Best PlacesSunderland, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sunderland, 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.
Sunderland ranks 1,718th 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 Sunderland
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.
Sunderland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sunderland ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$152,145 median, better than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of towns
Where Sunderland ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute36.7 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sunderland
A household needs to earn about $132,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sunderland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $152,145, 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 Sunderland's effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sunderland
Sunderland's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Sunderland.
Who works in Sunderland, and how
Work in Sunderland centers on public administration and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Sunderland
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Sunderland, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sunderland, month by month
Sunderland sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Sunderland
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 28 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 Sunderland
Schools across Sunderland average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Beach ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Sunderland ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Windy Hill ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Windy Hill MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Plum Point MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Huntingtown High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Northern HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sunderland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sunderland 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 Sunderland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sunderland
Is Sunderland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sunderland ranks 1,718th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, and high incomes, 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 Sunderland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $504,471. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $152,145 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Sunderland safe?
Yes, Sunderland is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
Compare Sunderland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sunderland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sunderland 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.
Sunderland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sunderland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sunderland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sunderland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sunderland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sunderland 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.