Best PlacesWhite Oak, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Oak, 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.
White Oak ranks 19,669th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in White Oak
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.
White Oak's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Oak ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
Where White Oak ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,737 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter 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 White Oak
A household needs to earn about $137,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Oak home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $108,936, 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 White Oak's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 White Oak
White Oak 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 White Oak.
Who works in White Oak, and how
Work in White Oak centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in White Oak
The coast is about 34 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across White Oak, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in White Oak, month by month
White Oak sees roughly 69 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 White Oak
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 White Oak
Schools across White Oak average a C−, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Burnt Mills ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Cannon Road ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
- Jackson Road ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Francis Scott Key MiddleD · 22% proficient
- White Oak MiddleD− · 18% proficient
- Buck Lodge MiddleF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- James Hubert Blake HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Springbrook HighB+ · 51% proficient
- High Point HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Oak school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Oak 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 White Oak against the other 50,332 towns.
Who White Oak suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in White Oak
Is White Oak a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Oak ranks 19,669th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, few empty homes, and transit, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is White Oak expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $521,841. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $108,936 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is White Oak safe?
White Oak is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $640 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in White Oak?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 28. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of towns.
Is White Oak good for families?
Schools beat 29% of towns, crime safety beats 7%, and childcare runs $1,737 a month.
Compare White Oak with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Oak. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Oak 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.
White Oak detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Oak: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Oak: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Oak: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Oak: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Oak 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.