Best PlacesBaltimore, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Baltimore, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Baltimore ranks 7,046th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Baltimore
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.
Baltimore's strengths and weaknesses
Where Baltimore ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
Where Baltimore ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Baltimore
A household needs to earn about $82,000 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 $89,518, 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 0.99%, 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 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 retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Baltimore
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Baltimore.
What the weather is like in Baltimore, month by month
Baltimore sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Baltimore
The nearest airport, Rickenbacker International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 17 miles away.
The best schools in and around Baltimore
Schools across Baltimore average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Toll Gate ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- Liberty Union Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Millersport Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Toll Gate Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Bloom-carroll Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Watkins Intermediate SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Pickerington High School NorthA · 71% proficient
- Millersport Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Watkins Memorial High SchoolA− · 62% 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 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Baltimore
Is Baltimore a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Baltimore ranks 7,046th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. 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 $306,591. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $89,518 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Baltimore safe?
Yes, Baltimore is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
Compare Baltimore with other towns
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.
- 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.