Best PlacesFrederick County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Frederick County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Frederick County ranks 228th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $131,159, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are taxes, childcare costs, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Frederick 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.
The best areas in Frederick County
The parts of Frederick County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Urbana, Mount Airy & Monrovia
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Linganore
Tree cover is thicker and crime runs lower.
Brunswick, Jefferson & Adamstown
Commutes are longer.
Thurmont
Streets are more car-dependent and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Myersville
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Ballenger Creek
Fewer residents vote.
Frederick
Schools score lower.
Walkersville, Emmitsburg & Woodsboro
Fewer adults hold degrees and more homes sit empty.
Middletown
Prices have run up more and health care is harder to reach.
Frederick County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Frederick County's strengths and weaknesses
Frederick County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Few empty homes and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is taxes, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and state infrastructure also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Frederick County ranks high
- Household income$131,159 median, better than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
Where Frederick County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,304 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Frederick County
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Frederick County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $131,159, 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 Frederick County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Frederick County
Frederick County'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 Frederick County.
Who works in Frederick County, and how
Work in Frederick County centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Frederick County
Frederick County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 69% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Frederick County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Frederick County growing, and who is moving in?
Frederick County has grown about 23% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Washington, DC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Frederick County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Frederick County, month by month
Frederick County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Frederick County
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 33 miles away.
The best schools in and around Frederick County
Schools across Frederick County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Urbana ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Centerville ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Sugarloaf ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Urbana MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Oakdale MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Windsor Knolls MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Linganore HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Urbana HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Oakdale HighA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Frederick County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Frederick 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 Frederick County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Frederick County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Frederick County
Is Frederick County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Frederick County ranks 228th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on high incomes, few empty homes, and big-city access, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Frederick County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $473,585. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $131,159 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Frederick County safe?
Yes, Frederick County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $284 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Frederick County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Frederick County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Urbana, Mount Airy & Monrovia, Linganore, and Brunswick, Jefferson & Adamstown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Frederick County good for families?
Schools beat 66% of counties, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $1,304 a month.
Is Frederick County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 71% of counties. About 21% of workers already work from home.
Compare Frederick County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Frederick County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Frederick 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.
Frederick County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Frederick County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Frederick County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Frederick County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Frederick County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Frederick 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.