McLean vs Reston

A side-by-side comparison of McLean and Reston: population, income, housing, and more.

McLean and Reston are places in Virginia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Reston has the higher population (63,542 vs 50,232 in McLean). McLean has the higher median household income ($250,001 vs $139,515 in Reston). McLean has the higher median home value ($1,304,900 vs $616,000 in Reston).

Population, income & housing

	McLean	Reston
Population	50,232	63,542
Median age	46.2 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$250,001	$139,515
Median home value	$1,304,900	$616,000
Median gross rent	$3,376	$2,170
Housing units	17,765	30,274
Homeownership rate	86.5%	60.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	85.1%	70.8%
Unemployment rate	2.2%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McLean	Reston
Population	47,682 → 50,232 (+5.3%)	61,147 → 63,542 (+3.9%)
Median household income	$207,184 → $250,001 (+20.7%)	$120,396 → $139,515 (+15.9%)
Median home value	$1,031,200 → $1,304,900 (+26.5%)	$499,200 → $616,000 (+23.4%)
Median gross rent	$3,065 → $3,376 (+10.1%)	$1,859 → $2,170 (+16.7%)

McLean

Population

47,68250,232

Median household income

$207,184$250,001

Median home value

$1,031,200$1,304,900

Median gross rent

$3,065$3,376

Reston

Population

61,14763,542

Median household income

$120,396$139,515

Median home value

$499,200$616,000

Median gross rent

$1,859$2,170

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McLean	Reston
Under 5	4.2%	5.2%
5 to 17	21.9%	13.1%
18 to 24	6.4%	7.6%
25 to 34	4.9%	17.4%
35 to 44	10.6%	13.5%
45 to 54	17.9%	13.2%
55 to 64	14.9%	13.7%
65 to 74	9.0%	9.1%
75 and over	10.2%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McLean	Reston
White (non-Hispanic)	65.8%	58.3%
Black or African American	2.2%	8.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	20.5%	11.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.7%
Two or more races	5.4%	5.7%
Hispanic or Latino	5.6%	15.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McLean	Reston
No high school diploma	2.7%	4.6%
High school graduate	4.5%	8.9%
Some college or associate's	7.7%	15.7%
Bachelor's degree	28.9%	36.5%
Graduate or professional degree	56.2%	34.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McLean	Reston
Drove alone	53.6%	53.0%
Carpooled	4.9%	6.4%
Public transit	3.8%	6.3%
Walked	1.1%	1.8%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.6%
Worked from home	35.1%	30.2%
Other means	1.3%	1.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McLean	Reston
1-unit, detached	80.8%	20.3%
1-unit, attached	10.4%	30.5%
2 to 4 units	0.3%	2.8%
5 to 19 units	0.6%	20.5%
20 or more units	7.9%	25.9%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	McLean	Reston
Poverty rate	2.7%	5.4%
Average household size	2.91	2.22
Mean commute (minutes)	28	27
Median year structure built	1976	1983