Best PlacesMelson, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Melson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Melson ranks 15,944th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Melson
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.
Melson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Melson ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- Household income$98,965 median, better than 84% of towns
Where Melson ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Melson
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Melson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,965, 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 Melson's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Melson
Melson'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 Melson.
Who works in Melson, and how
Work in Melson centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Melson
The coast is about 35 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Melson, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Melson, month by month
Melson sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Melson
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Melson
Schools across Melson average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Salisbury ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- East Salisbury ElementaryF · 10% proficient
- Willards ElementaryF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pittsville Elementary & MiddleD · 21% proficient
- Wicomico MiddleD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Parkside HighB− · 44% proficient
- Wicomico HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Melson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Melson 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 Melson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Melson
Is Melson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Melson ranks 15,944th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, what local pay buys, and big-city access, 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 Melson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $261,889. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $98,965 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Melson safe?
Yes, Melson is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
Compare Melson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Melson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Melson 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.
Melson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Melson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Melson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Melson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Melson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Melson 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.