Best PlacesAnnapolis, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Annapolis, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Annapolis ranks 580th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on tree cover.
The best neighborhoods in Annapolis
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.
Annapolis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Annapolis ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of cities
- Household income$136,005 median, better than 85% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of cities
Where Annapolis ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Annapolis
A household needs to earn about $162,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Annapolis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $136,005, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Annapolis' effective rate of 0.83%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Annapolis
Annapolis runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Annapolis.
Who works in Annapolis, and how
Work in Annapolis centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Annapolis
Annapolis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Annapolis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Annapolis, month by month
Annapolis sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 38° | 32° |
| April | 65° | 57° | 50° |
| July | 87° | 80° | 74° |
| October | 69° | 62° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Annapolis
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 16 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.3 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Annapolis
Schools across Annapolis average a C+, better than 38% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- West Annapolis ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Windsor Farm ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Monarch Global Academy Pcs Laurel CampusC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Severn River MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Magothy River MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Matapeake Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- South River HighA · 70% proficient
- Broadneck HighA− · 67% proficient
- Old Mill HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Annapolis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Annapolis 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 Annapolis against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Annapolis suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of cities and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of cities and health care access beats 84%.
Common questions about living in Annapolis
Is Annapolis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Annapolis ranks 580th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Annapolis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $615,724. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $136,005 median income, cost of living beats 86% of cities.
Is Annapolis safe?
Annapolis is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $444 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Annapolis?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 32. That works out to about 99 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of cities.
Is Annapolis good for families?
Schools beat 38% of cities, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Compare Annapolis with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Annapolis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Annapolis 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.
Annapolis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Annapolis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Annapolis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Annapolis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Annapolis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Annapolis 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.
- 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.