Live in Virginia, work in District of Columbia
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
District of Columbia takes
$0
on wages earned there
Virginia takes
$2,689
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,689
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
cannot be taxedDistrict of Columbia is barred by Congress from taxing anyone who lives outside it. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Virginia bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Commuting into the District from Virginia is unusual in one respect. Almost every state taxes people who work inside it. The District is barred from doing that by Congress, for everyone who lives elsewhere. Your whole bill is Virginia's, and it comes to $2,689 a year.
- This is not one of the country's big crossings. 166,338 jobs in District of Columbia are held by people living in Virginia. The tax rules do not care about that — they are the same ones that apply to the busiest routes in the country. What can differ is how used to the paperwork your employer is.
- The District of Columbia cannot tax this commuter, and the reason is not an agreement between neighbors but an Act of Congress. The Home Rule Act forbids the Council from imposing "any tax on the whole or any portion of the personal income, either directly or at the source thereof, of any individual not a resident of the District" — the citation sits beside this page. Virginia therefore taxes these wages alone, at $2,689 for the reference salary, and no resident credit arises because there is no District liability to credit. ⚠️ The same prohibition protects every non-resident, not only Virginia residents — the reciprocity agreements the District holds with Maryland and Virginia sit on top of a bar that already applies.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 166,338 jobs in District of Columbia held by Virginia residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,552
- Yours$58,041
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.74% | $3,552 |
| Yours77.39% | $58,041 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| District of Columbia takes, on wages earned there | $0 |
|---|---|
| Virginia charges its residents | $2,689 |
| Less the credit Virginia gives | $0 |
| Total state tax | $2,689 |
| If you also worked in Virginia | $2,689 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- One thing this page leaves out: city taxes. Some cities charge their own tax on people who work there, and it sits on top of everything above. Philadelphia is the well-known one. New York City only charges its own residents, so commuting in adds nothing. Check whether the city you work in is one that charges, because the District of Columbia state figure is not the whole story if it does.
- The figures take the simple case: one job, in District of Columbia, worked in person. Money from several states makes the credit a proportion instead of a cap. Working remotely from Virginia can pull you under a different rule entirely, depending on the state.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Virginia and District of Columbia takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether District of Columbia or Virginia carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in District of Columbia and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Virginia limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the District of Columbia portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in District of Columbia rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Virginia to District of Columbia comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in District of Columbia's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Virginia and District of Columbia?
Not twice over. Both states have a claim — District of Columbia because you earn the money there, Virginia because you live there — but Virginia gives you credit for what District of Columbia took. The credit stops at what Virginia would have charged on its own, so what you actually pay is the bigger of the two bills. Here that comes to $2,689 for the year.
Does working in District of Columbia cost me anything extra?
It costs you nothing in tax. $2,689 is what you owe whether you work in District of Columbia or at home in Virginia. The only real cost of the crossing is the extra return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Virginia and District of Columbia?
Expect two. Living in Virginia means filing there on everything you earn. Working in District of Columbia usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Virginia some days instead of going to District of Columbia?
Working from home usually moves that day's pay out of District of Columbia and into Virginia alone. A handful of states disagree and tax remote days as if you had commuted. This page assumes you actually travel to District of Columbia, so if a lot of your week is at home the split will differ from what you see here.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — District of Columbia on a source basis, Virginia on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,689 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Virginia's own charge on this income equals or exceeds District of Columbia's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,689. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in District of Columbia.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Virginia requires a resident return reporting all income; District of Columbia requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Virginia fall outside District of Columbia's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in District of Columbia throughout.