Best PlacesAllegany County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Allegany County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Allegany County ranks 2,437th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on transit.
The best neighborhoods in Allegany County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Allegany County
The parts of Allegany County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Cresaptown
Prices have run up less, fewer homes sit empty, and it is quieter.
Westernport
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
La Vale
More households have young kids and more residents vote.
Frostburg
Streets are more walkable, though crime runs higher.
Cumberland
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Allegany County run from about the 5th to the 71st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Allegany County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Allegany County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 90% of counties
- BikingBetter than 85% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of counties
Where Allegany County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Allegany County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Allegany County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,744, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Allegany County's effective rate of 1.04%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Allegany County
Allegany County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Allegany County.
Who works in Allegany County, and how
Work in Allegany County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Allegany County
Allegany County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties and more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Allegany County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Allegany County growing, and who is moving in?
Allegany County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Baltimore, MD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Allegany County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Allegany County, month by month
Allegany County sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Allegany County
The nearest airport, John Murtha Johnstown/Cambria County, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Allegany County
Schools across Allegany County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Frost ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Beall ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- Parkside ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Savage MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Braddock MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Westmar MiddleD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Hill HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Allegany HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Mountain Ridge High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Allegany County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Allegany County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Allegany County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Allegany County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Allegany County
Is Allegany County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Allegany County ranks 2,437th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and big-city access, and lowest on taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Allegany County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,721. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $62,744 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Allegany County safe?
Allegany County is safer than 20% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $458 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Allegany County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 26. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 37% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Allegany County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cresaptown, Westernport, and La Vale. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Allegany County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Allegany County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Allegany County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Allegany County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Allegany County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Allegany County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Allegany County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Allegany County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Allegany County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.