The 2026 edition
Your insider’s read on the neighborhoods, the commutes, the tax codes and the schools of Northern Virginia, Washington, DC and suburban Maryland. Written for someone who has never been here.
“The DMV isn’t one place. It’s a collection of small cities, each with its own personality, rhythm and price tag. Pick the personality first.”
Kevin Bailey
Fifteen places that feel nothing alike. Tap any one for the vibe, Kevin’s take, the typical value and how you would get to work. The price tier comes straight from that typical value: $ under $600k, $$ under $800k, $$$ under $1M, $$$$ at $1M and above.
Three Metro stops on the Clarendon to Ballston corridor, wall-to-wall restaurants, and a straight shot into DC at Virginia tax rates. The densest, most urban feel Virginia has to offer.
If you want to walk to dinner and still pay Virginia taxes, this is the answer. Condos and townhomes dominate; a detached house here is a real prize.
Cobblestone streets, a working waterfront, and rowhouses that have stood since before the Revolution, with a King Street restaurant scene that keeps it from feeling like a museum.
The most European square mile in the region. Buyers fall for the brick sidewalks first and the water taxi to the Wharf second.
Langley, embassies, and some of the largest lots inside the Beltway. Privacy and acreage matter more than walkability here.
The Potomac bluffs and wooded lots. If you want acreage twenty minutes from the White House, the search usually ends here.
One of the country’s original planned communities, with pools, lakes and trails built into the bones of the place, now sitting right on the Silver Line into the Dulles tech corridor.
If you want trails out the back door and the Silver Line close by, start here.
New construction and newer neighborhoods, Ashburn especially. Silver Line access to DC now runs straight through it, which changed the commute math for good.
Newer homes, bigger garages, and the wineries and horse country start where the subdivisions stop.
Loudoun’s value play: the same Silver Line access as Ashburn at a real discount, with golf courses and Potomac riverfront neighborhoods most out-of-towners never hear about.
The best kept secret in Loudoun. Lowes Island and Cascades sit on the river and the golf course, and most relocating buyers never hear of them.
The DMV’s largest county by population: mature neighborhoods, every kind of house, and a commute to almost anywhere in the region.
Vienna for the town feel, Burke for the lake, Springfield for the value. Pick the commute first; the neighborhood follows.
Two square miles and a walkable downtown. Falls Church City punches far above its size, which is exactly why it holds its value.
Two square miles that behave like a village and price near the top of this list. Inventory is thin; when the right house lists, move.
The DMV’s affordability release valve: more house and more yard for the dollar, with commuter rail into DC and a fast-growing job base of its own.
Where a Fairfax budget buys a Fairfax house and a yard. Gainesville and Bristow on the west side; Lake Ridge and Montclair on the east.
The furthest edge of the DMV commuter map and still one of the best value stories in the region: a historic downtown, VRE rail into DC, and room to grow.
A real downtown with a river, a college, and the lowest prices on this list. The VRE ride is long; the house is worth it for many.
Victorian rowhouses with turrets and bay windows on one side of the street and the city’s best restaurant row on the other. The neighborhood most DC newcomers picture when they picture DC.
The rowhouse blocks off 14th and P are the prettiest in the city. The typical value sits where it does because the housing stock here is mostly condos, many of them studios and one-bedrooms in converted mansions; the rowhouses themselves trade far above it.
The dome at the end of the street, Eastern Market on Saturday, and painted rowhouses with iron railings on every block. Historic protection keeps it looking exactly like this.
Prices and house types change block by block; the rowhouses around Eastern Market and Lincoln Park sit closest to the market and the Metro.
New glass towers on the Anacostia and the Potomac, a ballpark, a boardwalk, and restaurants that did not exist ten years ago. The newest neighborhood in the city, and it feels like it.
Almost entirely condos with amenities: pools on the roof, a gym on the third floor. Best if you want to walk to Nationals Park. The Wharf sits in Southwest Waterfront, a separate market with its own figure.
A walkable downtown of restaurants and shops, ten minutes from the DC line on the Red Line, with some of the region’s highest home prices around it.
Bethesda runs close to 80 percent above the county-wide typical value, and Chevy Chase runs higher still. If you price this area off a Montgomery County number you will be off by a wide margin.
The more artistic and budget-friendly version of the same Red Line access: a real downtown, a music venue, weekend markets, and Takoma Park’s tree-canopy bungalows.
Takoma Park itself runs higher, about $673,000, and is the region’s most walkable small town that nobody from Virginia has visited. Bungalows, porches, and a co-op grocery.
Typical home values are Zillow’s August 2026 figures (June 2026 for the five places priced by their own figure). Most rows are the same numbers on Kevin’s market pages. Logan Circle, Capitol Hill, Navy Yard, Bethesda and Silver Spring use Zillow’s figure for that place rather than the city- or county-wide one, because the wider figure is not what those five cost. The line under each value names what the value covers.
Swipe the table for the schools and the feel of each place.
| Area | Typical value | A year ago | Schools | Vibe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArlingtonClarendon to Ballston | $807k | +0.8% | Arlington | WalkableHigh-energyMetro-close |
| Old Town Alexandriaand the waterfront | $678k | +1.8% | Alexandria City | HistoricWaterfrontWalkable |
| McLean and Great Falls | $1.46MMcLean | +2.5% | Fairfax County | PrivateWoodedLarge lots |
| Reston and Herndon | $625kReston | +0.3% | Fairfax County | Master-plannedTech corridorLakes and trails |
| Loudoun CountyAshburn and Leesburg | $795k | +1.4% | Loudoun County | Fast-growingData center corridorNew construction |
| Sterling and Potomac Falls | $586kZIP 20164 | +1.8% | Loudoun County | ValueBig yardsGolf and waterfront |
| Fairfax CountyVienna, Springfield, Burke | $761k | +0.9% | Fairfax County | EstablishedCentralCommuter hub |
| Falls Church City | $1.16M | +4.9% | Falls Church City | Small-city gemWalkable villageMetro-close |
| Prince William CountyManassas and Woodbridge | $581k | +1.1% | Prince William County | AffordableFast-growingNew construction |
| Fredericksburg and Stafford | $470kFredericksburg City | +1.6% | Fredericksburg City and Stafford County | Historic charmCommuter valueRapid growth |
| Logan Circle and 14th Street | $564kLogan Circle | −0.4% | DC public and charter | TrendyArchitecturalCulinary |
| Capitol Hill | $901kneighborhood | +0.6% | DC public and charter | HistoricPoliticalIconic |
| Navy Yard and the Wharf | $602kNavy Yard | −3.3% | DC public and charter | WaterfrontModernLive-work-play |
| Bethesda and Chevy Chase | $1.12MBethesda | −1.0% | Montgomery County | PolishedWalkable downtownRed Line |
| Silver Spring and Takoma Park | $541kSilver Spring | −1.1% | Montgomery County | ArtisticMusic and marketsGreen |
Values are the Zillow Home Value Index, mid tier, August 2026 (June 2026 for the five place figures). Most rows come from Kevin’s market pages, refreshed monthly. The Logan Circle, Capitol Hill and Navy Yard figures are Zillow Research’s published neighborhood ZHVI file and the Bethesda, Silver Spring and Takoma Park figures its city file, all as published September 16, 2026 (zillow.com/research/data). Every home and street is different; this is a starting point, not a quote.
“The region is flat to slightly up across most of Northern Virginia and slightly down in the District and Montgomery County. That is a normal market, not a falling one: well-priced homes near Metro still go in a weekend, and everything else rewards a buyer who is patient about inspections and credits. Price discipline matters more than it has in five years.”
The four things locals know about getting around here.
The extension opened in November 2022 and runs to Dulles Airport and Ashburn. Reston, Herndon and Loudoun ride straight into DC without touching a highway. It changed the commute math for the whole western half of the region.
Drivers pick up strangers at designated Park and Rides to meet the HOV-3 rule on I-95 and I-395, and everyone rides the Express Lanes for free. Pentagon City, Horner Road and Tackett’s Mill are the busy lots. The one rule: do not talk to the driver unless they speak first.
The George Washington Memorial Parkway between Alexandria and North Arlington is a National Park road, not a highway: no stoplights, no trucks, and the monuments across the river the whole way. Sunrise is the show.
Live in DC or Arlington, work in the Dulles tech corridor, and drive against the traffic both ways: the city life without the city commute.
Where you buy decides what you keep. The general structure, verified July 2026 against the state revenue departments and title-company guides; a lender or title company gives the exact figures for any real transaction.
No estate tax, and no local income tax surcharge anywhere in the state. That is, for most incomes, the lowest overall tax load of the three.
First-time DC buyers can qualify for a reduced recordation rate on the first $400,000. Ask before assuming the worst case; it is real money.
The county piggyback tax is the line item relocating buyers never see coming. Montgomery County sits near the top of the county range, so a high earner’s combined rate can pass 9%.
For most incomes, Virginia carries the lowest overall tax load of the three. DC has the lowest property tax rate and makes it back on transfer taxes the day you buy. Maryland’s county income tax is the surprise for relocators. A local CPA before the offer, always.
Every district named in this guide, with the enrollment its state or district publishes, the source of that figure and the year it covers. Virginia, Maryland and DC each publish a school report card, and those are the place to compare schools.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Official enrollment, September 30, 2025. Montgomery County Public Schools.
Audited public enrollment, October 6, 2025: 51,528 in DCPS and 47,825 in public charter schools. OSSE.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Fall membership, school year 2024-2025. Virginia Department of Education.
Day tuition for the 2026-27 school year, each figure the one the school publishes itself: Flint Hill in Oakton, $44,845 for grades JK-6 and $56,965 for grades 9-12. The Potomac School in McLean, $47,175 for kindergarten through grade 3 and $54,750 for grades 9-12. Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, $47,450. Sidwell Friends in DC, $55,250 for preK-2 and $62,330 in the upper school. National Cathedral School in DC, $59,760. St. Albans in DC, $59,938 for grades 4-12.
Visit before you decide, public or private. Read the state report card first, so the tour can answer what the data cannot.
Fairfax County groups its schools into high school pyramids, each one a high school with the middle and elementary schools that feed it. Four of them cover the Fairfax County places in this guide: the South Lakes pyramid, built on South Lakes High School in Reston; the Herndon pyramid, on Herndon High School in Herndon; and the McLean and Langley pyramids, on McLean High School and Langley High School, both in McLean (fcps.edu/resources/maps). Pyramid lines run street by street, so the county’s boundary locator, not the town name, is what settles an address (boundary.fcps.edu). Loudoun County assigns by attendance zone rather than by pyramid; its Attendance Boundary E-Listing returns the schools for any address (lcpsplanning.com/loudounlabel). The City of Fairfax owns its four school buildings and Fairfax County Public Schools operates them under a School Services Agreement first signed in 1962 (cityoffairfaxschools.org). In the District, DC Public Schools assigns a neighborhood school by address, and out-of-boundary DCPS seats and public charter seats are filled through one common lottery, My School DC (myschooldc.org). Virginia enrollment is fall membership counted September 30, 2024 and published on the Virginia Department of Education’s School Quality Profiles (schoolquality.virginia.gov), the most recent year posted there; Maryland’s is the Montgomery County Public Schools official enrollment report run November 11, 2025 for the September 30, 2025 count; the District’s is the OSSE 2025-26 enrollment audit (osse.dc.gov/enrollment).
Five ways people live here. Pick the one that sounds like you, and the guide narrows to three places worth a first look.
Fifteen minutes with Kevin turns this into a real shortlist. Email Kevin and he replies himself.
Fifteen minutes, no pitch: which of these places fit your budget and your commute. Know someone else making the move? Send them to Kevin.
The information in this guide, including market values, tax structures, school figures, commuter tips and neighborhood descriptions, is compiled from sources believed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate, complete or current, and is for general information only. It is not a substitute for independent research or professional advice. Kevin Bailey, eXp Realty and affiliated parties make no representations or warranties about it and are not liable for decisions made in reliance on it. Consult licensed professionals, including a real estate agent, a lender, a CPA and school officials, before any real estate or relocation decision.