I'm in N. Virginia near DC too. Would never ever buy anywhere near DC. One co-worker said the commute he had was so bad he partially ended up getting divorced over it. 1-person apartment rents are insane. Luckily 2-3+ person apartments are reasonable, so I'm only paying $800/month for rent+all utilities, with a 10 minute commute.
Once I can telework though, I'm planning on moving to an area with even better internet, better utilities, better weather, less costly food, non-insane driving conditions, $8k less in taxes, at least as safe an area, if not safer, and where I can get a decent house for $100k. Being chained to a particular area by a job is the worst.