Best PlacesGermantown, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Germantown, 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.
Germantown ranks 11,677th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Germantown
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.
Germantown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Germantown ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 81% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of towns
Where Germantown ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Germantown
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Germantown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,879; 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 Germantown's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 Germantown
Germantown'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 Germantown.
Who works in Germantown, and how
Work in Germantown centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Germantown
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Germantown.
What the weather is like in Germantown, month by month
Germantown sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Germantown
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Germantown
Schools across Germantown average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln El SchA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maple Avenue MsB+ · 48% proficient
- Gettysburg Area MsB+ · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Littlestown ShsB+ · 53% proficient
- Gettysburg Area HsB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Germantown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Germantown 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 Germantown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Germantown
Is Germantown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Germantown ranks 11,677th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, big-city access, and low crime, 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 Germantown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $308,028. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $78,879 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Germantown safe?
Yes, Germantown is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $154 per resident a year.
Compare Germantown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Germantown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Germantown 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.
Germantown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Germantown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Germantown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Germantown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Germantown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Germantown 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.