Best PlacesWestphalia, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Westphalia, 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.
Westphalia ranks 9,660th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Westphalia
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.
Westphalia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Westphalia ranks high
- Household income$170,983 median, better than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
Where Westphalia ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Westphalia
A household needs to earn about $146,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Westphalia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $170,983, 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 Westphalia's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Westphalia
Westphalia'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 Westphalia.
Who works in Westphalia, and how
Work in Westphalia centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Westphalia
Westphalia has more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. The coast is about 24 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Westphalia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Westphalia, month by month
Westphalia sees roughly 62 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 Westphalia
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 12 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 Westphalia
Schools across Westphalia average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Longfields ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Francis T. Evans ElementaryD · 19% proficient
- Melwood ElementaryD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Walker Mill MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- James Madison MiddleD− · 18% proficient
- Stephen Decatur MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. HighC− · 26% proficient
- Largo HighD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Westphalia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Westphalia 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 Westphalia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Westphalia
Is Westphalia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Westphalia ranks 9,660th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, 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 Westphalia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $549,249. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $170,983 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Westphalia safe?
Westphalia is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $406 per resident a year.
Compare Westphalia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Westphalia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Westphalia 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.
Westphalia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Westphalia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Westphalia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Westphalia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Westphalia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Westphalia 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.