Best PlacesFrederick, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Frederick, 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 ranks 141st of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $117,039, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state infrastructure, taxes, and state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Frederick
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
The parts of Frederick, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Southeastern Frederick
Tree cover is thicker, schools score higher, and more residents vote.
Frederick Research Park
Streets are more car-dependent and fewer households have young kids.
Downtown Frederick
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Southwestern Frederick
Fewer adults hold degrees and biking is worse.
Western Frederick
Prices have run up more and health care is harder to reach.
Frederick shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 7%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Frederick's strengths and weaknesses
Frederick lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Health care access, high incomes, and what local pay buys carry most of that.
The one real hole is state infrastructure, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and state finances also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Frederick ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of cities
- Household income$117,039 median, better than 83% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 80% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 77% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of cities
Where Frederick ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Frederick
A household needs to earn about $118,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Frederick home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $117,039; 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 Frederick's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 Frederick
Frederick'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.
Who works in Frederick, and how
Work in Frederick 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 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Frederick
Frederick has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Frederick and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Frederick, month by month
Frederick sees roughly 64 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
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 25 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
Schools across Frederick average a C+, better than 38% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Urbana ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Oakdale ElementaryB · 49% proficient
- Wolfsville ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Urbana MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Oakdale MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Middletown MiddleB− · 40% 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 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Frederick 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 against the other 444 cities.
Who Frederick suits
Families
Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 72%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Frederick
Is Frederick a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Frederick ranks 141st of 445 cities. It scores highest on health care access, high incomes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on state infrastructure and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Frederick expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $434,255. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $117,039 median income, cost of living beats 80% of cities.
Is Frederick safe?
Yes, Frederick is safer than 72% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $322 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Frederick?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Frederick?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Southeastern Frederick, Frederick Research Park, and Downtown Frederick. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Frederick good for families?
Schools beat 38% of cities, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $1,304 a month.
Is Frederick good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 39% of cities. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Frederick with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Frederick. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Frederick 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Frederick: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Frederick: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Frederick: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Frederick: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Frederick 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.