Best PlacesBaltimore, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Baltimore metro, 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.
Photo by Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Baltimore ranks 161st of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $113,243, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are taxes, state infrastructure, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in the Baltimore metro
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 Baltimore
The towns and districts of the Baltimore metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Columbia, Odenton & Severn
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Annapolis, Dundalk & Pasadena
Crime runs lower and tree cover is thicker.
Bel Air South, Perry Hall & Bel Air North
Streets are more car-dependent and biking is worse.
Towson, Parkville & Cockeysville
Scores close to Bel Air South, Perry Hall & Bel Air North, except that transit reaches more jobs here.
Westminster, Owings Mills & Pikesville
Fewer homes sit empty and it is quieter.
Glen Burnie, Millersville & Brooklyn
Scores close to Westminster, Owings Mills & Pikesville, except that fewer residents vote here.
Ellicott City, Woodlawn & Catonsville
More households have young kids, though prices have run up more.
Downtown Baltimore
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Essex, Middle River & Rosedale
Health care is harder to reach and health outcomes score lower.
Baltimore shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Baltimore's strengths and weaknesses
Baltimore lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Big-city access and high incomes follow.
The one real hole is taxes, near the bottom of the country. State infrastructure and long commutes also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Baltimore to another than it does between Baltimore and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Baltimore ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of metro areas
- Household income$113,243 median, better than 95% of metro areas
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than 88% of metro areas
Where Baltimore ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- Short commute29.4 minutes each way, better than only 6% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$1,318 a month, better than only 13% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Baltimore
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Baltimore home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $113,243, 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 Baltimore's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 Baltimore
Baltimore'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 Baltimore.
Who works in Baltimore, and how
Work in Baltimore centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Baltimore
Baltimore has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and more parkland per resident than 71% of metro areas. The coast is about 19 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Baltimore and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Baltimore growing, and who is moving in?
Baltimore has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Baltimore go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Baltimore, month by month
Baltimore sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 39° | 33° |
| April | 68° | 59° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 71° | 63° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Baltimore
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 10 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 Baltimore
Schools across Baltimore average a C−, better than 17% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- West Manheim El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Carroll Manor ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Pinewood ElementaryA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clarksville MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Mount View MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Folly Quarter MiddleA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- River Hill HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Centennial HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Glenelg HighA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Baltimore school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Baltimore 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 Baltimore against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Baltimore suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of metro areas and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Baltimore
Is Baltimore a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Baltimore ranks 161st of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on what local pay buys, big-city access, 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 Baltimore expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $413,918. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $113,243 median income, cost of living beats 99% of metro areas.
Is Baltimore safe?
Baltimore is safer than 14% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $445 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Baltimore?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 33. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Baltimore?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Columbia, Odenton & Severn, Annapolis, Dundalk & Pasadena, and Bel Air South, Perry Hall & Bel Air North. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Baltimore good for families?
Schools beat 17% of metro areas, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $1,318 a month.
Is Baltimore good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 26% of metro areas. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Baltimore with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Baltimore. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Baltimore 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.
Baltimore detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Baltimore: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Baltimore: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Baltimore: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Baltimore: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Baltimore 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.