Best PlacesCarroll County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Carroll County, 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.
Carroll County ranks 245th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $125,540, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are taxes, long commutes, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Carroll County
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 Carroll County
The parts of Carroll County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Eldersburg & Finksburg
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and tree cover is thicker.
Sykesville
More adults hold degrees and more households have young kids.
Mount Airy
Prices have run up less, though biking is worse.
Manchester & Hampstead
It is quieter.
Westminster
Streets are more walkable, though fewer residents vote.
Union Bridge
Schools score lower and crime runs higher.
Taneytown
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Carroll County run from about the 17th to the 93rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Carroll County's strengths and weaknesses
Carroll County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and high incomes follow.
The one real hole is taxes, near the bottom of the country. Long commutes and state infrastructure also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Carroll County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$125,540 median, better than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
Where Carroll County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Short commute34.4 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,253 a month, better than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Carroll County
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carroll County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,540, 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 Carroll County's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 Carroll County
Carroll County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Carroll County.
Who works in Carroll County, and how
Work in Carroll County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Carroll County
Carroll County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. The coast is about 47 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Carroll County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Carroll County growing, and who is moving in?
Carroll County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Baltimore, MD metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Carroll County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Carroll County, month by month
Carroll County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Carroll County
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 30 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 Carroll County
Schools across Carroll County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Manheim El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Bushy Park ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Alloway Creek El SchA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glenwood MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Sykesville MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Oklahoma Road MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Glenelg HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Century HighA · 77% proficient
- Liberty HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carroll County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carroll County 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 Carroll County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Carroll County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Carroll County
Is Carroll County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carroll County ranks 245th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carroll County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $442,368. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $125,540 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Carroll County safe?
Yes, Carroll County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carroll County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 29. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Carroll County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Eldersburg & Finksburg, Sykesville, and Mount Airy. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Carroll County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $1,253 a month.
Is Carroll County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Carroll County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carroll County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carroll County 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.
Carroll County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carroll County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carroll County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carroll County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carroll County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carroll County 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.