Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
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Updated July 26, 2026. Quick answer (2026): If you are weighing a move out of District of Columbia in retirement, two things change when you leave District of Columbia: a top income-tax rate of 10.75% on withdrawals, and a tax at death. Four taxes change when you move — income tax on withdrawals, state estate tax, state inheritance tax, and what probate costs your heirs. This page prices all four for District of Columbia, then links a worked comparison for each destination.
What District of Columbia actually charges a retiree
| Tax | District of Columbia position, 2026 |
|---|---|
| State income tax | graduated to 10.75% (7 brackets, 4%-10.75%) |
| Social Security | not taxed (excluded) |
| Pension / 401(k) / IRA | Pensions, 401(k), and IRA distributions fully taxable — no retirement income exclusion. |
| Estate tax | yes – 2026 zero-bracket (exemption) $4,988,400, up from $4,873,200 in 2025 (CPI-indexed annually); rates 11.2%-16% |
| Inheritance tax | none |
| Probate fee model | reasonable-fee |
| Probate filing fee | varies by county |
| Small-estate limit | $80,000 — small estate administration, D.C. Code §20-351, as amended by D.C. Law 25-302 (Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024), effective March 21, 2025 (previously $40,000). |
Both halves matter
District of Columbia taxes retirement withdrawals and levies a tax at death. A comparison that prices only the first will understate what a move is worth, sometimes by an order of magnitude, because the death-tax threshold is a one-off on the whole estate rather than a percentage of one year’s income.
Where District leavers actually go, and why this page answers a narrower question
Half of everyone who leaves the District moves to Maryland or Virginia, and neither is a tax-flight destination. The Census Bureau’s 2024 one-year migration table counts 53,452 people leaving the District in a single year. 16,780 (±3,634) went to Maryland and 9,953 (±2,300) went to Virginia — 50.0% of the total. The IRS file, which counts tax returns rather than survey responses, puts the same two first: 9,213 and 6,502 returns of 31,175.
The destinations listed below are the low-tax ones, and together the twelve states this comparison set covers take 18.3% of District out-migration by the Census count and 14.6% by the IRS count. The corridors linked here now reach 17.5% and 13.5% of it respectively, up from 15.0% before the Georgia, Delaware and South Carolina pages were added. So read them for what they are: a full answer to “what would a move to a lower-tax state save me”, and not an answer to “where do people like me go”. If you are moving across the river, those two moves now have pages of their own — District of Columbia to Maryland and District of Columbia to Virginia — and between them they cover 50.0% of District out-migration by the Census count and 50.4% by the IRS count. Neither is a tax-flight move and both pages say so.
Every count here is all ages: no official source publishes state-to-state flows crossed by age, so none of this is a retiree ranking. South Carolina appears in the IRS file but is suppressed in the Census table, which is why its Census contribution above is zero rather than small. Sources: US Census Bureau, ACS 1-year state-to-state migration flows, 2024; IRS Statistics of Income state-to-state outflow file, filing years 2022–2023 — both re-derived from the published files on August 18, 2026.
Leaving is a sequence, not a single decision
The destination is only part of it: residency, accounts and property each have to be dealt with in some order, and an adviser can walk through that order with you before anything is signed or sold.
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Where District of Columbia retirees go, and what each move is worth
Destinations below are drawn from documented retiree migration. Each links a worked, statute-cited comparison of all four taxes for that specific pair.
- District of Columbia to Florida — stop paying income tax on withdrawals and leave a death tax behind
- District of Columbia to Texas — stop paying income tax on withdrawals and leave a death tax behind
- District of Columbia to Tennessee — stop paying income tax on withdrawals and leave a death tax behind
- District of Columbia to Nevada — stop paying income tax on withdrawals and leave a death tax behind
- District of Columbia to North Carolina — top rate falls; compare the death taxes too
- District of Columbia to Georgia — flat rate, a large 65+ retirement exclusion, and no death tax
- District of Columbia to Delaware — a lower ladder, a $12,500 exclusion at 60+, and both death taxes repealed
- District of Columbia to South Carolina — a brand-new two-rate schedule for 2026, a $15,000 deduction at 65, and no death tax
- District of Columbia to Maryland — the commonest move of all, and the one where a mandatory county income tax, a second capital-gains layer and an inheritance tax all move against you
- District of Columbia to Virginia — a real rate cut and no death tax, with a 5.75% bracket that starts at $17,000 and an age deduction that means-tests away
Getting the sequence right
Leaving District Of Columbia cleanly is a sequencing problem as much as a tax one: domicile tests, what happens to property you keep behind, and the order of conversions and sales. See finding an advisor for a cross-state move for what to look for and the five questions to ask first.
Will the District of Columbia still tax me after I move away?
Before the saving is real, the move has to survive an audit. The state you are leaving is the one that examines it, and the “six months and a day” rule is not the test — what actually changes your domicile, and why 183 days can trap you rather than free you.
Not on your retirement withdrawals, once you genuinely change domicile — but that is a harder test than a change of address, and what you leave behind stays in reach.
- Domicile is a test, not an address. District of Columbia can audit a departing resident. Days present, licence, registrations, where your advisers are and where you keep what you value all count.
- Property left behind stays reachable. Keeping a home in District of Columbia can keep part of your estate inside District of Columbia rules.
- Sequence any Roth conversion. It is taxed where you are domiciled in the year you convert — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.
Full District of Columbia detail: District of Columbia retirement taxes. All corridors: retirement tax relocation hub.
Getting the order right
Move timing, conversion sequencing and estate exposure interact, and the order changes the total. Know what advice should cost before you buy it — see our advisor cost guide.
Cite or share this guide
Suggested citation: Clear Money Guide, “Leaving District of Columbia in Retirement: the 2026 Tax Position,” statute-cited; clearmoneyguide.com/leaving-district-of-columbia-retirement-taxes/. Free to cite with attribution. Download the full dataset as CSV, or contact contact@clearmoneyguide.com for custom cuts.
Primary sources
- D.C. Code § 47-1803.02(a)(2)
- D.C. Law 20-155 (FY2015 Budget Support Act)
- D.C. Code sec. 47-3701(14)
- D.C. Code sec. 47-3702
- D.C. Code §20-351
- D.C. Code §20-751
- D.C. Law 25-302