Best PlacesTakoma Park, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Takoma Park, 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.
Takoma Park ranks 1,177th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Takoma Park
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.
Takoma Park's strengths and weaknesses
Where Takoma Park ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of cities
- TransitBetter than 94% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of cities
Where Takoma Park ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of cities
- Short commute35.1 minutes each way, better than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Takoma Park
A household needs to earn about $187,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Takoma Park home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,264, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Takoma Park's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Takoma Park
Takoma Park runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Takoma Park.
Who works in Takoma Park, and how
Work in Takoma Park centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 21%
Life in Takoma Park
Takoma Park has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of cities. The coast is about 33 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Takoma Park and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Takoma Park, month by month
Takoma Park sees roughly 71 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 Takoma Park
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 Takoma Park
Schools across Takoma Park average a B−, better than 49% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Piney Branch ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- East Silver Spring ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Ridgecrest ElementaryD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Takoma Park MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Eastern MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Silver Spring International MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Montgomery Blair HighA− · 60% proficient
- High Point HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Takoma Park school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Takoma Park 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 Takoma Park against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Takoma Park suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Takoma Park
Is Takoma Park a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Takoma Park ranks 1,177th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and transit, and lowest on taxes and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Takoma Park expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $695,542. The overall cost of living runs about 25% above the national average. Set against a $101,264 median income, cost of living beats 31% of cities.
Is Takoma Park safe?
Takoma Park is safer than 3% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $630 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Takoma Park?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 28. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of cities.
Is Takoma Park good for families?
Schools beat 49% of cities, crime safety beats 3%, and childcare runs $1,668 a month.
Compare Takoma Park with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Takoma Park. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Takoma Park 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.
Takoma Park detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Takoma Park: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Takoma Park: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Takoma Park: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Takoma Park: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Takoma Park 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.