Best PlacesHillcrest, Brooklyn Park, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park ranks 3,320th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. State infrastructure pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park
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.
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 77% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
Where Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,251, 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 Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park.
Who works in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park, and how
Work in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park
The coast is about 8 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park, month by month
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 39° | 33° |
| April | 68° | 59° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 71° | 63° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 5 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 Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park
Schools across Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park average a C, better than 40% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Monarch Global Academy Pcs Laurel CampusC− · 29% proficient
- Park ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brooklyn Park MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- North County HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park 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 Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park
Is Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park ranks 3,320th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cell coverage, a stable housing market, and big-city access, 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 Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $239,489. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $87,251 median income, cost of living beats 66% of neighborhoods.
Is Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park safe?
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park is safer than 35% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $508 per resident a year.
Compare Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park 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.
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hillcrest, Brooklyn Park 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.