Best PlacesPort Deposit, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Port Deposit, 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.
Port Deposit ranks 29,620th 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 Port Deposit
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.
Port Deposit's strengths and weaknesses
Where Port Deposit ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- Household income$92,804 median, better than 79% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 76% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 72% of towns
Where Port Deposit ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Port Deposit
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Port Deposit home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,804, 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 Port Deposit's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Port Deposit
Port Deposit'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 Port Deposit.
Who works in Port Deposit, and how
Work in Port Deposit centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Port Deposit
The coast is about 14 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Port Deposit, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Port Deposit, month by month
Port Deposit sees roughly 65 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 Port Deposit
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Port Deposit
Schools across Port Deposit average a C, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rising Sun ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- Charlestown ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Conowingo ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rising Sun Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Perryville MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
- North East MiddleD · 23% 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 Port Deposit school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Port Deposit 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 Port Deposit against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Port Deposit
Is Port Deposit a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Port Deposit ranks 29,620th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Port Deposit expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $298,366. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $92,804 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Port Deposit safe?
Yes, Port Deposit is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $269 per resident a year.
Compare Port Deposit with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Port Deposit. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Port Deposit 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.
Port Deposit detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Port Deposit: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Port Deposit: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Port Deposit: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Port Deposit: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Port Deposit 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.