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DC metros

Cost of living across major DC metropolitan areas.

What living in DC costs

Across the 1 DC metro we track, the typical cost-of-living index is 109.5 against a national metro median of 95.7 — about 14% pricier than the typical US metro. That ranks DC 46 of the 48 states we cover, counting from the cheapest.

A typical DC home costs $583,013, or about 4.9× median household income, and typical rent is $2,416/mo.

Taxes in DC

DC levies a state income tax on top of the federal one. Effective property tax runs about 0.9% of home value in a typical DC metro, and combined state and local sales tax is around 6%.

Property tax is the one that scales with housing, so it bites hardest in the pricier metros above. Per-metro figures are on each metro page.

MetroCOL indexMedian homeMedian rent
Washington, DC 109.5 $583,013 $2,416

Cities & towns in DC (1)

Local property tax, home values and school scores for each place.