Best PlacesAnne Arundel County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Anne Arundel County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Anne Arundel County ranks 147th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $134,944, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are taxes, state infrastructure, and state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Anne Arundel 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 Anne Arundel County
The parts of Anne Arundel 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.
Crofton & Lothian
More households have young kids, crime runs lower, and more adults hold degrees.
Arnold, Lake Shore & Cape St. Claire
Tree cover is thicker and more residents vote.
Severna Park, Millersville & Pasadena
Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.
Edgewater, Parole & Riva
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
Odenton, Severn & Maryland City
Heat risk is lower.
Annapolis
Biking is better and transit reaches more jobs.
Riviera Beach & Curtis Bay
It is quieter and homes cost less.
Hanover, Linthicum & Ferndale
Scores close to Riviera Beach & Curtis Bay, except that commutes are shorter here.
Glen Burnie & Brooklyn Park
Health care is harder to reach and schools score lower.
Anne Arundel County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Anne Arundel County's strengths and weaknesses
Anne Arundel County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is taxes, near the bottom of the country. State infrastructure and state finances also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Anne Arundel County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$134,944 median, better than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
Where Anne Arundel County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,268 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Anne Arundel County
A household needs to earn about $132,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Anne Arundel County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $134,944, 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 Anne Arundel County's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Anne Arundel County.
Who works in Anne Arundel County, and how
Work in Anne Arundel County centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County has more parkland per resident than 78% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Anne Arundel County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Anne Arundel County growing, and who is moving in?
Anne Arundel County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Anne Arundel County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Anne Arundel County, month by month
Anne Arundel County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Anne Arundel County
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 8 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 Anne Arundel County
Schools across Anne Arundel County average a C+, better than 51% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shipley's Choice ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- West Annapolis ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Benfield ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Severna Park MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Crofton MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Severn River MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Severna Park HighA+ · 81% proficient
- South River HighA · 70% proficient
- Broadneck HighA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Anne Arundel County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Anne Arundel 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 Anne Arundel County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Anne Arundel County suits
Families
Schools land around the 51st percentile and crime safety beats 78%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Anne Arundel County
Is Anne Arundel County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Anne Arundel County ranks 147th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and big-city access, 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 Anne Arundel County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $503,520. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $134,944 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Anne Arundel County safe?
Yes, Anne Arundel County is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $275 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Anne Arundel County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 26. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Anne Arundel County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Crofton & Lothian, Arnold, Lake Shore & Cape St. Claire, and Severna Park, Millersville & Pasadena. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Anne Arundel County good for families?
Schools beat 51% of counties, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Is Anne Arundel County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 62% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Anne Arundel County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Anne Arundel County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Anne Arundel 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.
Anne Arundel County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Anne Arundel County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Anne Arundel County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Anne Arundel County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Anne Arundel County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Anne Arundel 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.