How much house can I afford in Washington, DC?

The practical answer

The DC area — the DMV, spanning the District, Northern Virginia (NoVa), and suburban Maryland — is really three tax regimes sharing one housing market. Where you buy changes your income tax, your property tax, and therefore how much house the same salary supports.

A worked example: a couple earning $320,000 in the District with $280,000 invested, keeping a $50,000 cushion, $350/month condo fee, on a 30-year fixed at 6.5%, models out to roughly a $1.4M home with about $150,000 down and a payment near $8,700/month — or about $1.0M if they insist on fully protecting their $1.4M long-term wealth goal.

• DC's effective property tax (~0.65%) is among the lowest in the region; Arlington and Fairfax in NoVa run ~0.8–0.9%, Montgomery County, MD ~0.9%.
• Income tax flips the ranking: DC brackets reach 8.5%+ while Virginia tops out at 5.75% — the same $320k household keeps thousands more per year in Arlington than on Capitol Hill.
• Federal pay, contractor income, and security-clearance job stability make DMV lenders comfortable with aggressive DTI — the calculator's conservative scenario is a useful counterweight.
• From Capitol Hill to Bethesda to Alexandria, condo/HOA fees vary widely and directly reduce the mortgage you can carry.

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