Best PlacesDenton, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Denton, 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.
Denton ranks 34,057th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Denton
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.
Denton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Denton ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Denton 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
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Denton
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Denton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,552; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Denton's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Denton
Denton'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 Denton.
Who works in Denton, and how
Work in Denton centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Denton
Denton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Denton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Denton, month by month
Denton sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 68° | 58° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 71° | 62° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Denton
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Denton
Schools across Denton average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chapel District ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Preston Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Denton Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Easton MiddleD · 23% proficient
- Lockerman Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Colonel Richardson Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Colonel Richardson High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Easton HighB+ · 52% proficient
- North Caroline High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Denton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Denton 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 Denton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Denton
Is Denton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Denton ranks 34,057th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, biking, and transit, 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 Denton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,034. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $78,552 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Denton safe?
Denton is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
Compare Denton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Denton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Denton 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.
Denton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Denton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Denton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Denton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Denton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Denton 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.