Best PlacesHalfway, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Halfway, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Halfway ranks 29,592nd 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 Halfway
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.
Halfway's strengths and weaknesses
Where Halfway ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
Where Halfway ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Halfway
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Halfway home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,444, 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 Halfway's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Halfway
Halfway's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Halfway.
Who works in Halfway, and how
Work in Halfway 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 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Halfway
Halfway has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Halfway and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Halfway, month by month
Halfway sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Halfway
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Halfway
Schools across Halfway average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Williamsport ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Emma K. Doub ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- Lincolnshire ElementaryD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Springfield MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- E. Russell Hicks MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Barbara Ingram School For The ArtsA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Halfway school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Halfway 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 Halfway against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Halfway
Is Halfway a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Halfway ranks 29,592nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and walkability, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Halfway expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $254,501. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $66,444 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Halfway safe?
Halfway is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $383 per resident a year.
Compare Halfway with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Halfway. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Halfway 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.
Halfway detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Halfway: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Halfway: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Halfway: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Halfway: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Halfway 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.