Best PlacesPatuxent River, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Patuxent River, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Patuxent River ranks 24,131st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Patuxent River
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.
Patuxent River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Patuxent River ranks high
- Short commute8.7 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
Where Patuxent River ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
Who lives in Patuxent River
Patuxent River runs younger than the country, 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 Patuxent River.
Who works in Patuxent River, and how
Work in Patuxent River centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 40%
Life in Patuxent River
The coast is about 9 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Patuxent River, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Patuxent River, month by month
Patuxent River sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 70° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Patuxent River
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl, about 51 miles away.
The best schools in and around Patuxent River
Schools across Patuxent River average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lexington Park ElementaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Green Holly Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Esperanza MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Spring Ridge MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Great Mills HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Patuxent River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Patuxent River 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 Patuxent River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Patuxent River
Is Patuxent River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Patuxent River ranks 24,131st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, population health, and transit, 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 Patuxent River safe?
Patuxent River is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $481 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Patuxent River?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 30. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of towns.
Compare Patuxent River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Patuxent River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Patuxent River 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.
Patuxent River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Patuxent River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Patuxent River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Patuxent River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Patuxent River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Patuxent River 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.
- 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.