Ultra Wealthy To Live Near DC

You’ve probably seen those videos titled “Where the ultra wealthy live in DC.” They’re fun to watch, but if you’re a normal family relocating here, living next door to Bezos does absolutely nothing to help you figure out where your kids are going to go to school, where you can afford a home or whether you can get to work without crying on the Beltway.

So yes, I’ll tell you where a lot of that ultra-wealthy money tends to live around DC. But first I’m going to show you four real-people places where families with real budgets actually live: Silver Spring, Rockville, Alexandria, and Burke. If you care more about good schools and a sane commute than billionaire rooftops, you’re in the right place. Welcome to the non-BS side of DC real estate.

I’m Melissa Terzis, DC Real Estate Mama. I’ve been in DC-area real estate since 2001 and I help families buy and sell homes throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Real People Live in Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring is the most underrated place to live in the DMV. It’s not bougie, it’s not chaotic and it’s not wildly overpriced. It is a real community full of real people. Just because Silver Spring has an affordable price point, doesn’t mean you are “settling” by moving here. I’ve helped a lot of families move to Silver Spring. 

Silver Spring is where city energy meets suburban comfort. On a Saturday, you can hit the farmers market downtown, let the kids run around, and be home in 10 minutes for nap time. There’s a diverse a food scene and easy commuting to DC. Downtown is filled with restaurants, shops, the Fillmore music venue, and AFI Silver Theatre. Around the corner there are tree-lined streets in quaint, friendly neighborhoods with yards, parks, and playgrounds. 

There are basically three Silver Springs:

1) Close-in and Walkable
Near downtown you have a mix of houses, townhouses and condos. Many of the condos downtown are mid-century – built in the 1960’s. Some of the houses are original 1950’s, some are newer builds where a little 50’s house was torn down and “mcmansioned.”

2) Just Outside the Beltway
Cute neighborhoods like South Four Corners, Woodmoor, Forest Glen and Franklin Knolls are just outside 495. These are almost all 1950’s homes. You can walk to a neighborhood park and some shopping, but you will also use your car as well.

3) Northern Suburban
More traditionally suburban. If you’re fine driving to most things, then the northern parts of Silver Spring may work better for you. The houses are bigger, the lots are bigger but the commute is longer.

The big draw to Silver Spring is both affordability and location. It is getting harder to find anything inside or near the beltway for $600,000. But in Silver Spring, you can. Most homes in here were built in the 1950’s and 1960’s. They are “mid-century” but not your classic MCM. These are solid brick houses, usually ramblers or split levels.  The median price of homes sold in all Silver Spring zip codes this year is $550,000.

Commutes are another win. There are two metro lines that come through Silver Spring. There is the long-standing redline that runs north-south into DC. In a couple years, the purple line will be finished which is going to be a game changer for cross-county commutes. You are right near the beltway too, so one person in your household can easily commute to Baltimore and the other to DC. It’s hard to find areas in the DMV where that is possible.

Wallet Hub ranked Silver Spring as the #4 most ethnically diverse city in the United States. 

Sligo Creek Trail is a local favorite for biking, jogging, and dog walking. Brookside Gardens and Wheaton Regional Park are also gems for families and outdoor lovers. Brookside Gardens is within Wheaton Regional, and there is a selection of different areas to explore – everything from a Rose Garden to Children’s to Aquatic Gardens. And it’s free to go in! 

If you want a diverse, down-to-earth community, decent access to Metro, and you’re trying to stay around or under the $600k mark, Silver Spring should absolutely be on your list.

Real People Live in Rockville, Maryland

Rockville has been named, by various websites and publications, a “best” city for families, for women entrepreneurs, for young professionals as well as one of the best suburbs of Washington DC. Rockville is also a very diverse community as noted in the Housing Market Analysis Report commissioned by the City. The median sales price for homes in Rockville is $635,000.

Rockville is just north of Bethesda, outside the beltway. The redline metro services Rockville and 270 runs from Bethesda to Frederick. Fun Fact – F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are buried here.

Locally when people think of Rockville, they think of Rockville Pike, which is a main drag with every single store you could ever want in your life. Some people find this to be the epitome of the soul-sucking suburban life. Disclaimer: I personally love it. I lived in Rockville for a few years and I spent many of my weekends on Rockville Pike. 

If a main drag with a lot of traffic and big box stores isn’t your thing, I have good news. Rockville has dozens of neighborhoods, each with their own personality. Less urban than Bethesda, but not quite as suburban as Mayberry, I personally think there is so much to love about Rockville and pretty much everyone can find their home here. There is a mix of condos, townhomes and single-family homes. If you want to spend over $1M, you absolutely can, but it’s not required to secure a home here. Think of Rockville as the slightly more expensive big brother to Silver Spring. If you like the idea of every store under the sun within a short drive, strong schools, and you’re okay being a bit more car-dependent, Rockville is going to feel very comfortable.

There is a lot that happens in Rockville from food and art festivals and community events, farmers markets and tons of culinary options. There’s a lot of Asian Restaurants near downtown Rockville, and Peruvian, Latin, Greek – the choices are endless.

Schools here are well rated as well. One of the high schools, Richard Montgomery, offers the IB Program – Montgomery County’s first IB Program. Wootton has a well ranked STEM Program and is often on the top high school national lists.

Real People Live in Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria can mean two different things. Often people don’t know the difference until they live here. There’s Alexandria inside the beltway which is the City of Alexandria. Then there’s Alexandria that’s part of Fairfax County. The City of Alexandria is more expensive than the county. Alexandria in Fairfax County is where I’m speaking of today. There are several neighborhoods worth mentioning where the real people live.

Rose Hill & Virginia Hills are part of zip code 22310. The median sales price here is $677,000. These two neighborhoods are adjacent to each other and sit just south of the beltway. It’s a quick trip over to Old Town Alexandria, and easy access to get to 95 as well. These two neighborhoods were developed in the 1950’s so there is a lot of mid-century style here with the ramblers and split levels. 

There are shopping centers at the edges of these two neighborhoods but no true central shopping area unless you head over to Kingstowne where you’ll find almost everything! It’s also easy to get over to Route 1 where there is a ton of other shopping and dining options as well.

If you work in DC or at the Pentagon, want a yard and a 1950s rambler, but still like to pop over to Old Town for dinner, this pocket of Alexandria hits that sweet spot.

These aren’t the only areas of Alexandria where the real people live either. All the way east to the Potomac River, there are tons of neighborhoods filled with regular folk doing regular folk things – running kids to school during the week and sports on the weekends, commuting to work or working from home, mowing their lawn and chatting with neighbors.

Real People Live in Burke

Welcome to the suburbs. If you’ve been house hunting in Vienna or Arlington and your budget is maniacally laughing at you, check this out. Burke is the ‘we still get great schools and actual trees’ without your prices option. There are idyllic suburban neighborhoods in Burke. It is a nature lover’s paradise, best known for its parks and recreation activities and is very popular with families. People come for the schools. They are solid across the board – 7’s and 8’s on Great Schools and that includes the middle school! That never happens!

The median house price in Burke is $710,000. The price has risen quite a bit in recent years as people have been priced out of other, more expensive areas.

Burke Lake Park is one of the best parks in Northern Virginia. It was designated by the American Hiking Society as one of the top ten best fitness trails in the nation. The park and lake are spread out over 888 acres and have a ton of year-round activities and seasonal themes like Goblin Golf at Halloween and Winter Wonderland at the Holidays. 

Hidden Pond Nature Preserve is also in the Burke area.  They have a variety of camps and programs. They also have weekend birthday nature parties that feature a hike in the woods and an interactive animal session.  In October they have the Haunted Pond event that features campfires, a twilight walk through the woods, and scary and not-so-scary ghost story sessions.

Burke has many shopping centers spread throughout the area, but the most notable is Burke Centre Shopping Center. It has so many stores, but Kohl’s and Safeway are the two anchors. It has a very strong history in the community and has been a vital hub for Burke. Other grocery stores include Giant Food, H Mart and Lidl. 

The Burke Farmers Market runs from late April until the end of December.  It is on Saturdays and features so many vendors. They have everything from the typical vegetables and fruit to sweets, premade meals, pastries, bread and so much more!

Where the Real People Live

You will not see me doing helicopter tours of billionaire rooftops or standing in front of rented Lambos. But, if you’re genuinely shopping at $5M and up, you’re probably looking in DC Neighborhoods like Kalorama, Georgetown, Wesley Heights, Palisades or Kent. If Maryland or Virginia is your preference then Bethesda and McLean are where you want to be. 

What you will find here is real information for real people moving to or within DC, Maryland and Virginia. You are smart people trying to make smart decisions, not just drool over mansions neither of us will ever buy.

If you are trying to figure out where your budget and your life actually fit in this area, all my info is below. Reach out, tell me your story, and I’ll help you narrow this whole area down to 2–3 neighborhoods that actually fit your budget and your life – not where the ultra wealthy park their toys twice a year.