Best PlacesCumberland, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cumberland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cumberland ranks 1,950th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on short commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Cumberland
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 Cumberland
The parts of Cumberland, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
West Side & The Dingle
White Oaks
Rolling Mills
Olde North End
Scores across Cumberland run from about the 5th to the 71st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cumberland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cumberland ranks high
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 83% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 80% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 76% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 73% of cities
Where Cumberland ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cumberland
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cumberland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,821, 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 Cumberland's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cumberland
Cumberland runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cumberland.
Who works in Cumberland, and how
Work in Cumberland centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Cumberland
Cumberland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cumberland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cumberland, month by month
Cumberland sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Cumberland
The nearest airport, John Murtha Johnstown/Cambria County, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cumberland
Schools across Cumberland average a C, better than 26% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Beall ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- Parkside ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Cash Valley ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Savage MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Braddock MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Washington MiddleD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Hill HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Allegany HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Mountain Ridge High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cumberland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cumberland 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 Cumberland against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Cumberland suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Cumberland
Is Cumberland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cumberland ranks 1,950th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, low disaster risk, and clean air, and lowest on taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cumberland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,529. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $59,821 median income, cost of living beats 12% of cities.
Is Cumberland safe?
Cumberland is safer than 20% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $433 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cumberland?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 26. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cumberland?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are West Side & The Dingle, White Oaks, and Rolling Mills. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cumberland with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cumberland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cumberland 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.
Cumberland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cumberland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cumberland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cumberland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cumberland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cumberland 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.