Best PlacesWheaton, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wheaton, 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.
Wheaton ranks 1,325th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Wheaton
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.
Wheaton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wheaton ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of cities
- TransitBetter than 83% of cities
Where Wheaton ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,745 a month, better than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Wheaton
A household needs to earn about $132,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wheaton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $119,499; 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 Wheaton's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wheaton
Wheaton runs younger than the country, 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 Wheaton.
Who works in Wheaton, and how
Work in Wheaton centers on construction and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Wheaton
Wheaton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. The coast is about 38 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wheaton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wheaton, month by month
Wheaton sees roughly 65 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 Wheaton
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 14 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 Wheaton
Schools across Wheaton average a C−, better than 18% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Flora M. Singer ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Oakland Terrace ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Glen Haven ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sligo MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Parkland MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Newport Mill MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Wheaton HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Northwood HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Albert Einstein HighC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wheaton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wheaton 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 Wheaton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Wheaton suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Wheaton
Is Wheaton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wheaton ranks 1,325th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, a stable housing market, and tree cover, 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 Wheaton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $504,978. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $119,499 median income, cost of living beats 55% of cities.
Is Wheaton safe?
Wheaton is safer than 5% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $603 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wheaton?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 28. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of cities.
Is Wheaton good for families?
Schools beat 18% of cities, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $1,745 a month.
Compare Wheaton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wheaton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wheaton 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.
Wheaton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wheaton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wheaton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wheaton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wheaton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wheaton 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.