Whats up everyone
A lot of people move to DC for work but they cant decide if they want to live in the city. So today we’re going to compare Washington DC to Maryland. And specifically Montgomery County MD since it is right outside of DC so you can decide for yourself which is the better place for you and your family to live.
So, let’s dive right in!
Ok, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Washington DC is the capital of the US and not a state. It is a Federal district. Maryland is one of the 13 original states of the 50 states which did give some of its land to create DC back in the day. Virginia gave land too but then took it back.
Maryland is made up of 23 counties and Baltimore City. DC is divided into quadrants Northwest, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast. In the middle is the US Capitol building. It was originally designed after Paris and is a really beautiful city.
Now that we got the lay of the land, let’s get to the things my clients ask me the most when they are moving to the area which has to do with taxes, schools, culture, politics and more.
But first let’s talk about Housing. If you want a single family home in DC VS Maryland, here’s an idea of what you would get for your money if you had a budget of let’s say $1,000,000. I’m using a million dollars just so you can see the comparison of the 2 areas and what you can get for your money.
Here is a super cute single family home in NW DC for $990,000.  Built in 1941 which is pretty typical in DC- the homes will be older. Cute renovated kitchen, but small. Nice wood floors, brick fireplace, and really nice screened in porch. This house has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and is around 1300 sq of living space. Street parking. Very small side yard and a really nice front porch.
Now let’s move into Maryland. 
This home is $975,500 and is located in Rockville MD which is about 12 miles from the DC house. Built in 1966, It has 5 bedrooms 2 1/2 bathrooms, nice kitchen, nice size backyard and 2 car garage. This house is around 2400 sq ft of living space. 
So, I think you can see the difference. You just get more for your money outside of the city. Lots will be bigger and parking will be more inclusive. 
Let’s talk culture and politics.
This is pretty important if you are very involved in politics because if you live in the district, you will notice a lot of license plates that say taxation without representation. 
This is because D.C. residents have no representation in the Senate and no voting representation in the House of Representatives.  DC does have 3 electoral votes for the presidential election but thats about it. There is legislation out there trying to make DC a state but so far it’s not happening.
In Maryland, you have 8 US representatives, 7 Democrats and 1 Republican. The Senators today in 2023 are both Democrat.
So if having representation is important to you, you may want to choose Maryland.
As far as culture, if you are just talking about Montgomery County, the culture is very similar as MOCO borders DC. But as soon as you travel more into Maryland, the culture is more conservative and varies from county to county.
So back to the license plate, taxation without representation. Let’s talk taxes!
As far as state income tax, in Maryland it ranges from 2-5.75%.In DC, it ranges from 4-10.75%
Sales tax is 6% in both MD and DC
Property tax between Maryland and DC is relatively the same. Maryland will tend to be a little higher depending on where you buy.
These are generalities – every situation is different and Maryland has many counties which have different taxes so always consult with a tax professional so you can get the most accurate information for your particular situation.
The next thing I want to talk about is schools/education. 
First let’s talk about colleges because this is really interesting. In Maryland, you have the University of Maryland which is comprised of 12 different universities, plus there are 3 other higher education centers that you get in state tuition. 
UMD is a great school and depending on which school your child is applying to – it can be really difficult to get into and in state tuition is a lot cheaper than out of state.
And if you have kids applying to college like I do, this is really important. 
DC has only 1 public university, the University of the District of Colombia but DC has a program Called DCTAG which stands for tuition assistance grant that helps offset the tuition of any public university in any state in the United States.  So you basically get in state tuition for any of the states. But – you do have to qualify so I will put the link below so you can check it out. https://osse.dc.gov/dctag
There are private universities in both DC and MD but since we’re focusing on in state tuition, I’m just going to talk about the public schools since the tuition is vastly different from the private ones. 
As for the public high schools, this can be very subjective, and as a realtor, we’re really not supposed to give our opinions but instead provide different websites so you can decide for yourself what is important to you. 
So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll put a link to niche.com and https://www.greatschools.org/  in the description so you can look up the different schools to see which is best for your child. 
I can say that Montgomery County MD is known for it’s highly ranked public high schools so there are a lot of choices to look at and if you are interested in certain neighborhoods in Montgomery County, I have a lot of videos on each area.
I have to say, I grew up in both. I was born in DC and my dad lived in DC and my mom lived in Maryland and they both offer great things. If you are more into an urban setting with a metro and tons of restaurants, museums and monuments, DC is a great choice. If you prefer a bigger backyard, more green space and a more suburban vibe, Maryland is great. 
The nice thing is you get to enjoy both since they border each other.  We head into DC all of the time to go to restaurants, museums and just hang out.  And you also have Northern Virginia which is right across the river. If you want to see the differences between Md and VA, check out this video next!