Situated south of the Potomac River, Arlington County began as part of Washington, D.C., but it was returned to the commonwealth of Virginia in 1847. Today, the county's ample job opportunities, expansive parks and convenient access to the nation’s capital have made it a fast-growing community. The U.S. Census shows Arlington’s population rising from 207,000 in 2010 to well over 230,000 today. It’s also the smallest self-governed county in America, with 26 square miles of land stretching from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to the east and ending at McLean to the west. Arlington is considered one of the most fit cities in the United States due to its many parks, trails and open spaces, making it easy for residents to stay active. Bike-friendly infrastructure, with a well-connected network of lanes and trails, makes it simple for residents to get around on two wheels. Many neighborhoods are designed with walkability in mind, featuring pedestrian-friendly streets and sidewalks. All this has earned Arlington the No. 4 spot on Niche's list of best cities in which to live in the United States, with an A-plus rating. With abundant green spaces, highly rated schools and proximity to the nation's capital, healthy demand has driven up housing prices. High tax rates and increased prices for goods and services also drive up the cost of living in the area.
There are a plethora of trails for Arlington locals to enjoy.
Bike lanes are present on most roadways in Arlington.
Arlington residents enjoy the walkability of the nearby area.
Arlington is just minutes away from the nation's capital.
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Ballston has high-rise urban condos, while Gulf Branch is an upscale suburb
Home prices vary significantly in Arlington, depending on demand, proximity to Metro stops, home type and square footage, with a range of $100,000 all the way up to $4.25 million, and a median sale price of around $750,000 as of January 2025. Each neighborhood has its own personality and unique features. Housing varies from soaring high-rise condominiums to turn-of-the-century houses. “The housing gets denser closer to the Metro,” says Natalie Roy, an Arlington local and Realtor with Keller Williams Metro Center. “Condos and apartments are along the Orange Line. It’s a really nice mix of housing stock, and you have a range of commuter routes to D.C.” Neighborhoods like Ballston, Crystal City, Clarendon and Rosslyn have an urban feel and offer mostly townhouses, apartments and high-rise condominiums. Meanwhile, neighborhoods like Gulf Branch, Rock Spring, Williamsburg and East Falls Church are much more suburban, with colonial-style homes, Cape Cods, ramblers and newly constructed contemporary homes. Arlington is known for its walkability, with well-lit, tree-lined sidewalks. Jean-Pierre Lteif, an Arlington local and Realtor with Keller Williams Metro Center, mentions that the home prices in most north Arlington neighborhoods like Gulf Branch and Bellevue Forest are higher because homes tend to come with larger lots and more square footage.
According to data from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Arlington County’s overall crime rate rose by 24% from 2021 to 2023. Its overall crime rate is slightly higher than that of the greater D.C. region but still lower than figures for neighboring cities like Alexandria and D.C.
Arlington boasts new construction builds in many neighborhoods.
Condos are a popular option for residents of Arlington.
Gorgeous homes stand tall in the Gulf Branch neighborhood.
Attached condos are a staple of the Fairlington neighborhood.
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A-plus schools and free transportation for students
Arlington Public Schools has an A-plus rating from Niche. Niche also ranked it as the No. 2 best district in Virginia and as Virginia’s best place to teach. Dorothy Hamm Middle School and Williamsburg Middle School ranked in Virginia's top five best public middle schools, with Dorothy Hamm Middle scoring the No. 1 spot. Earning an A-plus Niche grade, Washington Liberty High School was ranked the fifth-best public high school in Virginia, while Yorktown High School follows closely behind, ranked as the 12th-best public high school in the state, also with an A-plus rating. Arlington students have access to the iRide Program, which provides free public transportation for elementary, middle and high school students.
Dorothy Hamm Middle School serves the community of Arlington.
Williamsburg Middle School is a highly rated school in Arlington.
Washington Liberty High School is a public school in Arlington.
Yorktown High School provides quality education to those living in Arlington.
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A bike-friendly community with eight Metro stations
Regional WMATA buses, also called Metrobuses, and countywide Arlington Regional Transit, or ART buses, provide public transportation throughout the county. Eight Metro stations are also in town, providing locals with access to the greater D.C., Maryland and Virginia region. Arlington County has set out several public transit programs like WalkArlington and BikeArlington to lower the county’s carbon footprint and promote active transportation options. Arlington is incredibly bike-friendly, with miles of lanes and trails for locals to use. There's also Capital Bikeshare, an affordable and convenient service available in and around D.C. Its e-bikes are connected to a network of over 700 stations. The County is also fairly walkable, with consistent sidewalks, especially in the urban core of the county.
Commuters taking their cars to work will likely use Columbia Pike, Arlington Boulevard, Interstate 66 and Interstate 395 to get through the county and to D.C. for work. When residents do travel by car, they can face a higher level of traffic and longer commutes. The hunt for street parking can also pose a challenge in Arlington, and most public street parking is paid.
Get around Arlington via public transportation.
Hop on a bike and explore Arlington.
The Clarendon Metro is one of eight metro stops in Arlington.
Arlington is a walker's paradise.
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Northern Virginia’s arts epicenter
Arlington features over 1,500 annual arts events, second only to Washington, D.C., in the region. The county offers galleries, museums and theaters filled with original art, work from world-renowned artists and performances by critically acclaimed musicians. The Cody Gallery at Marymount University, Fred Snider Gallery of Art, Gallery Underground and the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington are all places to explore intricate local exhibitions.
There are more than just art events in town though. “They have the annual food festival,” Lteif says. “Columbia Pike also has a farmers market on Saturdays.” There are music festivals, like the Columbia Pike Blues Festival in June and the Rosslyn Jazz Fest in September. In the summer, there are frequent free outdoor concerts at the Air Force Memorial, Lubber Run Amphitheater, Pentagon Row, Rosslyn's Central Place and the Netherlands Carillon. Theatrical plays take the stage at Avant Bard Theatre, the Gunston Arts Center, the Tony-Award-winning Signature Theatre, Synetic Theater and Theatre on the Run. The Jane Franklin Dance Company and Opera NOVA are among the other local performance companies. Meanwhile, patrons can dine on a full pub grub menu while watching live comedy at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse.
Arlington art lovers find inspiration at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
You can find unique sculptures along Crystal Drive in Crystal City.
Catch a movie at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse in Arlington.
Support local businesses at one of the many farmer's markets in Arlington.
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Park-heavy neighborhoods, national landmarks and regional trail access
Arlington hosts 157 parks and nature centers to explore. Tennis players can head to Towers Park or Virginia Highlands Park. Soccer fields are available at Barcroft Park, Thomas Jefferson Park or Virginia Highlands Park, while Arlington's only disc golf course is in Bluemont Park. The Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy, or AIRE, has been working toward making Arlington a carbon-neutral community since 2008, with a goal of generating 100% of Arlington's electricity from renewable sources by the year 2035. Part of the county’s sustainability efforts is the focus on urban agriculture, with seven community gardens and nine farmers markets throughout the area. Locals can stop and smell the roses at Bon Air Park’s expansive gardens, while kids can run around the playground.
The Donaldson Run and Lubber Run trails are popular options among the approximately 100 miles of trails in the area for hiking and biking. The Washington and Old Dominion Trail cuts through Arlington and stretches 45 miles through Northern Virginia, while the Potomac Heritage Trail is a nature walk with views of the Potomac River. At Fort C.F. Smith, folks can go bird-watching or learn about the county’s Civil War history. Locals can even glide along the river via a canoe, kayak or paddleboard, which they can rent from the Key Bridge Boathouse across the bridge from Rosslyn.
Arlington offers many national landmarks to explore, such as the Air Force Memorial, the Marine Corps War Memorial for Iwo Jima and the National September 11 Pentagon Memorial. Fort Myer is an active military base close to the D.C. border, with around 9,800 active-duty personnel and 3,500 family members residing here. The fort is beside Arlington National Cemetery, the nation’s largest military burial ground at 639 acres. It was constructed after the Civil War on land that was once a plantation belonging to Robert E. Lee. Union Gen. Montgomery Meigs specifically chose the location as a reminder of the war's consequences. Today, it is the final resting place for over 400,000 servicemembers and two U.S. presidents, William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy, and over 3 million people visit annually to pay their respects.
Hit the pickleball courts at Arlington Village's Walter Reed Community Center.
Grab your bike and head out to the trails around Arlington.
Bon Air Park in Arlington boasts a serene garden.
The Air Force Memorial is located near the Pentagon in Arlington.
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Locals can browse Ballston Quarter and Crystal City for restaurants and retail
Arlingtonians usually head to Ballston Quarter to shop or grab dinner on a night out. It was redeveloped with new stores as recently as 2019 and features a movie theater, a live comedy venue and an ice-skating rink. Clarendon is better known as a nightlife district, featuring decades-old nightclubs along Wilson Boulevard. As its name suggests, Court House is considered Arlington's civic center due to its various administrative and judicial offices. Further east is Crystal City, a mixed-use area with condos and apartments, plenty of restaurants, big-box retailers and Amazon's second headquarters. Folks also head down dining corridors like Langston Boulevard and Columbia Pike, which mostly host local restaurants and supermarkets. Bob & Edith’s Diner is an Arlington institution, serving homestyle breakfasts 24 hours a day since 1969. There are now eight Bob and Edith chains in the Northern Virginia area.
Enjoy a diverse array of dining options at the Ballston Quarter in Arlington.
Ballston Quarter is a hotspot in Arlington for shopping and dining.
Check out the ice skating rink at Pentagon City in Arlington during winter.
Metro 29 is a local favorite retro styled diner along Langston Boulevard in Arlington.
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The future of Arlington
Considering the county was once part of the nation’s capital, many residents live in Arlington to be a quick commute away from work in D.C. The federal government is Arlington County's top employer, followed by the county government and the Arlington County School District. Arlington is also home to the Pentagon, the nation’s iconic five-sided headquarters for the Department of Defense, so employees can commute by car or by train. Amazon’s second headquarters is in Crystal City, and the online retailer is the county’s largest private employer, with around 8,000 employees. The company estimates that this number will rise to about 25,000 through the year 2031 as the office park is expanded.
A few projects are in process for the county. There are plans to anchor the Shirlington Road Special Revitalization District with an urban plaza called Nauck Town Square. It will serve as a social and cultural center for the neighborhood. The Nauck Infrastructure Fund assists in offsetting costs associated with making public improvements to Nauck Town Square and the larger Nauck neighborhood. Other improvements helped by the fund include streetscape, utility, landscaping, transportation, shared parking and more. Meanwhile, Penrose Square was recently completed as a part of the Columbia Pike Town Center. The project included a water feature, landscaping, site furnishings and public art.
Arlington experiences Virginia’s humid, subtropical climate, with sweltering summers and chilly winters, where snowfall is around the national average. There is a slight flood risk for residents who live closer to the Potomac River, though the county collaborates with FEMA and limits development in flood-plain areas while offering flood insurance for homeowners at risk.
Juan Antonio is one of Long and Foster Realtors’ fastest rising stars. He came to Washington and started in the restaurant business. He quickly learned the importance of good customer service. In his spare time he attended Montgomery College in order to better learn the English language.
Bitten by the real estate bug, Juan Antonio joined Long and Foster. His appetite for success coupled with his desire to please is propelling him into the ranks of Realtors to be reckoned with. When asked how he became so successful Juan Antonio said: “When I meet people, I give them my card and smile. Then I give them the best service they have ever had.”
For your next real estate dealings, call Juan Antonio.
Disclaimer: Certain information contained herein is derived from information provided by parties other than Homes.com. Our sources include: Accuweather, Public Records and Neustar. All information provided is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and should be independently verified.
