By Ariella Adjangba-Baker   8/17/25

Introduction

      Over the summer, I researched and scrutinized construction fees for DMV jurisdictions. I found information for the D.C. metropolitan area, which includes D.C., parts of Maryland, and parts of Virginia. In Maryland, the jurisdictions I found information for resided primarily in Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, or Frederick County. In Virginia, I found information for Northern Virginia, including Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Fallschurch, and Prince Williams County. Most of these areas were classified as suburban, but the urban areas of D.C. and Arlington were also included. 

      To find the construction fee information, I used each jurisdiction’s planning department, which listed their Fiscal Year 25 fee schedule. If a jurisdiction didn’t have a planning department, I used a similar department that held their Fiscal Year 25 fee schedule. I then added all of the information to a spreadsheet and confirmed the data with each jurisdiction’s planning department–or similar department–via a phone call or email.

      My research was guided by questions that differentiated where construction was cheapest and most expensive, exposed hidden fees that developers may not be aware of, and accounted for circumstances that affected costs.

Do all jurisdictions offer easy access to a planning department for information?

       Most do, but some jurisdictions don’t have a planning department. They typically had a different department with similar information and the fee schedule. The City of Laurel doesn’t have a planning department, but they have a permit services department that acts similarly. The city of Takoma Park also doesn’t, but they have a similar housing and community development department. The outlier is the Town of Bladensburg, which didn’t have a planning department and had few alternative resources available. They are subject to similar fees and costs as Prince George’s County, however, which gives an approximate idea of their construction fees. Notably, it seems the places with smaller populations had the least resources and information available.

Where are construction fees levied by the government the lowest and highest?

      Construction costs are highest in Washington D.C., the city of Bowie MD, the city of Manassas VA, and Alexandria VA. They are cheapest in Laurel MD and Gaithersburg MD.

What impacts construction fees?

      It seems that density and construction fees go hand in hand, as areas with higher population to land space ratios, or more urban areas, tend to have higher construction fees. This makes sense because these areas have higher demand for living, so there are lots of apartments to meet this demand. Because of stricter fire codes and heavier fees such as higher impact and storm water taxes, apartments are more expensive to construct. 

      For example, D.C. is at the top of the list in overall construction fees. According to their planning department, they have a construction fee of $.003 per square foot and a permit cost of 3.5% of the construction fee. According to the national census, they house 11,488 people per square mile. According to their FY25 fee schedule, Laurel has no construction fee and a $40 annual permit fee. According to the national census, they only house 6,835 people per square mile and are located on the border of Prince George’s and Howard County. In the middle are jurisdictions such as Takoma Park, which according to the National Census houses 8312 people per square mile. According to their FY25 schedule, they also have no construction fee. Their permit application is $270, then 1.45 percent of the total construction cost or $.35 per square foot, whichever is greater.

How vast are the differences in construction fees between the regions and jurisdictions in the DMV?

      As established, D.C. is the jurisdiction with the highest construction fees. As for Maryland and Virginia, there is a general trend that jurisdictions in MD have lower fees than their VA counterparts. This makes sense because the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development states that there are limits on levied fees. This isn’t the case for VA.

      In MD, according to their respective FY25 schedules, the construction fee Frederick County charges is $.26/sq ft, while Fallchurch charges $122.00 + $0.671/s.f. The Fallschurch construction is notably higher, which is consistent with the fact that they don’t face the same limits as Frederick County in MD does.

Green building is when construction projects meet certain thresholds to deem them resource and energy efficient. Do jurisdictions offer any incentives for green building?

      In D.C., according to their planning department, construction fees lower from $.003 for regular construction to $.0002/sq ft for green construction. Green construction includes being efficient with energy use and resources. Notably, for apartments, each unit uses—on average—less than 1/2 of the amount of energy of people living in a single family home. This means apartments are more likely to qualify, so by contrast building apartments is incentivized. D.C. is currently the only jurisdiction with this opportunity.

Are there ‘hidden’ fees that may cause developers to underestimate costs?

      Yes. The widely-known property tax comes after construction, but there are taxes on top of this and labor and materials costs. For example, according to their respective planning departments, Frederick county charges $503 to simply go over a sewage plan for new construction and Montgomery county charges $2,990.35 for sewage systems in new construction. These fees may be necessary to new construction, but can add thousands to construction costs that developers may not have accounted for.

What are some notable post-construction costs that impact the cost to live in these homes?

      Property tax, which most home-owners are familiar with, is the largest source of revenue for local governments to fund amenities. Something interesting is that, based on their fee schedule for FY25, College Park, MD raises property tax from 30.18 for single-family projects to 33.18 cents per $100 for multi-family projects. On top of this, apartments are subject to higher impact fees such as stormwater tax. This makes them extremely expensive to construct. However, once you divide these costs across units–or the amount of families living in a single apartment building–living in an apartment becomes cheaper than living in a single-family home because the cost is distributed.

      Additionally, these fees may also depend on jurisdiction. For example, according to their planning departments, Fallschurch doesn’t have a trash tax separate from property tax but Prince Williams County does.

How do specific fees differ across jurisdictions?

        Fees in regard to parking differ across jurisdictions. Since a place like D.C. is an all-urban area, residents typically park their car on the road, so they have a parking permit fee. It’s $50 for the first car, $75 for the second, $100 for the third, and $150 for the fourth and beyond. Alternatively, a place like Alexandria just has a driveway/garage fee of $.75/sq ft, since many live in homes with garages. This would also likely turn out to be much cheaper. Additionally, it seems the areas more densely populated had higher trash taxes, which makes sense as they are typically more subject to pollution.

Conclusion

      Construction rates in the DMV are some of the highest throughout the entire nation, as the information explored demonstrates. This can be attributed to their primal location, at or near the nation’s Capitol, various amenities, high-pay jobs relative to the nation’s average, and top education systems.

The chart housing all of this information is available here.