Best PlacesCrofton, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Crofton, 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.
Crofton ranks 642nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Crofton
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.
Crofton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Crofton ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$154,663 median, better than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
Where Crofton ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,268 a month, better than only 12% of towns
- Short commute33.5 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Crofton
A household needs to earn about $131,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crofton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $154,663, 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 Crofton'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Crofton
Crofton runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Crofton.
Who works in Crofton, and how
Work in Crofton centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Crofton
Crofton has more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. The coast is about 21 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Crofton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Crofton, month by month
Crofton sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Crofton
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 11 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 Crofton
Schools across Crofton average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Crofton Woods ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Crofton Meadows ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Crofton ElementaryB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crofton MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- South River HighA · 70% proficient
- Arundel HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crofton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crofton 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 Crofton against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Crofton suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of towns and health care access beats 92%.
Common questions about living in Crofton
Is Crofton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crofton ranks 642nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, population health, and an educated workforce, 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 Crofton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $499,070. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $154,663 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Crofton safe?
Yes, Crofton is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $156 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Crofton?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 27. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of towns.
Is Crofton good for families?
Schools beat 68% of towns, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Compare Crofton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crofton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crofton 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.
Crofton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crofton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crofton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crofton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crofton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crofton 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.