Best PlacesBloomington, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bloomington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bloomington ranks 39,949th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bloomington
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.
Bloomington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bloomington ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of towns
Where Bloomington ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bloomington
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bloomington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,464, 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 Bloomington's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Bloomington
Bloomington'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 Bloomington.
Who works in Bloomington, and how
Work in Bloomington centers on construction and other services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Bloomington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bloomington.
What the weather is like in Bloomington, month by month
Bloomington sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 57° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 76° | 68° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Bloomington
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bloomington
Schools across Bloomington average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Broad Ford ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Westernport ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southern Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Westmar MiddleD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Mountain Ridge High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Southern Garrett High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bloomington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bloomington 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 Bloomington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bloomington
Is Bloomington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bloomington ranks 39,949th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, civic engagement, and low disaster risk, 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 Bloomington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,734. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $59,464 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Bloomington safe?
Bloomington is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare Bloomington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bloomington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bloomington 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.
Bloomington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bloomington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bloomington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bloomington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bloomington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bloomington 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.