Arlington, VA

Arlington County’s real estate tax rate is $1.053 per $100 of assessed value for CY 2026, after a $1.033 rate in CY 2025 (Arlington County^[1]). Virginia’s general sales tax rate in Arlington is 6.0%, and groceries are taxed at 1.0% statewide (Virginia Tax^[2]). For a retiree targeting a comfortable single-family home, the county itself says the average home value used in its 2026 tax discussion was $882,900, which implies a material annual property-tax load even before HOA or insurance costs (Arlington County^[3]).

Arlington itself is served by a dense regional hospital network, and the county sits immediately adjacent to major D.C. academic and specialty centers, so most residents can reach top-tier care without a long suburban drive (Arlington County^{[4?] (unconfirmed source)}). Complex cardiology, oncology, neurology, and orthopedic care is concentrated in the Washington metro rather than in a single isolated local system. Broad Medicare plan choices are available in the Washington area, but a specific Arlington-only Medicare Advantage lineup is not given here.

NOAA climate normals indicate a humid continental to humid subtropical transition pattern for the Arlington area, with average annual precipitation around 39.60 inches from the referenced local climate page (NWS Arlington climatology^[5]). The same page shows average monthly highs near 89 to 94°F in July and August and winter lows in the mid-30s°F in January and February, which means summer comfort is best in morning and shoulder seasons (NWS Arlington climatology^[5]). A nearby weather summary for Arlington County also shows annual precipitation of 42.36 inches and describes the warm season as muggy and wet, so retirees who dislike humidity will feel that most in late spring through early fall (Time and Date^[6]).

Arlington County is in Virginia, but a current Arlington County crime table from the FBI Crime Data Explorer is not given here. Because of that gap, the safest answer is that the official federal dataset should be checked at the county agency level before making a move decision, and if local reporting is absent, the county or state substitute should be used rather than a third-party crime score. Numeric crime figures are omitted.

Arlington County’s median home sale price was $799,900 and homes sold in a median 28 days, while the county’s Realtor.com market snapshot showed 721 active listings (Realtor.com Arlington County market report^[7]). Realtor.com’s Arlington city page showed a lower median listing price of $599,450, but it is a separate city-level snapshot and is still a high-price, relatively quick-turnover market with 38 median days on market (Realtor.com Arlington city page^[8]). FHFA’s 2026Q2 metro index for Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV recorded a 2.63% year-over-year increase in house prices, confirming continued upward pressure at the metro level (FHFA HPI datasets^[9]). Arlington has 55+ housing nearby, including The Jefferson in Ballston and the county’s 55+ pass and programs; The Jefferson^[10], Arlington County 55+ Pass^[11]

Arlington is immediately adjacent to Reagan National Airport, so the nearest commercial airport is DCA and it is the obvious default for most regional and East Coast travel (Arlington County^{[4?] (unconfirmed source)}). Exact minutes and specific nonstop destinations from a verified airport source are not given here. In practice, the Arlington location favors short-haul business and family travel, while longer leisure trips typically connect through the Washington region’s larger air network.

A complete count of public courses within 30 minutes is not given here. Arlington’s real recreational advantages are instead its paved trail system, close-in Potomac access, and easy reach to regional parks and cultural amenities through the Washington metro, which make it attractive for active retirees who split time between golf and walking, biking, or museum days (Arlington County^{[4?] (unconfirmed source)}).

Arlington County’s 2025 population estimate was 243,760 and its median age was 35.5 years, which makes it much younger than the typical retirement destination (Arlington County profile^[12]). The county’s 2024 ACS dashboard reports 77% of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 7.4% below poverty, and 112,027 households, underscoring a well-educated and relatively affluent community (Arlington demographics dashboard^[13]). For a retiree, that translates to strong amenities, active civic life, and neighborhood shopping corridors rather than a classic low-density retirement suburb (Arlington County profile^[12]).

FEMA’s National Risk Index is published at the county level, so the correct geography here is Arlington County rather than the city name alone; the county’s live score page is not given here. Flooding, heavy rainfall, and infrastructure disruption matter more than wildfire or earthquake risk, and EPA-style air-quality concerns are mostly episodic rather than chronic; an official annual good-air-day count or smoke-season metric is not given here. Numeric hazard and air-quality values are blank.