I made this account simply because all the advice you are getting saying not to do it or it’s not possible is flat out wrong.

Yes. You 100% can live in/around Washington DC for 40-42k a year. There are thousands of federal employees and others who do just that. Every other GS-5 for example. Almost every congressional office pays staff assistants and legislative assistants less than that. Sometimes significantly less than that.

I’m not saying it will be easy. You will have to be intelligent with your money. The easiest way to make it work would be with roommates. If you know people up here. Otherwise, many people use Facebook, Craigslist and other sources to find roommates. If you want to live alone that gets harder but a quick apartments.com search for apartments under $1,200 (~1/3 of your monthly salary) came up with 240 results. Options exist.

In terms of where to look that is metro accessible, look near stops on the green/yellow line in the north like columbia heights, Georgia Ave-Petsworth, Fort Totten. You may also have luck on Green Line in the SE like anacostia. Red line look north again in the east (Noma, Rhode Island Ave, Brentwood, Takoma). I don’t think Virginia will have good walkable and price conscious options near the metro stops.

Good luck, don’t listen to people trying to discourage you. Many of them don’t even live here. DC is a great city and can always use more people who want to be here and are willing to grind it out in the government to do so.