Best PlacesPrince George's County, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Prince George's County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Prince George's County ranks 1,811th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $110,288, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are taxes, long commutes, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Prince George's County
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.
The best areas in Prince George's County
The parts of Prince George's County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Rosaryville, Westphalia & Brock Hall
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Bowie, Kettering & Mitchellville
More adults hold degrees, though streets are more car-dependent.
South Laurel, Seabrook & Lanham
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Laurel, Greenbelt & New Carrollton
It is noisier.
College Park, Hyattsville & Chillum
Biking is better, though health care is harder to reach.
Fort Washington, Oxon Hill & Glassmanor
Heat risk is higher.
Mount Rainier, Bladensburg & Brentwood
Tree cover is thinner.
Clinton, District Heights & Camp Springs
Landover, Capitol Heights & East Riverdale
Scores across Prince George's County run from about the 1st to the 87th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Prince George's County's strengths and weaknesses
Prince George's County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Big-city access is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. High incomes and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is taxes, near the bottom of the country. Long commutes and noise also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Prince George's County to another than it does between Prince George's County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Prince George's County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$110,288 median, better than 95% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of counties
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
- BikingBetter than 91% of counties
Where Prince George's County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Short commute35.2 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Prince George's County
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Prince George's County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $110,288; 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 Prince George's County's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Prince George's County
Prince George's County'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 Prince George's County.
Who works in Prince George's County, and how
Work in Prince George's County centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Prince George's County
Prince George's County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of counties. The coast is about 28 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Prince George's County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Prince George's County growing, and who is moving in?
Prince George's County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Washington, DC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Prince George's County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Prince George's County, month by month
Prince George's County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Prince George's County
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 9 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Prince George's County
Schools across Prince George's County average a D, better than 7% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Glenarden Woods ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Heather Hills ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Dora Kennedy French ImmersionB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benjamin Tasker Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
- Southern MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Samuel Ogle MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Academy Of Health Sciences At PgccA+ · 84% proficient
- Eleanor Roosevelt HighA− · 65% proficient
- Southern HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Prince George's County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Prince George's County 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 Prince George's County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Prince George's County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Prince George's County
Is Prince George's County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Prince George's County ranks 1,811th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and few empty homes, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Prince George's County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $427,103. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $110,288 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Prince George's County safe?
Prince George's County is safer than 9% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $602 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Prince George's County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 28. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Prince George's County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Rosaryville, Westphalia & Brock Hall, Bowie, Kettering & Mitchellville, and South Laurel, Seabrook & Lanham. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Prince George's County good for families?
Schools beat 7% of counties, crime safety beats 9%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Is Prince George's County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 65% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Prince George's County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Prince George's County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Prince George's County 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.
Prince George's County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Prince George's County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Prince George's County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Prince George's County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Prince George's County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Prince George's County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.