A Reston family of four that owns a median-priced townhouse spends about $10,300 a month in our 2026 sample budget. That total covers the house, groceries, before- and after-school care for two children, one car, a Metro commute, health insurance premiums and Virginia income tax. We left out federal taxes, retirement savings and everything a family spends for fun.
Washington-area households spent an average of about $108,000 a year in 2023 and 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 39 percent more than the national average of $77,907. They also earned more: $154,383 a year before taxes, against $103,012 nationally. Reston’s median household income was $148,710 in the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 estimates.
This post is part of our series answering common questions about living in Reston. For the house itself, line by line, see our companion guide to what it costs to own a home in Reston.
A sample Reston family of four spends about $10,300 a month
Our sample household is two working adults and two children in elementary school. They own a median-priced Reston townhouse bought with 20 percent down, they drive one car, and one parent rides Metro to work.
| Monthly cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Mortgage, county real estate tax, RA assessment and cluster fee | $4,628 |
| Homeowners insurance | $154 |
| Electricity, water and sewer | $320 |
| Groceries, USDA moderate-cost plan | $1,389 |
| Before- and after-school care for two children, county SACC program | $1,353 |
| One car, AAA new-vehicle average | $1,072 |
| Metro commute from Wiehle-Reston East, 20 workdays | $369 |
| Health insurance premiums, employee share of family coverage | $571 |
| Virginia income tax at Reston’s median household income | $444 |
| Total | $10,300 |
The total comes to about $123,600 a year. Housing, insurance and utilities make up just under half of it. Groceries and before- and after-school care come next, at about $1,390 and $1,350 a month, and the car follows at about $1,070.
Swap the townhouse for a median Reston condominium and the housing line drops to about $3,105 a month. For a median detached house, the line comes to about $7,349. Both figures come from our ownership cost guide, at 20 percent down and the 7.40 percent 30-year rate Freddie Mac reported on October 8.
Housing, insurance and utilities take just under half the sample budget
The $4,628 housing line covers four bills: principal and interest on the mortgage, Fairfax County real estate tax, the Reston Association assessment and the townhouse cluster fee. Reston has no town government, so Fairfax County sends the only real estate tax bill. For 2026 the county’s rates add up to $1.2005 per $100 of assessed value for a typical Reston home: the $1.12 base rate, $0.047 for the Reston Community Center, $0.0325 for stormwater and $0.001 for the county’s infestation prevention levy. Owners inside the Reston Service District around the Metro stations pay another $0.021, which funds road projects in those station areas.
Reston Association charges $890 per lot for 2026, and RA staff has proposed $900 for 2027. Our guides to Reston Association fees and to how the RA assessment, cluster fees and condo fees fit together cover what each bill pays for.
The $154 insurance line is NerdWallet’s Fairfax average for a policy with $400,000 in dwelling coverage. The $320 utility line combines Dominion Energy’s typical bill for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month with Fairfax Water and county sewer charges at average family use. Owners who heat with natural gas pay a Washington Gas bill on top.
A family of four spends $1,160 to $1,390 a month on groceries under the USDA’s moderate-cost plan
The Department of Agriculture prices four grocery budgets every month, from its lean Thrifty plan through the Low-Cost and Moderate-Cost plans to the Liberal plan. Each one assumes a family cooks every meal and snack at home. In September 2026, the Moderate-Cost plan priced groceries for a couple with two children ages 2 to 5 at $1,163.50 a month, and for a couple with children ages 6 to 11 at $1,389.20. For the older children, the Low-Cost plan came to $1,126.90 and the Liberal plan to $1,681.80.
The USDA publishes national averages only. Washington-area households spent a little more on groceries than on restaurants in 2023 and 2024, $7,005 a year on food at home against $5,905 on food away from home, according to the BLS.
Virginia taxes groceries at a reduced 1 percent, against the 6 percent sales tax on most other purchases in Fairfax County. Diners pay more tax on restaurant meals than they did a year ago. Fairfax County began collecting a 4 percent meals tax on January 1, 2026, on top of the 6 percent sales tax, so a $100 dinner in Reston costs $10 in tax before the tip. Because Reston is unincorporated, the county’s meals tax applies everywhere in Reston. The Town of Herndon charges its own meals tax instead of the county’s.
The Fairfax County Park Authority holds the Reston Farmers Market at Lake Anne on Saturday mornings through November 21, and FreshFarm sets up its Reston market every Wednesday afternoon, year round, in the St. John Neumann Catholic Church lot on Lawyers Road in South Reston.
Before- and after-school care costs $712 a month per child at the county’s top fee tier
Fairfax County runs School-Age Child Care, known as SACC, in elementary schools across the county, and it charges families on a sliding scale by adjusted household income. For the 2026-27 school year, households at $148,500 or more pay $712 a month for one child’s care before and after school, $493 for after school only and $257 for before school only, plus a $45 annual fee. The county takes 10 percent off for a second child, so two children cost about $1,353 a month. SACC bills the school year in 10 equal installments from August through May, and it charges separately for winter, spring and summer camps.
Care for children too young for school costs more. Fairfax County’s Office for Children put full-time infant care at child care centers at $422 to $547 a week in fall 2023, the range from the 20th to the 80th percentile of rates that local programs reported. At 52 weeks a year, the center range comes to about $1,830 to $2,370 a month. Family child care, which is licensed care in a provider’s own home, ran $289 to $400 a week for infants. Center rates for preschoolers ran $350 to $471 a week.
In a 2026 brief, the county reports child care rates in Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and the City of Fairfax at about 69 percent above the rest of Virginia, and it describes infant and toddler care in those localities as limited. Families who will need infant care should ask centers about openings and waitlists months ahead.
One new car costs about $1,070 a month, and Fairfax County bills a yearly car tax
AAA put the average cost of owning and running a new vehicle at $12,863 a year in its 2026 study, or about $1,072 a month at 15,000 miles a year. Depreciation, the value a car loses as it ages, accounts for the largest share at $4,422 a year. Insurance comes to $2,098, and license, registration and taxes to $802.
Fairfax County also bills a personal property tax on vehicles, which its tax office calls the car tax. The county taxes cars at $4.57 per $100 of value for 2026. Virginia’s Personal Property Tax Relief Act covers 49 percent of the tax on the first $20,000 of a personal vehicle’s value. On a car the county values at $30,000, the owner pays $923.14 for the year. The county mails most car tax bills in the summer and sets the due date at October 5.
Drivers headed east from Reston toward Tysons and Washington can take the Dulles Toll Road. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority charges $4 at the main toll plaza with E-ZPass and $2 at the ramp tolls, or $5.60 and $3.60 for drivers billed by license plate. The authority last raised tolls in January 2023. In May, FFXnow reported that its board members were weighing an increase ahead of the 2028 timeframe the authority had expected, with a consultant’s study on timing due later this year.
A Metro commute from Wiehle-Reston East costs about $370 a month at the top fare
Reston has two Silver Line stations, Wiehle-Reston East and Reston Town Center. Metro prices rail trips by distance, from $2.25 to $6.75 one way. Parking in the Wiehle-Reston East garage costs $4.95 on weekdays and nothing on weekends and federal holidays. A commuter who pays the $6.75 top fare each way and parks at Wiehle for 20 workdays spends $369 a month.
Metro is weighing a fare increase of about 11 percent that would lift the top fare to $7.50 starting July 1, 2027. The Metro board decides this winter whether to take the plan to a public hearing.
The employee’s share of family health insurance averages about $570 a month
KFF’s 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey put the average annual premium for employer family coverage at $26,993. Employers paid most of it, and workers contributed $6,850 on average, or about $571 a month. KFF’s figures are national averages and cover premiums only. Deductibles and copays are extra. Among workers whose single-coverage plans carry a general annual deductible, the average deductible was $1,886.
Virginia’s top income tax rate of 5.75 percent starts at $17,000 of taxable income
Virginia taxes income in four brackets, from 2 percent on the first $3,000 to 5.75 percent on taxable income above $17,000, according to the state’s 2026 tax rate schedule. Fairfax County charges no local income tax. The state gives each person in the household a $930 exemption.
Virginia allows a married couple its $17,500 standard deduction only if they did not itemize on their federal return. Our sample family pays about $39,790 in interest in the first year of its $540,000 mortgage at 7.40 percent, more than the $32,200 federal standard deduction for a married couple in 2026, so it comes out ahead itemizing on both returns.
We assumed the couple earns $148,710, Reston’s median household income. After deducting that interest, the $8,103 county real estate tax on the townhouse and four exemptions, the couple reports Virginia taxable income of about $97,100 and owes about $5,326 in state tax, or $444 a month. With the standard deduction instead, the same couple would owe about $7,073. Federal income tax and Social Security and Medicare withholding sit outside the sample budget.
Budget from your own numbers, starting with the house
The sample budget uses medians and averages. For a specific home and family, start with these:
- Ask for the resale packet, which lists the exact RA, cluster or condo fee and any special assessment. Our ownership cost guide walks through each line.
- Look up the county assessment and multiply the assessed value by 1.2005 percent, or 1.2215 percent inside the Reston Service District.
- Confirm RA membership by address. Some newer homes near the Metro stations have no RA membership at all.
- Check the SACC sliding scale if your household’s adjusted income is under $148,500.
- Read your employer’s benefits guide for your actual premium share, which may be well above or below the national average.
We sell homes across Reston and Herndon, and we help buyers price the monthly cost of a specific street, cluster or building before they write an offer. Reach out if you want those numbers for a home you are considering, or browse current townhomes, single-family homes and condos for sale in Reston.
See something missing or wrong? Email us at [email protected] and we will check it and update the post.
