Updated August 25, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Virginia is the second most common destination out of the District — 9,953 people a year — and unlike the Maryland move it genuinely is a tax cut: the top rate falls from 10.75% to 5.75%, there is no local income tax, and Virginia levies no estate tax and no ordinary inheritance tax where the District taxes estates above $4,988,400. Two things surprise people. Virginia’s 5.75% rate starts at $17,000 of taxable income, so almost every retiree pays it on almost everything; and the retirement break is a $12,000 age deduction that means-tests to zero at $62,000 of non-Social-Security income.
The District of Columbia vs Virginia: every tax that changes
| What changes | the District of Columbia (leaving) | Virginia (arriving) |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | graduated, 7 brackets from 4% to 10.75%; the top rate bites above $1,000,000 of taxable income (D.C. Code §47-1806.03(a)(11)) | graduated on paper, flat in practice: 2%, 3%, 5% and then 5.75% on everything above $17,000 of Virginia taxable income — a threshold last moved in 1990 (Va. Code §58.1-320) |
| Local income tax | none. The District is a single taxing jurisdiction; there is no county or city income tax on top of the rate above (D.C. Code §47-1806.03) | none. Virginia localities do not levy an income tax on top of the State rate (Va. Code §58.1-320) |
| Social Security | not taxed — Social Security and tier 1 railroad retirement are excluded from District gross income (D.C. Code §47-1803.02(a)(2)(L)) | not taxed — benefits received under Title II of the Social Security Act, and other benefits taxed federally solely under §86 of the Internal Revenue Code, are subtracted (Va. Code §58.1-322.02(3)) |
| Pension / 401(k) / IRA | fully taxable, no retirement-income exclusion. The old $3,000 exclusion for District and federal pensions at 62+ applies only to tax years beginning before 1 January 2015 (D.C. Code §47-1803.02(a)(2)(N)(i)) | an age deduction of $12,000 at 65+ — means-tested, and only for those born after a fixed date. Anyone born on or before 1 January 1939 takes the full $12,000 with no income test. Everyone born after that date has the deduction reduced by $1 for every $1 that adjusted federal adjusted gross income exceeds $50,000 single / $75,000 married — so it reaches zero at $62,000 and $87,000 respectively (Va. Code §58.1-322.03(5)(a)–(b)) |
| Estate tax | yes. The 2026 zero-bracket amount is $4,988,400; the statutory ladder tops out at 16%, and because the 2026 zero bracket sits just under $5 million the first taxed dollar lands in the 11.2% band (Office of Tax and Revenue, Notice of Oct. 1, 2025 Tax Changes; D.C. Code §47-3702(a-1)) | none. The Virginia estate tax is imposed “in the amount of the federal credit”, and with the federal credit for state death taxes eliminated there is nothing left to impose (Va. Code §58.1-902(A); Virginia Department of Taxation, Estate and Inheritance Taxes) |
| Inheritance tax | none — an inheritance-tax return is required only for deaths before 1 April 1987 (Office of Tax and Revenue, DC Estate, Inheritance and Fiduciary Tax Information) | none in the ordinary case — but the Department of Taxation’s own statement carries an asterisk: “certain remainder interests are still subject to the inheritance tax” (Virginia Department of Taxation, Estate and Inheritance Taxes (citing Public Document 15-93)) |
| Probate fee model | a personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services, with no percentage schedule (D.C. Code §20-751) | no percentage schedule in statute: the commissioner of accounts allows a reasonable compensation in the form of a commission on receipts or otherwise (Va. Code §64.2-1208(A)) |
| Probate filing cost | not published here. The District has a single Superior Court probate division rather than county courts, so the “varies by county” answer that fits 50 states does not apply. (we could not read a current District filing-fee schedule at source this session.) | a probate tax of 10 cents per $100 of estate value — a real tax, not a filing fee, and one the District does not levy. Estates of $15,000 or less are exempt (Va. Code §58.1-1712) |
| Small-estate limit | $80,000 — small-estate administration, as amended by D.C. Law 25-302 effective 21 March 2025 (previously $40,000) (D.C. Code §20-351) | $75,000 by small-asset affidavit, available only after 60 days have elapsed since the death (Va. Code §64.2-601(A)(1)–(2)) |
1. What changes on your annual tax bill
This one really is a rate cut, and a large one. The District taxes retirement withdrawals as ordinary income: graduated, 7 brackets from 4% to 10.75%; the top rate bites above $1,000,000 of taxable income (D.C. Code §47-1806.03(a)(11)). Virginia’s schedule is graduated on paper, flat in practice: 2%, 3%, 5% and then 5.75% on everything above $17,000 of Virginia taxable income — a threshold last moved in 1990 (Va. Code §58.1-320). There is no second layer: none. Virginia localities do not levy an income tax on top of the State rate (Va. Code §58.1-320) — which is what separates this move from the Maryland one across the other river.
The catch is where 5.75% starts. Virginia’s top bracket begins at $17,000 of taxable income, a threshold set for tax years beginning 1 January 1990 and never raised. In practice that makes Virginia a flat-rate jurisdiction for anyone drawing a retirement income: the graduated bottom of the schedule is worth a few hundred dollars and then everything is taxed the same.
The retirement break is real but it disappears. The District gives none: fully taxable, no retirement-income exclusion. The old $3,000 exclusion for District and federal pensions at 62+ applies only to tax years beginning before 1 January 2015 (D.C. Code §47-1803.02(a)(2)(N)(i)). Virginia gives an age deduction of $12,000 at 65+ — means-tested, and only for those born after a fixed date. Anyone born on or before 1 January 1939 takes the full $12,000 with no income test. Everyone born after that date has the deduction reduced by $1 for every $1 that adjusted federal adjusted gross income exceeds $50,000 single / $75,000 married — so it reaches zero at $62,000 and $87,000 respectively (Va. Code §58.1-322.03(5)(a)–(b)). Note the date, because it is a cliff rather than a slope: “A deduction in the amount of $12,000 for individuals born on or before January 1, 1939.” (Va. Code §58.1-322.03(5)(a)) — born a day later and the means test applies to you for life. Social Security does not move either way: the District excludes it (D.C. Code §47-1803.02(a)(2)(L)) and Virginia subtracts it (Va. Code §58.1-322.02(3)).
2. What changes at death: state estate tax
This is usually the larger number. The District: yes. The 2026 zero-bracket amount is $4,988,400; the statutory ladder tops out at 16%, and because the 2026 zero bracket sits just under $5 million the first taxed dollar lands in the 11.2% band (Office of Tax and Revenue, Notice of Oct. 1, 2025 Tax Changes; D.C. Code §47-3702(a-1)). The rate the first taxed dollar meets is set out in terms — “The rate of tax on the taxable estate over $4 million but not over $5 million shall be 11.2%” (D.C. Code §47-3702(a-1)(1)(G)). Virginia: none. The Virginia estate tax is imposed “in the amount of the federal credit”, and with the federal credit for state death taxes eliminated there is nothing left to impose (Va. Code §58.1-902(A); Virginia Department of Taxation, Estate and Inheritance Taxes).
That is the largest single number on this page for anyone whose estate is near the District’s threshold, because a death tax is a one-off levy on the whole estate rather than a percentage of one year’s income. Establishing domicile in Virginia removes that exposure for everything except assets that stay District property, which is the subject of the last section here.
3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax
Neither jurisdiction levies one in the ordinary case, so this line does not move — but Virginia’s own statement of it carries a footnote worth reading. The District: none — an inheritance-tax return is required only for deaths before 1 April 1987 (Office of Tax and Revenue, DC Estate, Inheritance and Fiduciary Tax Information). Virginia: none in the ordinary case — but the Department of Taxation’s own statement carries an asterisk: “certain remainder interests are still subject to the inheritance tax” (Virginia Department of Taxation, Estate and Inheritance Taxes (citing Public Document 15-93)). We name the asterisk rather than round it off, because a remainder interest is exactly the kind of thing that turns up in an older estate plan.
Price the move against the rest of your money
A state-to-state comparison shows you which taxes change, not what to do about the accounts, the house and the timing sitting behind them, and an adviser can look at those together before a move is set in motion.
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4. The one nobody prices: what probate costs your heirs
The District: a personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services, with no percentage schedule (D.C. Code §20-751). Virginia: no percentage schedule in statute: the commissioner of accounts allows a reasonable compensation in the form of a commission on receipts or otherwise (Va. Code §64.2-1208(A)). On what it costs to open the proceeding, the District is not published here. The District has a single Superior Court probate division rather than county courts, so the “varies by county” answer that fits 50 states does not apply. (we could not read a current District filing-fee schedule at source this session.); Virginia is a probate tax of 10 cents per $100 of estate value — a real tax, not a filing fee, and one the District does not levy. Estates of $15,000 or less are exempt (Va. Code §58.1-1712).
The small-estate route matters more than the fee schedule for most families, because clearing it avoids the proceeding altogether — and on this corridor the threshold moves down. The District: $80,000 — small-estate administration, as amended by D.C. Law 25-302 effective 21 March 2025 (previously $40,000) (D.C. Code §20-351). Virginia: $75,000 by small-asset affidavit, available only after 60 days have elapsed since the death (Va. Code §64.2-601(A)(1)–(2)).
Full detail: probate cost by state and small-estate limits by state.
How many people actually make this move
The Census Bureau’s 2024 one-year migration table counts 9,953 people making this move in a single year (±2,300) — the second-largest destination out of the District, and 18.6% of the 53,452 people the table counts leaving. The IRS, which counts tax returns rather than survey responses, records 6,502 returns carrying $872,816 thousand of adjusted gross income moving from the District to Virginia across filing years 2022 and 2023 — the second-largest destination on that measure, and 20.9% of the 31,175 state-to-state returns in the file.
Both counts are all ages. No official source publishes state-to-state migration crossed by age, so nothing here is a retiree count and we will not present it as one. Sources: US Census Bureau, ACS 1-year state-to-state migration flows, 2024 (Table T13); IRS Statistics of Income state-to-state outflow file, filing years 2022–2023. Both files were downloaded and re-derived for this page.
Will the District still tax me after I move to Virginia?
Not on your retirement withdrawals, once you genuinely change domicile — but that is a harder test than a change of address, and it is a harder test than usual on this corridor, because the move is a short one and the ties usually survive it.
- Domicile is a test, not a mailing address. A departing jurisdiction can and does examine residency. Days present, voter registration, driver’s licence, where your doctors and advisers are, and where you keep what you value all count — and a move inside the same metropolitan area leaves most of those unchanged unless you change them deliberately.
- Real property left behind stays taxable. Keeping a home in the District can keep part of the estate within reach of District rules even after Virginia becomes your legal home.
- A Roth conversion is taxed where you live in the year you convert. Sequencing a conversion after the new domicile is established is often worth more than the annual saving — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.
If you keep a home in the District, what happens at death?
Changing domicile moves you. It does not move the house. a tax is imposed on the transfer of every nonresident’s taxable estate having its taxable situs in the District, computed by multiplying the resident tax by the District-situs fraction of the gross estate (D.C. Code §47-3703(a), (b-1)). The practical consequence is the part most summaries skip: the District applies a straight situs fraction rather than taxing the whole estate, and the house also stays within the District’s probate jurisdiction, so the estate faces a separate ancillary proceeding there on top of the probate where you live. The ancillary probate calculator prices that second proceeding. On this corridor that is not a hypothetical: keeping the District house and renting it out is one of the commonest versions of this move.
What we could not read at source, and what it would change
- The remainder-interest exception to “no inheritance tax”. The Department of Taxation names Public Document 15-93 as the authority; we did not read that document this session, so we quote the Department’s own sentence and stop there rather than describing what the exception covers.
- The District’s probate filing fee. We could not read a current schedule at source, so none is printed. Virginia’s probate tax is statutory and was read.
- Local probate surcharges. Virginia circuit courts add clerk fees on top of the statutory probate tax; those are set locally and were not read here.
Full state detail
Every figure above is summarised. The complete statute-cited breakdown for each: District of Columbia retirement taxes and Virginia retirement taxes. The other District corridors, and what each is worth: leaving the District of Columbia in retirement. To compare any other pair, start at the retirement tax relocation hub.
Talking this through
Relocation timing, Roth conversion sequencing and estate exposure interact, and on a short move the order you do them in changes the total more than the destination does. If you want a second opinion, understand what it should cost first — see our advisor cost guide, or what to look for in an advisor who knows both jurisdictions.
Cite or share this comparison
Suggested citation: Clear Money Guide, “District of Columbia to Virginia Retirement Taxes (2026): Every Tax That Changes,” statute-cited; clearmoneyguide.com/district-of-columbia-to-virginia-retirement-taxes/. Free to cite with attribution. Download the full dataset as CSV.
Primary sources read for this page
- D.C. Code §47-1806.03(a)(11)
- Va. Code §58.1-320
- D.C. Code §47-1806.03
- D.C. Code §47-1803.02(a)(2)(L)
- Va. Code §58.1-322.02(3)
- D.C. Code §47-1803.02(a)(2)(N)(i)
- Va. Code §58.1-322.03(5)(a)–(b)
- Office of Tax and Revenue, Notice of Oct. 1, 2025 Tax Changes; D.C. Code §47-3702(a-1)
- Va. Code §58.1-902(A); Virginia Department of Taxation, Estate and Inheritance Taxes
- Office of Tax and Revenue, DC Estate, Inheritance and Fiduciary Tax Information
- Virginia Department of Taxation, Estate and Inheritance Taxes (citing Public Document 15-93)
- D.C. Code §20-751
- Va. Code §64.2-1208(A)
- Va. Code §58.1-1712
- D.C. Code §20-351
- Va. Code §64.2-601(A)(1)–(2)
- D.C. Code §47-3702(a-1)(1)(G)
- D.C. Code §47-3703(a), (b-1)
- Va. Code §58.1-322.03(5)(a)
- Va. Code §58.1-902(A)
Methodology: every figure on this page is quoted from the statute or revenue-department publication named beside it, each of which was downloaded and read on August 25, 2026. Where we could not read a current figure at source, the page says so rather than estimating — that is why no Maryland or District probate filing fee is printed, and why no individual Maryland county rate is named. Nothing here is personalised tax or legal advice. Confirm your own facts with a qualified adviser before you move.