Best PlacesWhite Sands, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Sands, 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.
White Sands ranks 13,191st 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 White Sands
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 Sands' strengths and weaknesses
Where White Sands ranks high
- Household income$119,239 median, better than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
Where White Sands 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
- Cheap childcare$1,253 a month, better than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in White Sands
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Sands home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $119,239, 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 White Sands' effective rate of 0.79%, 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 7 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 Sands
White Sands'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 White Sands.
Who works in White Sands, and how
Work in White Sands centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in White Sands
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across White Sands, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in White Sands, month by month
White Sands sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 70° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of White Sands
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 44 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 Sands
Schools across White Sands average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dowell ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- St Leonard ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southern MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Patuxent HighA− · 62% proficient
- Calvert HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Sands school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Sands 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 Sands against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Sands
Is White Sands a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Sands ranks 13,191st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, what local pay buys, and big-city access, 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 White Sands expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $434,900. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $119,239 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is White Sands safe?
Yes, White Sands is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $214 per resident a year.
Compare White Sands with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Sands. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Sands 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 Sands detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Sands: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Sands: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Sands: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Sands: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Sands 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.