Best PlacesGarrett County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Garrett County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Garrett County ranks 2,002nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Garrett 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.
Garrett County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Garrett County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 76% of counties
Where Garrett County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Garrett County
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garrett County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,720, 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 Garrett County's effective rate of 0.77%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Garrett County
Garrett County 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 Garrett County.
Who works in Garrett County, and how
Work in Garrett County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Garrett County
Garrett County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of counties and more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Garrett County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Garrett County growing, and who is moving in?
Garrett County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Garrett County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Garrett County, month by month
Garrett County sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 57° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 76° | 68° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Garrett County
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Garrett County
Schools across Garrett County average a C, better than 28% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Frost ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Swan Meadow SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Accident ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Savage MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Northern Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Southern Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Northern Garrett High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Mountain Ridge High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Southern Garrett High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Garrett County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Garrett 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 Garrett County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Garrett County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of counties, health care access beats 86%, and it is quieter than 64%.
Common questions about living in Garrett County
Is Garrett County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garrett County ranks 2,002nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, and heat safety, 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 Garrett County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,590. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $70,720 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Garrett County safe?
Garrett County is safer than 31% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $386 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Garrett County?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 20. That works out to about 96 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of counties.
Is Garrett County good for families?
Schools beat 28% of counties, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $933 a month.
Compare Garrett County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garrett County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garrett 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.
Garrett County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garrett County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garrett County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garrett County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garrett County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garrett 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.