Best PlacesBig Pool, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Big Pool, 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.
Big Pool ranks 20,182nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Big Pool
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.
Big Pool's strengths and weaknesses
Where Big Pool ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of towns
- Household income$94,960 median, better than 81% of towns
Where Big Pool ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute36.8 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Big Pool
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Big Pool home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,960, 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 Big Pool's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Big Pool
Big Pool'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 Big Pool.
Who works in Big Pool, and how
Work in Big Pool centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Big Pool
Big Pool has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Big Pool and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Big Pool, month by month
Big Pool sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Big Pool
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Big Pool
Schools across Big Pool average a C+, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clear Spring ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clear Spring MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Barbara Ingram School For The ArtsA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Big Pool school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Big Pool 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 Big Pool against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Big Pool
Is Big Pool a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Big Pool ranks 20,182nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and big-city access, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Big Pool expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $317,675. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $94,960 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Big Pool safe?
Yes, Big Pool is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
Compare Big Pool with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Big Pool. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Big Pool 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.
Big Pool detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Big Pool: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Big Pool: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Big Pool: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Big Pool: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Big Pool 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.