Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 17,395, settled in 1880.
Adelphi's standout: it is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C−, 234th among Maryland's 259 graded towns. Natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is schools: its schools rank behind 92% of the state's. Adelphi’s average trip to work is 37 minutes, against 32 minutes in Maryland’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. College Heights Estates Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Adelphi beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Cherokee Lane Elementary | PK–5 | 863 |
| Mary Harris Mother Jones Elem | PK–5 | 734 |
| Adelphi Elementary | PK–5 | 505 |
15,086 counted in 2010 and 16,823 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Adelphi is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for schools (better than 8%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 14,998 in 2000, 16,823 in 2020. The archive holds 2 maps from 1979 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Adelphi. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw8 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw8 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw10 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw9 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw9 mi National MemorialLincoln Memorial7.7M visitors a yearWhite House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Lincoln Memorial: Aerial_view_of_Lincoln_Memorial_-_east_side.jpg: Carol M. Highsmith derivative w, Public domain
Adelphi is unincorporated, so Prince George's County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Mar 11, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Adelphi.
Adelphi sends many workers across the state line and is mostly renters.
Its public schools are run by the Prince George's County Public Schools. One of its 6 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buck Lodge MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,200 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities. Since 2011, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Adelphi.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
21% of working residents cross a state line to work. Adelphi has 1,509 jobs for its 5,367 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Adelphi for work: only 2% work in town. 16% of Adelphi residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Adelphi fell to 1,509 in 2023, 430 fewer than in 2013.
| Adelphi | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 11% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $82,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 3.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
23% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Adelphi. Among 261 Maryland towns, just 6 have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Adelphi. 31% of adults worry about having enough food in Adelphi.
| Adelphi | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 14% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 8% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 79% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 20% | 23% |
| What stands out | Adelphi | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.4% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 20.7% | 25.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 23.2% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Adelphi has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 26° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.4 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Adelphi’s trail density is 0.2 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park, at 81 acres.
| Adelphi | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.9% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park | — | 81 |
| 2. Adelphi Manor Park | 0.1 mi | 29 |
| 3. Adelphi Mill Recreation Center | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median rent in Adelphi is $1,804 a month.
| Adelphi | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,804 a month | $1,810 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
36 within 15 miles of the center of Adelphi
About 8 of every 100 Adelphi residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maryland.
Where Adelphi’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in Maryland
Adelphi is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 16,823. Adelphi includes the following subdivisions; Adelphi, Adelphi Park, Adelphi Hills, Adelphi Terrace, Adelphi Village, Buck Lodge, Chatham, Cool Spring Terrace, Hillandale Forest, Holly Hill Manor, Knollwood, Lewisdale, and White Oak Manor.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Adelphi.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelphi | #234 | C− | C | — | D | C |
| College Park | – | B− | C+ | — | D | B+ |
| Langley Park | #248 | D | C+ | — | D | D |
| Hyattsville | #242 | C− | C− | D− | D | B+ |
| University Park | — | — | C− | B | D | A |
| Hillandale | #118 | B+ | C | — | C | B |
| Chillum | #230 | C− | C+ | — | D | C+ |
| Silver Spring | #76 | A− | C− | — | B+ | A |
University Park has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Adelphi, College Park, Langley Park, Hillandale, Chillum and Silver Spring report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Adelphi with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Adelphi grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #234 of 259 in Maryland. It grades C for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.5 years of the area's median household income ($126,684 across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
