DC income tax rate: brackets and how DC compares with Maryland and Virginia

At a glance

What is the DC income tax rate?

DC taxes income in seven brackets, from 4% on the first $10,000 to 10.75% on income above $1 million. That top rate is the highest in the Washington area: Maryland's top state rate is 6.5% plus a county tax, which is 3.2% in Montgomery County, and Virginia's is 5.75%.

For someone choosing where to buy, the rate matters more than it looks, because it cancels out DC's lower property tax. On a $3 million house with the DC homestead deduction, DC's property tax is about $8,357 a year below Fairfax County's. Once your taxable income passes about $330,700, DC's higher income tax eats that saving, and above that line the same house costs less to hold each year in Fairfax. Below it, DC wins.

DC income tax brackets

These brackets have applied to tax years beginning after December 31, 2021, and no later change appears in the DC Code. OTR publishes one table for every filing status, so a married couple filing jointly uses the same brackets as a single filer. That's a real difference from Maryland, whose joint brackets are wider: a two-income couple reaches DC's 10.75% bracket at $1 million of combined taxable income, the same point a single filer does.

Up to $60,000: 4% to 6.5%

The lower brackets are close to Virginia's and Maryland's. The differences that matter for a buyer in Northwest Washington start higher up.

$60,000 to $250,000: 8.5%

This is the bracket where DC pulls ahead of both neighbors. At $250,000 of taxable income DC charges $19,650 and Virginia $14,117.50.

$250,000 to $1 million: 9.25% and 9.75%

These two brackets were added in 2022. Before then DC's rate above $350,000 was 8.75%, so a household in this range pays noticeably more than it did five years ago.

Over $1 million: 10.75%

Before 2022 DC's top rate was 8.95%. The 2022 change raised it by 1.8 points for every dollar above $1 million.

Capital gains

DC taxes capital gains as ordinary income, with no separate rate and no surcharge. A gain on a stock sale or a second home lands in the same brackets as salary.

Who has to pay DC income tax?

Anyone domiciled in DC

You're a DC resident for the year if you're domiciled here at any time during it. Domicile is your permanent home, and it's decided by facts, not by a single item like voter registration.

Anyone who keeps a home here 183 days or more

You're also taxed as a resident if you maintain an abode in DC for 183 or more days of the year, even with a domicile elsewhere. Buying a Georgetown house as a second home while keeping your main home in another state is the case to check with a CPA.

Commuters from Maryland and Virginia

People who live in Maryland or Virginia and work in DC don't pay DC income tax. That's not a reciprocal agreement: the Home Rule Act, a federal law, bars the DC Council from taxing the personal income of anyone who isn't a DC resident. Commuters pay their own state instead.

How do I calculate my DC income tax?

Find your DC taxable income, find its bracket in the table, then add the fixed amount to the percentage of the excess. Three examples:

• $100,000: $3,500 + 8.5% of $40,000 = $6,900.
• $400,000: $19,650 + 9.25% of $150,000 = $33,525.
• $1,000,000: $42,775 + 9.75% of $500,000 = $91,525.

That answers the DC part of "how much is $100,000 after taxes in DC": $6,900 of DC tax on $100,000 of DC taxable income. Federal income tax and payroll taxes come on top and are the same wherever you live.

What's unsettled for 2026

DC's taxable income starts from federal figures, and in 2025 federal law changed the standard deduction and the treatment of tips and overtime. In December 2025 DC passed an act decoupling from some of those changes, and Congress moved to disapprove it. As of October 2026 the final position for tax year 2026 isn't settled, so this page doesn't quote a DC standard deduction. Ask a CPA which rules apply to your return.

Are DC taxes higher than Maryland?

For income tax, barely. Maryland's state rates run up to 6.5% for a single filer above $1 million (6.25% from $500,000), and Montgomery County added a 3.2% local income tax through 2025. Together that lands within about $1,140 of DC at $1 million of taxable income.

Computed from the official bracket tables, using the same taxable income in each place and Maryland's single-filer brackets. Real returns differ by deductions; Maryland's joint brackets lower its state tax to $57,322.50 at $1 million.

Montgomery County's local tax

Maryland counties levy their own income tax on top of the state's. Montgomery County's 3.2% is what pulls Bethesda and Chevy Chase level with DC. Check the county's current rate before you compare, because the figure here is the one Maryland's Department of Legislative Services published through calendar 2025.

Maryland's 2% add-on for capital gains

Maryland adds 2% on net capital gain for filers with federal adjusted gross income over $350,000. A primary residence sold for less than $1.5 million is excluded, which means a Bethesda house sold for $1.5 million or more is not. DC has no such surcharge, which matters to a buyer who expects to sell a large house later.

Are DC taxes higher than Virginia?

Yes, and by a wide margin at high incomes. Virginia's rate tops out at 5.75% on everything above $17,000, so the gap with DC grows with every bracket.

The gap at three incomes

At $250,000 of taxable income DC charges about $5,533 more than Virginia. At $1 million the gap is about $34,283. At $3 million it's about $134,283 a year.

Property tax runs the other way

Virginia's counties tax houses more heavily. Fairfax's rate for FY2027 is $1.12 per $100 and Arlington's 2026 rate is $1.053, against DC's $0.85 up to $2.558 million and $1.00 above. The DC property tax guide has the bills at $1.5 million, $3 million and $6 million.

Arlington against DC

Arlington's lower property tax rate shrinks DC's advantage on a $3 million house to about $6,347 a year with the homestead deduction, so the income crossover arrives sooner, at about $273,300 of taxable income. Above that, a house in Arlington costs less to hold than the same house in Georgetown once both taxes are counted.

Income and property tax together: DC or Fairfax on a $3 million house

Run both lines together, not separately. Here is a $3 million house held as a primary residence, with DC's homestead deduction applied and Fairfax at its adopted rate with no exemptions.

The about-$330,700 crossover assumes the DC homestead deduction. Without it, DC's property tax on the house is $26,163 and the crossover falls to about $304,400. Against Arlington's lower rate, with homestead, it's about $273,300.

Redo it with your numbers

1. Work out your DC income tax from the bracket table above.
2. Work out Virginia's: $720 on the first $17,000, plus 5.75% of the rest.
3. Add each place's property tax on the house you'd buy, then compare the totals.

The answer flips with income, not with the house. A household with modest taxable income and an expensive house pays less to hold it in DC; a high earner in a smaller house pays less in Virginia. The guide to moving to Washington DC covers the non-tax side of that choice, and the DC cost of living page adds the other bills.

Three questions that settle DC, Maryland or Virginia

Tax is rarely the only reason to pick a side of the river, but it's the part you can measure. These three questions put it in order.

Is your taxable income above or below about $330,700?

Below it, on a $3 million house, DC's lower property tax outweighs its higher income tax against Fairfax. Above it, Virginia comes out ahead every year, and the margin grows by roughly 5 cents for each extra dollar of income once you're past $1 million. Use the line for your own house price, not this one: a cheaper house narrows DC's property tax advantage and moves the crossover down.

Is Maryland on your list?

If so, income tax won't decide it. At $1 million of taxable income DC and Montgomery County are about $1,140 apart, and at $500,000 Montgomery County is the higher of the two by about $360. Compare the houses, the commute and the property tax instead, and if you might sell a $1.5 million-plus house in Maryland, add the 2% capital gains add-on.

Will DC be your domicile or a second home?

If you keep a Georgetown house as a second home and spend 183 days or more in it, DC can tax you as a resident even with a domicile elsewhere. If DC will be your only home, the brackets above are the whole story. Settle this with a CPA before closing, because it changes which state's table applies.

Is DC considered a high-tax place?

For income, yes: 10.75% above $1 million is the top rate in the region. For a house, no: DC's property tax is lower than Fairfax's or Arlington's at every price from $1.5 million to $6 million. Two more taxes differ from the suburbs: one paid at settlement, one paid by an estate. DC's 2.9% deed taxes at settlement are explained on the DC transfer tax page, and its estate tax starts at $4,988,400, covered under DC estate tax.

Confirm with a DC CPA

This page explains DC's income tax brackets and residency rules from OTR, the DC Code and Maryland and Virginia statutes. It isn't tax advice. Comparisons assume the same taxable income everywhere, which real returns rarely have. Retirement income treatment wasn't researched for this page, and DC's conformity to 2025 federal changes is unsettled for 2026. Confirm your own numbers with a DC CPA before you decide where to buy. If you're weighing a Georgetown purchase against Virginia, I can price comparable houses on both sides so the property tax line in your math is real.

Common questions

Sources

• OTR: DC Individual and Fiduciary Income Tax Rates
• DC Code § 47-1806.03 (income tax rates)
• DC Code § 1-206.02 (Home Rule Act limits)
• Maryland Code, Tax-General § 10-105 (income tax rates)
• Maryland Department of Legislative Services: 2025 County Local Tax Rates
• Code of Virginia § 58.1-320 (income tax rates)
• OTR: Real Property Tax Rates
• OTR: Real Property Tax Reliefs, Credits, and Deductions
• Fairfax County: Board of Supervisors Adopts FY 27 Budget, Reduces Real Estate Tax Rate
• Arlington County: FY 2027 Adopted Budget