Best PlacesPark Head, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Park Head, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Park Head ranks 35,232nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Park Head
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.
Park Head's strengths and weaknesses
Where Park Head ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of towns
Where Park Head ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute37.8 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Park Head
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Park Head home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $67,035; 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 Park Head's effective rate of 0.76%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Park Head
Park Head runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Park Head.
Who works in Park Head, and how
Work in Park Head centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Park Head
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Park Head.
What the weather is like in Park Head, month by month
Park Head sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Park Head
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Park Head
Schools across Park Head average a C+, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clear Spring ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Hancock ElementaryD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clear Spring MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Barbara Ingram School For The ArtsA · 70% proficient
- Southern Fulton JshsB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Park Head school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Park Head 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 Park Head against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Park Head
Is Park Head a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Park Head ranks 35,232nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, civic engagement, and tree cover, and lowest on taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Park Head expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $275,690. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $67,035 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Park Head safe?
Park Head is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $331 per resident a year.
Compare Park Head with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Park Head. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Park Head 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.
Park Head detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Park Head: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Park Head: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Park Head: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Park Head: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Park Head 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.