Updated October 2026
You've found the house. You've run the mortgage math with your lender. And then the quieter question shows up, usually late at night: What does it actually cost to live here, month after month?
That's a fair question, and it deserves real numbers instead of a vibe.
Here's what we can put on the table, from the tax bill to the grocery receipt. One thing first, because it changes everything below. An Alexandria mailing address doesn't always mean the City of Alexandria. Plenty of "Alexandria" homes sit in Fairfax County, and the two governments set different rates. We'll flag which one each number belongs to.
The short answer
For a single adult with no children in the City of Alexandria, MIT's Living Wage Calculator puts the living wage at $29.11 an hour, or $60,554 a year before taxes. Of that adult's $48,626 after-tax need, housing alone is $23,930. By our math, that's nearly half the budget going to a roof.
For two working adults raising two children, the same calculator puts the figure at $40.42 an hour for each adult.
Those are MIT's estimates for Alexandria city, with data updated February 15, 2026. They describe a basic budget, not a comfortable one. Still, they're a useful floor.
Where the rest of the budget goes
The same MIT single-adult budget breaks out the other big lines:
- Transportation: $6,435 a year
- Food: $5,795 a year
- Medical: $3,460 a year
Transportation is the one people underestimate. If you're weighing a Metro-adjacent address against a longer drive, our Kingstowne commute guide to Metro, interchanges and drive times walks through what that trade looks like day to day.
Property tax: which side of the line are you on?
This is the biggest local cost most owners can see, and it's where the city-versus-county question matters most.
City of Alexandria
The City of Alexandria's real estate tax rate for calendar year 2026 is $1.135 per $100 of assessed value, according to the city's finance office. Two fees ride along on the same bill for many homes:
- Refuse: $500 a year per can, billed $250 per half.
- Stormwater: $170.15 per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) for the first half of 2026.
Stormwater is charged per ERU, so it varies by property type. It's a separate line, not part of the tax rate.
Fairfax County, including the 22307 ZIP code
If your "Alexandria" address is in the 22307 ZIP code, which includes Belle Haven, you're in Fairfax County, not the city. Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors lowered the county real estate rate from $1.1225 to $1.12 per $100 of assessed value for FY2027.
To make that concrete, by our math a home assessed at the August 2026 median sale price for the 22307 ZIP code would owe about $13,300 a year at the county rate. Treat that as an illustration only. Assessments aren't sale prices, and the county sets its own fees and any district levies on top of the base rate.
A CPA is the right person for your actual bill.
The smaller taxes that add up
These are City of Alexandria rates from the city's published tax rate schedule, labeled FY 2026:
- Car tax: personal property tax on automobiles is $5.33 per $100 of assessed value.
- Restaurant meals: 5.0% of the total charge.
- Utility taxes: residential electric and gas utility taxes are small, and the residential natural gas tax is capped at $3 a month.
Statewide rules from Virginia Tax cover the rest. The general sales tax in Northern Virginia, including Alexandria and Fairfax County, is 6%. Food and hygiene items are taxed at 1% statewide.
If you're coming from a state with no car tax, that $5.33 line is the one to budget for. It shows up every year, and on a newer vehicle it's real money.
What housing itself is costing in 22307
Here's the piece most people actually mean when they ask about cost of living: what a home trades for.
According to our analysis of Bright MLS closed-sale data for all residential property types combined, the 22307 ZIP code, which includes Belle Haven, had 10 closed sales in August 2026 at a median sale price of $1,187,500, with a median of 17 days on market. A year earlier, in August 2025, the same ZIP and property mix had 17 closed sales at a median of $610,000, with a median of 27 days on market.
Chart 1. Closed sales in the 22307 ZIP code, August 2025 vs August 2026, all residential property types combined. Source: Bright MLS closed-sale data, Alexandria 22307, August 2025 and August 2026, pulled September 27, 2026.
The count of closings fell from one August to the next, and the chart shows how few homes sit behind each month's median.
That's why we'd read the price jump carefully. With so few sales in a single month, the median moves with which homes happened to close. If a few larger homes close in one August and mostly smaller homes close in the next, the median swings hard even when values barely move. Our read: this is a mix story, not homes doubling in value, and it isn't a forecast of where prices go next.
These figures cover one ZIP code in Fairfax County. They aren't City of Alexandria numbers, and they don't describe Old Town, Del Ray or Rosemont. For how prices behave across the city's neighborhoods, our post on how Alexandria home prices work is the better starting point.
Condo owners: the line item that isn't a tax
If you're buying a condo, your monthly cost includes the association fee, and that number varies a lot by building. It can matter as much as the tax bill. Before you commit, read the resale packet. Our guide to Alexandria condo fees and resale packets covers what's in it and what to ask.
Putting it together
A few things we'd keep in mind, from years of walking clients through their first Alexandria budget:
- Confirm the jurisdiction first. City or county changes your tax rate, your fees and who sends the bill.
- Budget the car tax. It's easy to forget until the first bill arrives.
- Read single-ZIP monthly medians as a snapshot. Small counts move a lot.
- Think about the address, not just the price. Commute, parking and flood exposure all show up in the monthly cost. If you're near the water, our post on Old Town waterfront flood zones is worth a read before you make an offer.
And if you're still choosing a neighborhood, how to choose between Old Town, Del Ray and Rosemont gets into the day-to-day differences.
Talk it through with us
Elizabeth Lucchesi and the LizLuke Team have been helping Alexandria buyers and sellers put real numbers to these decisions for more than twenty years, and most of our business comes from referrals and repeat clients. If you'd like to see how the costs line up for a specific address, get to know the team and reach out.
It all starts with a conversation.
This is general information and is not legal or tax advice.
The LizLuke Team at LONG & FOSTER REAL ESTATE INC. 110 N Royal St, Ste 300,
Alexandria, VA 22314. Office 703.683.0400. The LizLuke Team (703) 868-5676. Virginia License #0225069250.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Sources
- MIT Living Wage Calculator, Alexandria city, Virginia (data updated February 15, 2026): https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/51510
- City of Alexandria Finance, "Alexandria Mails 2026 First Half Real Estate Tax Bills Due June 15," May 15, 2026: https://www.alexandriava.gov/news-finance/2026-05-15/alexandria-mails-2026-first-half-real-estate-tax-bills-due-june-15
- City of Alexandria, Tax Rates (labeled FY 2026): https://www.alexandriava.gov/taxes/tax-rates
- Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget, "Board of Supervisors Adopts FY 27 Budget, Reduces Real Estate Tax Rate": https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/budget/board-supervisors-adopts-fy-27-budget-reduces-real-estate-tax-rate
- Virginia Tax, Retail Sales and Use Tax: https://www.tax.virginia.gov/retail-sales-and-use-tax
- Bright MLS closed-sale data, Alexandria 22307, August 2025 and August 2026, pulled September 27, 2026
