wilson Center dominates the competition, with an average of 58.7 events held per month.
- Wilson Center: 58.7
- Brookings: 26.1
- Heritage: 22.1
- CSIS: 22.0
- AEI: 17.6
Top 50 DC Think Tanks
(ranked by popularity)| Rank | Organization | Website | Annual Contributions | Annual Expenses | Average Events/Month | Alexa Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heritage Foundation | heritage.org | $73,957,186 | $80,378,250 | 22.1 | 17,105 |
| 2 | Council on Foreign Relations | cfr.org | $47,654,800 | $50,731,317 | 10 | 45,172 |
| 3 | Cato Institute | cato.org | $39,253,053 | $23,648,195 | 11.3 | 58,117 |
| 4 | Brookings Institution | brookings.edu | $86,934,790 | $88,922,671 | 26.1 | 69,560 |
| 5 | RAND | rand.org | $250,987,982 | $266,873,864 | 1.5 | 74,123 |
| 6 | Center for American Progress | americanprogress.org | $36,517,866 | $33,727,128 | 7.2 | 93,527 |
| 7 | US Institute of Peace | usip.org | $24,447,975 | $30,284,229 | 16.2 | 102,152 |
| 8 | World Resources Institute | wri.org | $47,451,943 | $40,533,012 | 2.7 | 120,700 |
| 9 | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | cbpp.org | $28,029,778 | $26,380,857 | 0 | 120,798 |
| 10 | Center for Strategic and International Studies | csis.org | $39,138,159 | $30,114,700 | 22.0 | 121,560 |
| 11 | Urban Institute | urban.org | $73,294,793 | $64,700,749 | 3.9 | 130,185 |
| 12 | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | carnegieendowment.org | $20,916,398 | $28,289,710 | 9.6 | 130,791 |
| 13 | Freedom House | freedomhouse.org | $41,448,447 | $41,450,257 | 0.7 | 140,721 |
| 14 | American Enterprise Institute | aei.org | $34,577,193 | $29,030,559 | 17.6 | 147,673 |
| 15 | New America Foundation | newamerica.net | $15,836,375 | $15,695,563 | 14.5 | 160,620 |
| 16 | Center for Economic and Policy Research | cepr.net | $1,661,756 | $1,872,717 | 0.6 | 182,966 |
| 17 | Family Research Council | frc.org | $13,064,417 | $12,952,734 | 2.2 | 201,933 |
| 18 | Economic Policy Institute | epi.org | $6,573,520 | $6,426,906 | 1.6 | 211,790 |
| 19 | Institute for National Strategic Studies | ndu.edu | N/A | N/A | 0.2 | 222,452 |
| 20 | Pew Charitable Trusts | pewtrusts.org | $283,445,062 | $278,982,877 | 0.8 | 227,455 |
| 21 | Mercatus Center | mercatus.org | $11,602,622 | $10,770,500 | 232,751 | |
| 22 | Atlantic Council of the United States | acus.org | $7,995,306 | $7,416,161 | 4.4 | 241,398 |
| 23 | Center for Global Development | cgdev.org | $18,457,280 | $9,720,926 | 6.6 | 241,467 |
| 24 | Aspen Institute | aspeninstitute.org | $69,095,692 | $66,067,040 | 4.7 | 244,165 |
| 25 | Woodrow Wilson Center | wilsoncenter.org | $16,452,666 | $20,218,504 | 58.7 | 262,671 |
| 26 | Center for a New American Security | cnas.org | $5,846,959 | $5,237,667 | 1.1 | 276,938 |
| 27 | National Democratic Institute | ndi.org | $130,207,368 | $130,086,031 | 1.1 | 281,883 |
| 27* | The Washington Institute | washingtoninstitute.org | $$8,646,154 | $8,460,571 | 302,920 | |
| 28 | German Marshall Fund | gmfus.org | $40,856,014 | $38,617,770 | 0.1 | 385,636 |
| 29 | National Endowment for Democracy | ned.org | $136,692,723 | $136,760,415 | 4.1 | 430,951 |
| 30 | Jamestown Foundation | jamestown.org | $1,493,626 | $1,175,343 | 0.4 | 443,154 |
| 31 | Benton Foundation | benton.org | $786,529 | $317,936 | 4.4 | 450,397 |
| 32 | East-West Center | eastwestcenter.org | $2,371,918 | $723,157 | 1.5 | 464,555 |
| 33 | Institute for Policy Studies | ips-dc.org | $2,943,472 | $4,080,221 | 9.1 | 513,650 |
| 34 | International Institute for Strategic Studies | iiss.org | $1,342,151 | $694,724 | 0.8 | 538,426 |
| 35 | German Historical Institute | ghi-dc.org | 2.0 | 541,287 | ||
| 36 | Peterson Institute for International Economics | iie.com | $7,460,008 | $11,354,424 | 584,689 | |
| 37 | Bipartisan Policy Center | bipartisanpolicy.org | $21,798,883 | $18,895,309 | 3.5 | 632,991 |
| 38 | Heinrich Boell Foundation | boell.org | N/A | N/A | 0.4 | 708,003 |
| 39 | Institute for the Study of War | understandingwar.org | $1,190,641 | $1,674,281 | 0.2 | 724,696 |
| 40 | Competitive Enterprise Institute | cei.org | $4,247,228 | $4,332,971 | 1.3 | 751,059 |
| 41 | Demos | demos.org | N/A | N/A | 1.3 | 758,381 |
| 42 | Resources for the Future | rff.org | $11,018,135 | $14,061,919 | 4.5 | 788,437 |
| 43 | Hudson Institute | hudson.org | $9,804,595 | $10,635,441 | 7.9 | 805,630 |
| 44 | Migration Policy Institute | migrationpolicy.org | $8,140,018 | $5,025,840 | 0.7 | 829,490 |
| 45 | Information Technology and Innovation Foundation | itif.org | $2,471,944 | $2,205,616 | 3.5 | 877,534 |
| 46 | Al-Hewar Center | alhewar.com | 1.1 | 881,945 | ||
| 47 | Foreign Policy Research Initiative | fpri.org | $1,575,411 | $1,483,384 | 0.8 | 896,363 |
| 48 | Century Foundation | tcf.org | N/A | N/A | 0.9 | 952,913 |
| 49 | International Foundation for Electoral Systems | ifes.org | $94,754,333 | $92,489,758 | 0.7 | 985,497 |
| 50 | Middle East Institute | mei.edu | $2,482,504 | $2,291,776 | 4.8 | 1,106,498 |
