Living in Maryland or Virginia

Are you thinking about moving to the DC Suburbs but you’re not sure if you want Maryland or Virginia? You’re not the only one! I get asked this question a lot about which side of the river is right for people. There is a lot to consider, and things constantly change. Which one is right for you? What does the future hold for these two very different states?

I’m Melissa Terzis, DC Real Estate Mama and I’ve been in DC Area Real Estate since 2001. I help people like you buy and sell homes throughout DC, Maryland and Virginia. Shoot me a message if you want to chat.

A quick disclaimer: When I speak of Maryland, it’s Montgomery County. In Virginia, the areas I serve are Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax Counties so these are the areas on which I am focused in this video.

The Future of Real Estate in Maryland and Virginia

There was a day pre-covid where large homes and large yards were avoided like the plague. But then the plague arrived, and it drastically changed what people want “home” to look like. 

The simple fact that there is more business in Northern Virginia naturally translates to more demand for homes there. I don’t expect this to change anytime soon – unless Maryland can somehow start attracting more employers to the state. And that won’t happen. Maryland ranks 47th of the 50 states for business operation expense – meaning, 46 states are less expensive than Maryland in which to run a business. 

Maryland ranks 31st overall for business operations on CNBC’s 2024 list. Virginia ranked first. In 2025, Virginia dropped to #4 behind North Carolina, Texas and Florida. Maryland is at 32.   

In Maryland, there is less demand per house. There is also such a thing as “overpricing” as we’ve seen many homes sitting for a month or two when they didn’t in more pre and post-covid competitive days.

There’s truly no clear winner here because it depends on what you are looking for in a lifestyle and a home. I have plenty of clients who look in both Maryland and Virginia and it boils down to where the best house and schools are for them.

The Outrage: Gas Appliances

Do you like gas? I’m not talking about the kind that comes out your butt. I’m talking about your stove with gas cooking, or your car that takes gasoline? Well, if you’re in Maryland, watch out. They’ve banned gas appliances in new construction and the ban on gas appliances is supposed to start in 2026. There are lawsuits – many lawsuits, but you can bet that Maryland is headed in this direction. 

Virginia has rumblings of conversations regarding gas leaf blowers in Alexandria, but that’s it. The gas leaf blowers were banned in Montgomery County by the way as July 1, 2025. You can report people for using gas leaf blowers and they will get fined $500. This sort of big-brother-is-watching and neighbors who report you is common in Montgomery County. They love their laws and regulations and people love reporting their neighbors for things. This is why we live in DC. My husband would never live in Virginia because he’s from Baltimore and I won’t move to Maryland. It may be totally inefficient in DC, we may have government officials get convicted of fraud and embezzlement and then get re-elected by the people they failed, we may have rampant crime, but we aren’t Maryland. And we know how to drive. 

Maryland & Virginia Taxes

Maryland has a county income tax in addition to the state income tax. This adds another 3% to your income taxes if you live in Maryland. Virginia just has the state income tax. There’s no additional taxing at the county level in Virginia, aside from vehicles which are taxed as personal property. The financials seem to work out better for many people moving to Virginia for those reasons. This is another reason housing remains strong.

Maryland has a history of raising taxes and not having a balanced budget. They just instituted a bunch of tax increases. Montgomery County specifically increased recordation taxes for properties above $500,000. So, like almost all of them? Yes. Exactly.

Virginia currently has a Republican Governor who has proposed reductions on income taxes and the personal property tax. But, they still get you in Virginia because they have other taxes like “congestion relief” on real estate transfers. And that tax goes into the thousands. 

Public Schools

CNBC’s 2025 list ranks education as well. Maryland is at #11, Virginia is at #1. Can’t beat that!

Public Schools in Maryland

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has had several rough years. I put a video out earlier this year about all the issues currently at play. I covered the prior Superintendent and the lack of reporting on repeated sexual harassment issues, weapons in the schools and the loss of some really great teachers because of everything happening. The new Superintendent has been in his job for a year now. 

The new Superintendent is on the side of more transparency, having more decisions made at the school level and not at the administrative level. Changes are being implemented this next school year. One big change is regarding the grading policy. MCPS has been rounding up grades (and very generously.) Two quarters where a student earned an “A,” and then a “D” would average to a “B” once the “D” was rounded up to a “C.” They also had a “minimal effort” grade of 50%, which to most people would really be a zero on the assignment. This is gone as of the 2025-26 school year. 

MCPS also revised their Code of Conduct, strengthening punishments for certain infractions. No more can you call in a Bomb Threat or assault a teacher and be punished at the Level 1 slap-on-the-hand. This would automatically elevate your punishment to a Level 4 or 5. 

Coming up later this year, the School Board is going to vote on a new “Regional Model” for school choice and academic programs so that the offerings are spread out in a better way geographically. The high schools would be divided into groups and then each group would offer 1-2 different program themes. Themes include IB, STEM, Leadership/Public Service, Humanities/Language and arts.

Another huge potential change would be the two High School Consortia would convert to Regional Models as well. The Consortia are groups of high schools that provide students a preference who live in the boundary area for the Consortia.  

As far as scandals, there have been a few big ones. The school district paid $1.3M to the last Superintendent who resigned after criticism of mishandling a long-running sexual harassment issue with one of the school Principals. 

Then just this summer, the Principal of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (BCC) resigned. BCC had several bad years on his watch – bomb threats, students with weapons at school, lockdowns and now a lawsuit that cost the school board $518,000. The principal sent a letter to the entire school community saying a teacher made a racist comment and it was a “hate-bias” incident. Except he MADE PART OF THE QUOTE UP. That teacher, by the way, went to teach at Whitman. The principal is now an Assistant Principal at a middle school. 

Public Schools in Virginia

All Northern Virginia Schools are under investigation by the Department of Education for their policy of allowing students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.

Fairfax County

Fairfax County is installing weapons detectors at all county high schools this year. There were weapon-detectors at just 5 high schools, which is how a student was able to stab a classmate at West Potomac High this past year. All high schools will now have them as of the upcoming school year. 

The big news though is the redistricting process. The way it was first set up was an immediate school change unless the student was going into 12th grade – then they could stay at their current school. Now they are phasing it in, so that anyone who has a couple years left at a school can remain in their school even if they’ve been redistricted.

Arlington

Over in Arlington, they just arrested an Instructional Aide who is alleged to have had sexual contact with a student at Washington-Liberty High School. This is a repeat of what happened at Wakefield High School in late 2024. Different aide, different student, same crime.

The School Board for Arlington Public Schools doesn’t have the years of experience that other boards may. Two members were new in 2025, and the other three have three years or less experience. One of those is not seeking re-election this year. 

Arlington is reported to spend the most per student of all the Northern Virginia counties, but it also has the highest proportion of administrators to students compared to other counties. It’s more top-heavy than it might need to be, but smaller districts also have similar administrator to student ratios as Arlington. Loudoun and Prince William Counties are not as top-heavy per student.

Alexandria City Public Schools

Well. It’s not great over here. This district has lagged behind all others in Northern Virginia for years. There are always chances for it to improve, but then…it doesn’t. The elephant in the room in my opinion is the high school. The city has only one high school and the enrollment across 9-12 is 4500. That isn’t a high school. That’s a college campus! 

You can see a great recap of the most current issues by referencing the letter the PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association) sent to the ACPS School Board. “…our concerns are more broadly about an emerging pattern of behavior by Central Office that has resulted in high levels of turnover within Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) over the past two years. This includes the loss of seven veteran principals – two of whom left immediately after winning Principal of the Year accolades – as well as an alarming number of staff at the Chance for Change campus and a consistent outflow of science, long-term English Language Learner and Special Education teachers to Arlington and Fairfax…We are concerned not only by the loss of Principal Duncan, but by a pattern of indifference from Central Office that harms retention and recruitment at ACHS and across the division. As one City Councilman has noted, “this level of turnover signals something fundamentally broken in ACPS’s Central Office…reform is badly needed.”

That should tell you what you need to know. I would not count on Alexandria’s schools to turn around at any point soon without some sort of “Come to Jesus” meeting of the minds. 

There you have it! The latest about what’s expected for the future of Maryland and Virginia!