Washington, District of Columbia Cost Of Living

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Overall 52%

Goods & Services 22%

Housing 135%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Washington	District of Columbia	National
Cost of living	152	152	100
Goods & Services	122	122	100
Groceries	116	116	100
Health care	93	93	100
Housing	235	235	100
Transportation	108	108	100
Utilities	116	116	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Washington is equal to the District of Columbia average
The cost of living in Washington is 52% higher than the national average
Washington housing is 135% higher than the national average
District of Columbia general sales tax is 13% higher than the national average
District of Columbia state income tax is 62% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$118,203	$9,850	$2,758	$3,546
Renters	$49,113	$4,093	$1,146	$1,474

The affordability of the housing market in Washington, DC as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Washington homeowners, the median income is $118,203. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $2,758 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $49,113. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $1,146 for their rent related monthly costs.

District of Columbia Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
District of Columbia	5.75%	5.75%

District of Columbia Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
District of Columbia	4%	8.95%

Goods & Services

Item	Washington	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$23.96	$17.49	37.0%
Beauty Salon	$63.61	$38.17	66.6%
Toothpaste	$3.05	$2.32	31.4%
Shampoo	$1.35	$1.01	33.4%
Movie	$13.92	$10.72	29.8%
Bowling	$20.61	$13.86	48.7%

Groceries

Item	Washington	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.49	$3.90	15.1%
Fried Chicken	$1.76	$1.40	26.1%
Milk	$2.45	$1.96	24.9%
Potatoes	$4.51	$3.18	41.7%
Pizza	$11.06	$10.39	6.4%
Beer	$10.26	$9.23	11.2%

Health Care

Item	Washington	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$79.25	$106.34	25.5%
Doctor	$109.41	$115.25	5.1%
Dentist	$94.14	$98.38	4.3%
Ibuprofen	$10.29	$9.26	11.1%
Lipitor	$402.41	$466.47	13.7%

Housing

Item	Washington	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$506,100.00	$184,700.00	174.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$3,689.97	$1,273.32	189.8%
Apartment Rent	$1,362.00	$949.00	43.5%

Transportation

Item	Washington	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.82	$2.59	8.8%
Tire Balancing	$53.69	$48.90	9.8%

Utilities

Item	Washington	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$214.22	$167.60	27.8%
Phone	$181.68	$163.42	11.2%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Rose Hill CDP (Lee County), VA	708	91	-9%
Woodlawn CDP (Carroll County), VA	2,247	93	-7%
Wakefield town, VA	810	98	-2%
Belle Haven town, VA	562	101	1%
Cottage City, MD	1,209	109	9%
Washington, DC	659,009	152	52%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Boston, MA	658,279	145	45%
Memphis, TN	655,857	79	-21%
Denver, CO	663,303	114	14%
Seattle, WA	668,849	158	58%
Nashville, TN	643,771	95	-5%
Washington, DC	659,009	152	52%

Source: The Washington, DC cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.