Best PlacesHoward County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Howard 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.
Howard County ranks 24th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $161,915, 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 noise.
The best neighborhoods in Howard 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 Howard County
The parts of Howard 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.
Fulton & Highland
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Woodbine, Woodstock & Marriottsville
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Clarksville
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
Ellicott City
Schools score higher and more residents vote.
Ilchester & Elkridge
Prices have run up less.
Columbia
Streets are more walkable and transit reaches more jobs.
Scaggsville
Homes cost less, though crime runs higher.
Jessup
Health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Howard County run from about the 18th to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Howard County's strengths and weaknesses
Howard County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. An educated workforce and high incomes follow.
The one real hole is taxes, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and noise also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Howard County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$161,915 median, better than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
Where Howard County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,745 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Howard County
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Howard County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $161,915; 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 Howard County's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 Howard County
Howard County'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 Howard County.
Who works in Howard County, and how
Work in Howard County centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Howard County
Howard County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 86% of counties. The coast is about 25 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Howard County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Howard County growing, and who is moving in?
Howard County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Howard County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Howard County, month by month
Howard County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Howard County
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 10 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 Howard County
Schools across Howard County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Waverly ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Pointers Run ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Centennial Lane ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clarksville MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Mount View MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Folly Quarter MiddleA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- River Hill HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Centennial HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Glenelg HighA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Howard County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Howard 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 Howard County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Howard County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of counties and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Howard County
Is Howard County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Howard County ranks 24th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and high incomes, 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 Howard County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $598,832. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $161,915 median income, cost of living beats 100% of counties.
Is Howard County safe?
Yes, Howard County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $301 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Howard County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 26. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Howard County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fulton & Highland, Woodbine, Woodstock & Marriottsville, and Clarksville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Howard County good for families?
Schools beat 77% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $1,745 a month.
Is Howard County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 58% of counties. About 26% of workers already work from home.
Compare Howard County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Howard County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Howard 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.
Howard County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Howard County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Howard County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Howard County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Howard County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Howard 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.