Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro FMR Area Fair Market Rent

What these rents mean for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro FMR Area metro

HUD's FY 2026 Fair Market Rent schedule sets the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro FMR Area Metro Area (CBSA 47900) 1-bedroom at $2,015, with a studio at $1,953, 2-bedroom at $2,246, 3-bedroom at $2,835, and 4-bedroom at $3,332. These are the 40th percentile of gross rents — utilities included, excluding telephone — meaning roughly 60% of standard-quality rentals in the metro cost more. Because HUD treats a metropolitan statistical area as a single rent market, every county inside the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro FMR Area CBSA shares these FMR figures, and local housing authorities use them to set Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment standards (typically between 90% and 110% of FMR).

Against the national benchmark, a 1-bedroom in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro FMR Area is 110% above the US 1-bedroom FMR of $959. Year-over-year the 1-bedroom FMR shifted from $2,056 in FY 2025 to $2,015 in FY 2026 — a change of -2.0%, which is unusual and suggests softening demand or revised HUD sampling inputs. Metro-level FMRs often diverge from the rents listed for any single suburb, so renters should view this as the HUD ceiling, not a street-level market rate.

For affordability, the 30% rule says rent should not exceed 30% of gross household income. At the FY 2026 1-bedroom FMR of $2,015, that implies a household income of $80,600 per year (about $6,717/month) — a 2-bedroom at $2,246 raises that income floor further. With a metro population of 6,239,011 and a median household income of $123,896, the gap between FMR and local wages determines how many households qualify as rent-burdened (paying more than 30% of income) or severely burdened (above 50%). Metro FMR also anchors the Small Area FMR program, which sets ZIP-level payment standards in designated metros to expand voucher choice into higher-opportunity neighborhoods.