Best PlacesDorchester County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dorchester County, 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.
Dorchester County ranks 2,710th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Dorchester 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.
Dorchester County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dorchester County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of counties
- TransitBetter than 83% of counties
- BikingBetter than 80% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of counties
- QuietBetter than 70% of counties
Where Dorchester County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dorchester County
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dorchester County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,454, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Dorchester 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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dorchester County
Dorchester County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dorchester County.
Who works in Dorchester County, and how
Work in Dorchester County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dorchester County
Dorchester County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dorchester County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dorchester County growing, and who is moving in?
Dorchester County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Baltimore, MD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dorchester County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dorchester County, month by month
Dorchester County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 37° | 30° |
| April | 67° | 57° | 48° |
| July | 87° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 70° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Dorchester County
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dorchester County
Schools across Dorchester County average a D, better than 7% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- South Dorchester SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Warwick Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Ridge ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spring Ridge MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Southern MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
- North Dorchester Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Patuxent HighA− · 62% proficient
- Calvert HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Great Mills HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dorchester County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dorchester 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 Dorchester County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dorchester County suits
Common questions about living in Dorchester County
Is Dorchester County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dorchester County ranks 2,710th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and biking, and lowest on taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dorchester County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $274,437. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $63,454 median income, cost of living beats 23% of counties.
Is Dorchester County safe?
Dorchester County is safer than 15% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $522 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dorchester County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 30. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of counties.
Is Dorchester County good for families?
Schools beat 7% of counties, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $821 a month.
Compare Dorchester County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dorchester County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dorchester 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.
Dorchester County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dorchester County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dorchester County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dorchester County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dorchester County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dorchester 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.