Best PlacesHarford County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harford 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.
Harford County ranks 276th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $120,365, everyday costs sit below the national average, 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 Harford 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 Harford County
The parts of Harford 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.
Fallston & Bel Air
Schools score higher, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
Bel Air North, Jarrettsville & Forest Hill
It is quieter and incomes run higher.
Street & Churchville
Tree cover is thicker and more residents vote.
Havre de Grace
Fewer households have young kids and crime runs higher.
Joppatowne & Pleasant Hills
More homes sit empty and commutes are longer.
Bel Air South, Edgewood & Abingdon
Biking is better and homes cost less.
Aberdeen
Health outcomes score lower and health care is harder to reach.
Harford County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Harford County's strengths and weaknesses
Harford County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys 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 Harford County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Household income$120,365 median, better than 97% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of counties
Where Harford 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
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
- Short commute32.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harford County
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $120,365, 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 Harford County's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 Harford County
Harford 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 Harford County.
Who works in Harford County, and how
Work in Harford County centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Harford County
Harford County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 70% of counties. The coast is about 20 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Harford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Harford County growing, and who is moving in?
Harford County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Baltimore, MD metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harford County, month by month
Harford County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Harford County
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 31 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.3 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Harford County
Schools across Harford County average a C+, better than 58% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Jarrettsville ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Bel Air ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Youths Benefit ElementaryB · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southampton MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Fallston Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Patterson Mill Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Harford Technical HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Fallston HighA · 77% proficient
- Bel Air HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harford 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 Harford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Harford County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Harford County
Is Harford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harford County ranks 276th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, 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 Harford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $390,763. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $120,365 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Harford County safe?
Yes, Harford County is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $288 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Harford County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Harford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fallston & Bel Air, Bel Air North, Jarrettsville & Forest Hill, and Street & Churchville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Harford County good for families?
Schools beat 58% of counties, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $1,304 a month.
Is Harford County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 53% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Harford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harford 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.
Harford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harford 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.