A typical home in Arlington is worth $806,890. About 50 miles down I-95 in Fredericksburg, it is $470,383. When someone asks me where to live in Virginia, most of my answer sits between those two numbers: how close to Washington you want to be, and what you will pay for it.
I sell homes in Northern Virginia, so my picks run from the Potomac out to the Blue Ridge and south to Fredericksburg. Richmond, Charlottesville and the beach deserve their own lists from agents who work there. Here are the eight places I would point a friend to, each with its typical home value in August 2026 and how far it has moved since August 2021.
Close in, on Metro
Arlington has stations on four Metro lines, high-rise condos along the Orange and Silver Lines, and older detached houses a few blocks off them. The typical home is $806,890, up 6.3 percent in five years. That is the smallest gain of any Virginia area I track.
Alexandria costs less, $677,627 for the typical home, up 8.1 percent. Old Town’s brick rowhouses line the blocks east of the King Street station, where Metro, VRE and Amtrak trains stop side by side.
Falls Church is a city of about two square miles, with Orange and Silver Line stations just past its borders. The typical home there is $1,163,973, and it rose 4.9 percent in the last year, more than anywhere else on this list.
Farther out, still on the train
Reston was planned in the 1960s around lakes, walking paths and village centers, and it now has two Silver Line stations. The typical home is $624,958, and it has barely moved in the past year, up 0.3 percent. If you want a Metro commute without paying Arlington prices, Reston is where I would start.
Vienna costs more: $1,165,194 for the typical home, about the same as Falls Church. The W&OD Trail runs through the middle of town, and the Orange Line’s Vienna station sits just south of it.
Room to spread out
Leesburg is Loudoun’s county seat, a historic downtown with newer neighborhoods around it. It sits past the end of the Silver Line, so most commutes start in a car. The typical home is $851,239, up 21.5 percent in five years.
Purcellville, at the western end of the W&OD Trail, is where lots get bigger and the Blue Ridge comes into view. Its typical home, $905,665, is up 23.7 percent since August 2021, the biggest five-year gain on this list. Out there, buyers are paying for land, and nobody is making more of it.
Where a dollar goes furthest
Fredericksburg has a historic downtown on the Rappahannock and VRE trains to Union Station in Washington. The typical home is $470,383, about $336,500 less than in Arlington. Stafford, just north, runs $537,904, and Spotsylvania, to the south and west, $456,897.
The savings come with a longer commute, and a drive you make four days a week costs more than one you make once a week. Price the commute before you price the house.
If two of these places are on your list and you are trying to choose, I am glad to walk you through what your budget buys in each, street by street. You can reach me at 571-496-9009.
Source: Zillow Research (ZHVI, the typical home value), August 2026. Five-year changes are from August 2021, one-year changes from August 2025.