Best PlacesClinton, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clinton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clinton ranks 1,652nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clinton
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.
Clinton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clinton ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- Household income$130,488 median, better than 82% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of cities
Where Clinton ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of cities
- Short commute38.1 minutes each way, better than only 2% of cities
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Clinton
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clinton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $130,488, 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 Clinton's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clinton
Clinton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clinton.
Who works in Clinton, and how
Work in Clinton centers on public administration and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Clinton
Clinton has more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 28 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Clinton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Clinton, month by month
Clinton sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Clinton
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Clinton
Schools across Clinton average a D−, better than 2% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Accokeek AcademyC− · 29% proficient
- Fort Washington Forest ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
- Francis T. Evans ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- James Madison MiddleD− · 18% proficient
- Gwynn Park MiddleD− · 16% proficient
- Stephen Decatur MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Gwynn Park HighC− · 29% proficient
- Frederick Douglass HighC− · 26% proficient
- Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clinton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clinton 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 Clinton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Clinton suits
Common questions about living in Clinton
Is Clinton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clinton ranks 1,652nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, few empty homes, and a stable housing market, 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 Clinton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $427,714. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $130,488 median income, cost of living beats 70% of cities.
Is Clinton safe?
Clinton is safer than 8% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $519 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clinton?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 27. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
Is Clinton good for families?
Schools beat 2% of cities, crime safety beats 8%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Compare Clinton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clinton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clinton 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.
Clinton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clinton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clinton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clinton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clinton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clinton 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.