Best PlacesBel Air North, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bel Air North, 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.
Bel Air North ranks 341st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bel Air North
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.
Bel Air North's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bel Air North ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of cities
Where Bel Air North ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of cities
- Short commute32.9 minutes each way, better than only 12% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Bel Air North
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bel Air North home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $144,729, 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 Bel Air North's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bel Air North
Bel Air North'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 Bel Air North.
Who works in Bel Air North, and how
Work in Bel Air North centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bel Air North
Bel Air North has more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. The coast is about 23 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Bel Air North and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bel Air North, month by month
Bel Air North sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, 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 | 44° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Bel Air North
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 31 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 Bel Air North
Schools across Bel Air North average a B, better than 69% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Bel Air ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Red Pump Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Hickory ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southampton MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Fallston Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Bel Air MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Fallston HighA · 77% proficient
- Bel Air HighA · 69% proficient
- C. Milton Wright HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bel Air North school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bel Air North 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 Bel Air North against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Bel Air North suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of cities and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bel Air North
Is Bel Air North a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bel Air North ranks 341st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, and low crime, 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 Bel Air North expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $456,109. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $144,729 median income, cost of living beats 95% of cities.
Is Bel Air North safe?
Yes, Bel Air North is safer than 94% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $176 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bel Air North?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of cities.
Is Bel Air North good for families?
Schools beat 69% of cities, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,304 a month.
Compare Bel Air North with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bel Air North. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bel Air North 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.
Bel Air North detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bel Air North: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bel Air North: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bel Air North: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bel Air North: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bel Air North 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.