Community Corner

Northern Virginia Families Need Nearly $90,000 Annually to 'Get By'

The cost of living in Northern Virginia is 40 percent higher than the national median, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

By Mary Ann Barton

Everyone knows that the Washington area's cost of living is high, but how high?

Apparently if you're a family of four living in the Northern Virginia suburbs, you need at least $88,615 to "attain a secure yet modest living standard by estimating community-specific costs of housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, other necessities, and taxes," according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute.

The cost of living in the greater Washington area is around $25,000 — or 40 percent — higher than the national median of $63,000.

The budget calculator looks at costs for housing, food, transportation and more.

The average home price in Northern Virginia in March was $531,950, which was up 10.6 percent since the same period last year, according to Virginia Business.

The average rental price in 2012 of all types of residential property rose 2.4 percent to $2,103 per month in the first quarter of the year, according to data from the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.

Want to see how living in the Washington area stacks up against other cities across the United States? Use CNN's Cost of Living Calculator to see how far your budget would go elsewhere compared to Northern Virginia.

What do you think? Does $88,615 sound too low, too high or just about right for a family of four in this area?


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