Like most high-density commute areas, homes close to work are pricey, so people have to live in the boondocks, and commute.
I know people that live in Frederick, and commute to DC.
Of course, Frederick has Ft. Detrick. That's a fun place. I think it was the model for the biolab in The Stand.
Homes are pricey, no question. But, DC is one of the more affordable top-tier cities in the US. Especially if your work is in the suburbs.
For software people, you can buy a reasonable[1] TH in Reston for around $600k and have a reasonable commute to most of the NoVA tech corridor. Or Metro downtown. Or ride your bike to many employment centers. Or, if you're really lucky, you can walk to quite a few employers in Reston (Google, MS, Ellucian, Walmart Labs, various three-letter agency IT offices, etc).
1 - mid-70s build, 3-bed, 2.5 bath, 1500-1800sqft, in a good school district and with walk/bike access to schools, grocery/pharmacy, many doctors, and Metro.
I know a lot of folks on this site are from the Bay Area, where something like that would probably be twice that, but it's actually more expensive than around here, which is considered one of the more expensive areas to live.
It's astounding to see kids out of college, starting at more than I ever made, in my career, and yet, they can't afford to buy a house.
But I'm not one to talk. My father never made more than $40K, and had a house in Potomac, two cars, and a stay-at-home wife.
$600k is still a lot of money, but under the county average home price of $700k (which includes condos, THs, and SFHs).
Is it?
This 2023 study[1] featured on Bloomberg[2] ranked DC at #7 of 76 most expensive large cities in the nation, requiring $245k gross pay to feel like $100k after normalizing taxes and cost of living.
[1] https://smartasset.com/data-studies/new-100k-how-taxes-costs...
[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-15/making-30...
IE, DC is expensive, but also pays extremely well.