District of Columbia cost of living
Prices in District of Columbia run at 109.9 against a national average of 100, which makes it the 3th most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 155.0.
Where the difference actually is
District of Columbia is one of the most expensive places the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures, at 109.9 against a national 100, ranking #3 of 51 states. Being 9.9 per cent above national is the sort of gap that changes which job offers are worth taking.
Housing is doing nearly all of the work. Rents sit at 155.0 while goods sit at 106.5, a gap of 45.1 points between what it costs to live somewhere and what it costs to buy things. That pattern is the single most useful thing the parity series shows: the cost of a place is the cost of its housing. Goods at 106.5 are themselves 6.5 points off national, which is a wide gap for a category that is mostly shipped in.
The practical use of this number is converting pay between places. Take any salary quoted here, divide by 109.9, multiply by 100, and you have what it would need to be nationally to leave you equally well off.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for District of Columbia, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| District of Columbia | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $724,600 |
| Median gross rent | $1,900 a month |
| Median household income | $106,287 |
| Average electricity bill | $152 a month |
| Effective property tax | 0.58% |
Everything about District of Columbia Property tax by county Salaries
Metro areas in District of Columbia
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | 108.9 | 104.8 | 151.1 | #15 |
District of Columbia cost of living: common questions
Is District of Columbia expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 9.9% above the national average, at a parity of 109.9 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #3 of 51. Goods run at 106.5, rents at 155.0 and other services at 112.8.
What is a salary in District of Columbia really worth?
The median wage there is $88,000. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $80,073 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In District of Columbia rents sit 45.1 points above the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.