Best PlacesOdenton, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Odenton, 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.
Odenton ranks 274th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Odenton
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.
Odenton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Odenton ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of cities
Where Odenton ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of cities
- Short commute29.9 minutes each way, better than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Odenton
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Odenton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $136,582, 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 Odenton's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Odenton
Odenton runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Odenton.
Who works in Odenton, and how
Work in Odenton centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Odenton
Odenton has more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. The coast is about 21 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Odenton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Odenton, month by month
Odenton sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Odenton
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 7 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 Odenton
Schools across Odenton average a B−, better than 46% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Piney Orchard ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Waugh Chapel ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Monarch Global Academy Pcs Laurel CampusC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crofton MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Arundel MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Old Mill Middle SouthC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Arundel HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Old Mill HighB · 50% proficient
- Meade HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Odenton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Odenton 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 Odenton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Odenton suits
Families
Schools land around the 46th percentile and crime safety beats 90%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of cities and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Odenton
Is Odenton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Odenton ranks 274th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, heat safety, and a stable housing market, 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 Odenton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $460,284. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $136,582 median income, cost of living beats 92% of cities.
Is Odenton safe?
Yes, Odenton is safer than 90% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $188 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Odenton?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 27. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of cities.
Is Odenton good for families?
Schools beat 46% of cities, crime safety beats 90%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Compare Odenton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Odenton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Odenton 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.
Odenton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Odenton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Odenton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Odenton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Odenton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Odenton 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.