Northern Virginia Guide › Loudoun County › Sterling
Sterling, Virginia
Next to Dulles, at Ashburn's price per foot, for $406,700 less.
At a glance
Six numbers that describe Sterling.
The median single-family home in Sterling sold for $780,000 in 2026 and went under contract in six days, and more than half sold above the asking price.
Sterling is the eastern edge of Loudoun County, along Route 7 and Route 28 next to Dulles Airport. Its neighborhoods run from Sterling Park, Loudoun's first large planned community, opened in 1963, to Countryside and Cascades, and it has one of the region's largest Muslim communities, around the ADAMS Center. This page shows what a house or townhouse costs, how buyers pay, what it rents for, which high schools serve it, and the commute. Every number is from Bright MLS closed sales, not from a listing site's estimate.
Sterling is an unincorporated community. The Sterling postal city covers zips 20164, 20165 and 20166, including Cascades and Countryside; Potomac Falls and Dulles are separate postal cities in Bright MLS and are not counted here. Single-family means a detached house with at least three bedrooms and two full baths; townhouse means end-of-row and interior-row homes; condominium-regime homes are left out of both. Source: Bright MLS, closed sales January 1 to October 2, 2026, Postal City = Sterling, County = Loudoun, pulled by Ahmed Makkiyah.
Prices
$780,000 for a house and $592,500 for a townhouse in Sterling.
On the Loudoun County chart, Sterling's median house sold for $140,000 less than Purcellville ($920,000) and $406,700 less than Ashburn ($1,186,700), at almost the same price per square foot as Ashburn: $384 against $385.
The houses. 280 houses sold, from $425,000 to $1,800,000, and half of them for $780,000 or less. 156 were in 20164 and 120 in 20165, the zip of Countryside and Cascades; only 4 were in 20166, by Dulles. They are older and smaller than Ashburn's, which is why the same price per foot buys a lower total.
The bidding. 53% sold above asking and 64% went under contract within a week, more than Ashburn (48% over asking). The median sold-to-list was 100.2%, so the typical winning offer was at the asking price or a little above it, not far above it.
Townhouses. 210 sold at a median of $592,500, from $290,000 to $1,000,000, at $313 a square foot. That is less than Leesburg ($700,000), Ashburn ($740,000) or Herndon ($652,500). 20166, around Dulles, is townhouse country: 51 townhouse sales and 4 houses.
Median single-family sale price, Loudoun County, 20262
Bright MLS closed sales, 2026 year to date, County = Loudoun, filtered to detached houses with 3+ bedrooms and 2+ full baths, condominium-regime homes left out. Brambleton and Broadlands are their own postal cities, so Ashburn here leaves them out. South Riding (20152) is the Loudoun side of the Chantilly mailing address, nearly all of it South Riding. Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill, Lovettsville, Waterford and Middleburg are western Loudoun; Middleburg means the Loudoun County side of its address only. Lansdowne and Cascades are communities selected by zip code and subdivision name inside the Leesburg (20176) and Sterling (20165) addresses, so their sales overlap those rows. Upperville, Bluemont, Hillsboro and the other small places have too few sales to chart.
| Measure | Houses | Townhouses |
|---|---|---|
| Homes sold | 280 | 210 |
| Median sold price | $780,000 | $592,500 |
| Average sold price | $836,116 | $589,457 |
| Median price per square foot | $384 | $313 |
| Median days to contract | 6 | 6 |
| Median sold-to-list | 100.2% | 100.0% |
| Sold above asking | 149 (53.2%) | 91 (43.3%) |
| Under contract within 7 days | 63.6% | 61.4% |
| Lowest sale | $425,000 | $290,000 |
| Highest sale | $1,800,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Cash sales | 37 (13.2%) | 16 (7.6%) |
One house listed at $425,000 sold for $530,000 in cash, 125% of asking, the pattern of an as-is house with investors bidding. Two townhouses went the other way, $359,900 on a $459,900 list and $480,000 on $595,000, after big price cuts. The average sold-to-list was 101.0% for houses and 100.2% for townhouses; the medians are the better guide.
What can you afford in Sterling? Start from the monthly payment you can live with, not the price. Loudoun's tax rate is lower than Fairfax County's, and most Sterling neighborhoods have an HOA; the calculator adds both for you.
Follow the money
About one house buyer in eight paid cash, 37 of 280.
In 2026, 37 of 280 Sterling house buyers paid cash, $29.1 million of the $234.1 million spent, or 12.4% of the dollars. Cash buyers paid a median of $795,000, against $780,000 for buyers with a loan.
Share of house sales paid in cash, by price
One in five houses under $660,000 sold for cash, including the $530,000 as-is sale at 125% of asking; the cash share falls to 7% just below the median and rises to 18% just above it. Sterling's 13.2% is more than Herndon (8.2%) and less than Ashburn (16.9%).
How 280 Sterling house purchases were paid for
About one buyer in twelve used a VA loan, 24 of 280, and 7 used FHA. The other 9 were VHDA, private, owner-financed and other loans.
What that means if you need a loan: most of the time you are competing with other financed buyers, but at the low end one buyer in five has cash, and more than half of all houses sold over asking. Under $660,000, an FHA or VA offer needs a full pre-approval, a short inspection window and a clear plan for an appraisal gap to beat an investor's cash.
Townhouses: 162 of 210 buyers used a conventional loan, 16 paid cash, 16 used FHA and 11 VA, and the rest VHDA, private or other loans. Cash bought the cheaper townhouses, a median of $570,000 against $595,550 financed, and 13.5% of townhouses under $520,000 sold for cash. Mixed cash-and-loan deals were counted as financed.
The interesting facts
$384 a square foot, the same as Ashburn, for a smaller and older house.
Four things in the 2026 numbers that set Sterling apart.
Same price per foot, smaller house. Sterling and Ashburn houses both sold for about $385 a square foot. Ashburn's median was $1,186,700 because its houses are bigger and newer; Sterling's older neighborhoods, from 1963 to the 1990s, put a Loudoun County house at $780,000.
Who is buying. Families who work along Route 28 and at Dulles, Muslim families from many countries near the ADAMS Center and the halal shops on Davenport Drive, Salvadoran and other Latino families, investors at the low end, and first-time buyers in townhouses.
A renter's town for townhomes. 272 townhomes were rented in 2026 against 210 sold, and a townhome earns a 6.1% gross yield, a house 5.7%. An Ashburn house earns about 4.6%. If you are buying to rent out, Sterling's numbers work better.
Rent or buy
A Sterling house sells for 17.6 years of rent, a townhouse for 16.3.
A Sterling house rents for a median of $3,700 a month and sells for $780,000, a price-to-rent ratio of 17.6; a townhome rents for $3,025 and sells for $592,500, a ratio of 16.3.1
| Measure | Houses | Townhomes |
|---|---|---|
| Homes rented | 75 | 272 |
| Median monthly rent | $3,700 | $3,025 |
| Average monthly rent | $3,778 | $3,040 |
| Gross rental yield | 5.7% | 6.1% |
| Rent range | $2,595 to $5,500 | $2,100 to $4,500 |
Gross yield is before the mortgage, tax, HOA, insurance and upkeep. The lower the ratio, the sooner owning beats renting: Sterling's 17.6 for a house is below Herndon (19.3), Chantilly's Fairfax side (21.2) or Ashburn (about 22), so a family that plans to stay several years usually does better buying.
Own in Sterling already? More than half the houses sold above asking this year. Ahmed runs a real comparative analysis against the 490 sales on this page, on your street and in your zip, not a website estimate.
The houses
Sterling Park from 1963, Countryside by 1991, and Cascades with about 6,500 homes.
Sterling grew up with Dulles Airport, dedicated in 1962. Sterling Park came first; Countryside and Cascades followed in the 1980s and 1990s as planned communities with their own HOAs.
Sterling Park. Opened in 1963 as Loudoun County's first large-scale planned community. Many of the early houses were prefabricated by U.S. Steel and came with air conditioning for less than a comparable house in Fairfax County.
Countryside (20165). More than 2,500 homes, a mix of houses, townhouses and condominiums, built from the early 1980s and finished in 1991, with mature trees.
Cascades (20165). A planned community of about 6,500 homes on 2,500 acres; its homeowners association was incorporated in 1990. Some Cascades-area homes are listed under the Potomac Falls postal city, 12 sales in 2026, which are not in this page's numbers. Cascades has its own page, counted by subdivision across both postal cities: 27 houses sold there in 2026 at a median of $1,010,000.
Sugarland Run and the Dulles side. Sugarland Run is home to Dominion High. In 20166, toward the airport, nearly everything sold was a townhouse: 51 against 4 houses.
What to check. The HOA resale package with dues and any special assessment; the age of the roof, windows and HVAC on a 1960s to 1980s house; the flight paths at the hour you would be home; and whether the listing is Sterling, Potomac Falls or Dulles, since each is a separate search.
Schools
Dominion, Potomac Falls and Park View high schools, in Loudoun County Public Schools.
All of Sterling is Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). The high school depends on the street; the three named here rank #69, #102 and #211 in Virginia on US News.3
A-
Dominion High School
In Sugarland Run. Niche A minus and #14 among Loudoun County public high schools; US News #69 in Virginia, and 87% graduate in four years.
A-
Potomac Falls High School
Niche A minus and #71 in Virginia; US News #102 in Virginia, and 91% graduate in four years.
B-
Park View High School
Niche B minus; US News #211 in Virginia, with a 78% four-year graduation rate. Visit and ask about its programs before you decide.
Program
Academies of Loudoun
LCPS's application-based STEM and technical high school program, open to students from every Loudoun high school, Sterling's included.
Masjid
ADAMS Center
On Sugarland Road, founded in 1983. ADAMS serves more than 5,000 families through ten branches from Sterling to DC, with daily and Friday prayer.
Masjid
AQSA and NAIF
The AQSA Center on Acacia Lane in 20166, with daily prayer and Qur'an classes, and the NAIF Center on Shaw Road in 20164.
Halal
Halal 4 All
Al Rehma Halal Meat and Supermarket on Davenport Drive; the owners are Muslim and say everything they sell is certified halal.
Halal
Sunshine and Fair Price
Sunshine Grocery & Halal Meat on Dulles Eastern Plaza cuts meat and fish to order; Fair Price Market on Overland Drive has Indo-Pak and Middle Eastern groceries and halal meat.
Two houses a few streets apart in Sterling can feed different high schools, and the listing is not always right. Check any address with the LCPS school boundary locator, and ask Ahmed to confirm it before you offer.
Commute
Ten minutes to Dulles, and commuter buses from the Loudoun Gateway Metro station.
Sterling sits on Route 7 and Route 28, next to Dulles Airport. The Silver Line's Loudoun Gateway station has a Sterling address, and Innovation Center station is a short drive south on Route 28.
| To | Drive | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown DC | 50 to 85 min | Route 28 to the Dulles Toll Road and I-66 |
| Pentagon | 45 to 70 min | Dulles Toll Road to I-66, or the 482 bus |
| Tysons | 25 to 45 min | Route 7 east, or the Dulles Toll Road |
| Reston Town Center | 15 to 25 min | Route 28 to the Dulles Toll Road |
| Dulles Airport | 10 to 15 min | Route 28 south |
On April 1, 2026, Loudoun County Transit moved its commuter buses to the Loudoun Gateway station, where garage parking is free. Routes 481 and 486 run to downtown DC in the morning and route 482 to Rosslyn, the Pentagon and Crystal City, with return trips in the late afternoon.5 The Silver Line from the same station runs through Tysons to DC. The Dulles Toll Road charges a toll each way, so a daily drive adds up; Route 7 is free but slow at rush hour. Ahmed will do the 7:45 drive with you before you offer.
Daily life
The Potomac at Algonkian Park, and halal shops on Davenport Drive.
Outdoors and sights. Algonkian Regional Park runs along the Potomac River, and Claude Moore Park is a Loudoun County park in Sterling with walking trails. The W&OD Trail crosses Sterling on its way from Arlington to Purcellville. Dulles Town Center is the mall, and the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center, with the Space Shuttle Discovery, is a short drive south on Route 28.
Food and groceries. Davenport Drive has Toosso for Pakistani food, La Promesa for pupusas and Halal 4 All for meat; Community Plaza has Laziz Kabob and Pollos Inti; Dulles Eastern Plaza has Sunshine Grocery & Halal Meat and Super Chicken.
Taxes.4 Sterling is unincorporated Loudoun County, with no town tax. The 2026 rate is $0.805 per $100, about $6,300 a year on a $780,000 house, before HOA dues. The same house in Fairfax County would pay about $9,000.
Car tax. Loudoun cut its vehicle tax rate to $3.09 per $100 for 2026 and plans $2.94 for 2027.
Where to eat
"Ahmed, where do you go to eat?" The Sterling list.
Up to five picks within about fifteen minutes of Sterling in each cuisine, the one doing best at the top, and halal marked. Many are on Davenport Drive, Community Plaza and Dulles Eastern Plaza; a few of the best are just across Route 28 in Herndon.7
Not ranked yet: Swadi Pakistani Kitchen has 4.3 on only 6 reviews, and Mehran Restaurant on Oakgrove Road had no rating to compare. Karahi Boys and Halal 4 All show their Zabihah listing because no Yelp count could be confirmed. Rankings weigh current Yelp ratings by review count; the halal note comes from Zabihah, Yelp or the restaurant itself, and "ask about halal" means it could not be confirmed. Hours change, so call ahead. Know one that belongs here? Tell Ahmed.
Who buys here
Dulles corridor families, Muslim families near ADAMS, investors and first-time buyers at $592,500.
Families who work along Route 28 and at Dulles; Muslim families from many countries who want to be near the ADAMS Center and the halal shops; Salvadoran and other Latino families; investors, who paid cash for one in five houses under $660,000; and first-time buyers stepping into a townhouse at a median of $592,500.
Buyers choose Sterling over Ashburn for $406,700 less at the median and the same price per foot, and give up newer construction. They choose it over Herndon ($879,000) for a lower price and Loudoun's lower tax rate, and they keep the Route 28 drive to Dulles and the Toll Road. If you are torn between Sterling and Ashburn, decide on the high school and the size of house you need first; the price follows.
Questions
What people ask about Sterling.
How much does a house cost in Sterling, Virginia in 2026?
The median single-family home (3+ bedrooms, 2+ full baths) in Sterling sold for $780,000 in 2026 through October 2, across 280 sales in Bright MLS, at $384 per square foot. The median townhouse sold for $592,500 across 210 sales. That is less than Ashburn ($1,186,700), Leesburg ($1,140,000) or Herndon ($879,000). Condominium-regime homes are not included.
How competitive is the Sterling housing market?
Competitive: in 2026, 53% of single-family homes sold above the asking price, 64% went under contract within a week, and the median house took 6 days. Townhouses also took a median of 6 days, and 43% sold over asking.
Do Sterling buyers pay cash or use VA loans?
About one house buyer in eight paid cash: 37 of 280 in 2026 (13.2%), while 203 used a conventional loan and 24 a VA loan. Cash was most common under $660,000, where 13 of 64 houses sold for cash. Among townhouses, 16 of 210 buyers paid cash and 16 used FHA loans.
What is rent in Sterling, Virginia?
In 2026 the median single-family house leased for $3,700 a month across 75 leases, and the median townhome for $3,025 across 272 leases. More townhomes were rented than sold, 272 against 210.
Is it better to rent or buy in Sterling?
A median house sells for 17.6 times its yearly rent and a townhouse for 16.3 times, gross yields of 5.7% and 6.1%. Both ratios are below Herndon (19.3 for a house) and Chantilly's Fairfax side (21.2), and the lower the ratio, the sooner owning beats renting, so a family that plans to stay several years usually does better buying.
Which high schools serve Sterling?
Sterling is in Loudoun County Public Schools. Its high schools include Dominion (Niche A minus, US News #69 in Virginia), Potomac Falls (Niche A minus, US News #102) and Park View (Niche B minus, US News #211). The high school depends on the street, so check any address with the LCPS boundary locator before you offer.
How long is the commute from Sterling to DC?
At 8 am on a weekday, downtown DC is about 50 to 85 minutes by car on Route 28, the Dulles Toll Road and I-66, the Pentagon 45 to 70, Tysons 25 to 45, Reston Town Center 15 to 25 and Dulles Airport 10 to 15. Loudoun County Transit commuter buses to DC and the Pentagon leave from the Loudoun Gateway Silver Line station, where garage parking is free. These drive times are estimates.
What is the property tax in Sterling, Virginia?
Sterling is unincorporated Loudoun County, so there is no town tax. The 2026 rate is $0.805 per $100 of assessed value, roughly $6,300 a year on a $780,000 house, before HOA dues. The vehicle tax rate is $3.09 per $100 for 2026, with a planned cut to $2.94 for 2027.
Ask Ahmed
Your Trusted Realtor in NOVA.
Tell me what you are looking for in Sterling.
Buying your first townhouse, moving up to a house near the ADAMS Center, or selling where more than half the houses went over asking. Send the situation and get the numbers back, in English or Arabic, not a pitch.
REALTOR®, Douglas Realty of Virginia · VA License #0225242357
Direct 703.957.0060 · Mobile 734.383.6945 · English and Arabic
Ahmed's take
Two or three sentences in Ahmed's own voice go here: who Ahmed sees buying in Sterling, how Ahmed helps a family choose between Sterling and Ashburn, and the first thing Ahmed checks on a listing (the high school for that street, the HOA package, and the age of the roof and HVAC).
دليل شمال فرجينيا
السكن في ستيرلنغ، فرجينيا.
تقع ستيرلنغ في مقاطعة لاودن، قرب مطار دالاس. بلغ السعر الوسطي للبيت المستقل 780,000 دولار في 2026، وللتاون هاوس 592,500 دولار.
سعر القدم المربع يكاد يساوي سعره في آشبرن، 384 دولار، لكن البيت أصغر وأقدم، لذا فإن السعر الوسطي أقل من آشبرن بـ 406,700 دولار. السوق سريع: بيع أكثر من نصف البيوت بأكثر من السعر المطلوب، وبلغت المدة الوسطية حتى توقيع العقد ستة أيام. المدارس تابعة لمدارس مقاطعة لاودن العامة، والثانويات هي دومينيون وبوتوماك فولز وبارك فيو، والمدرسة تعتمد على الشارع. يقع مركز آدمز على شارع شوغرلاند رود، ومتاجر اللحم الحلال على دافنبورت درايف ودالاس إيسترن بلازا. الضريبة 0.805 دولار لكل 100، أي نحو 6,300 دولار سنوياً على بيت سعره 780,000. جميع الأرقام من Bright MLS، مبيعات مغلقة من 1 يناير إلى 2 أكتوبر 2026.
قبل أن تقدّم عرضاً، تأكد من الثانوية حسب الشارع ومن أوراق جمعية الملاك (HOA). هل تحتار بين ستيرلنغ وآشبرن؟ أرسل لي تفاصيل وضعك، وسأحسب معك أرقامك الحقيقية، بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية.
وكيلك العقاري الموثوق في شمال فرجينيا.
Ashburn
The end of the Silver Line.
$1.187M
Median house, 2026
Herndon
Half sold over asking.
$879K
Median house, 2026
Buying power
Start from the payment.
Tax, insurance and HOA included
Home valuation
Priced on evidence.
A real comparative analysis, not a website estimate
Leesburg
A historic town, 433 houses sold.
$1.14M
Median house, 2026
بالعربية
Every step, in Arabic.
بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية، كما تفضّل