Best PlacesNorth East, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North East, 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.
North East ranks 14,879th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North East
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.
North East's strengths and weaknesses
Where North East ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- Household income$107,801 median, better than 89% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of towns
Where North East ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North East
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North East home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,801, 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 North East's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North East
North East'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 North East.
Who works in North East, and how
Work in North East centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in North East
North East has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of towns. The coast is about 9 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of North East and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North East, month by month
North East sees roughly 69 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 North East
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around North East
Schools across North East average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Charlestown ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Elk Neck ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Calvert ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rising Sun Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Cherry Hill MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Perryville MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Rising Sun HighB+ · 56% proficient
- North East HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Perryville HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North East school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North East 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 North East against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North East
Is North East a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North East ranks 14,879th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and biking, 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 North East expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $344,297. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $107,801 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is North East safe?
North East is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare North East with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North East. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North East 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.
North East detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North East: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North East: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North East: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North East: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North East 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.