Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,892, founded in 1896.
Braddock Heights's standout: the median household earns $124K. Overall it grades A, 57th of 259 graded towns in Maryland. Residents are healthier than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its schools outperform 76% of the state's. Only 2 of Maryland’s 328 towns score lower on walkability. Rich Mountain is on the National Register of Historic Places. Only 9 of the 261 Maryland towns we compare have a lower share of residents below the poverty line than Braddock Heights.
Where Braddock Heights beats most towns.
2,608 counted in 2010 and 3,075 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Braddock Heights is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for walkability (better than 5%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,627 in 2000, 3,075 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1915 and 3 maps from 1944 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Braddock Heights. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi LandmarkRaven Rock Mountain Complex
Big draw32 mi LandmarkMount Weather Emergency Operations Center
35 mi MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center1.6M visitors a year
12 mi National BattlefieldAntietam National Battlefield161K visitors a year
37 mi LandmarkCIA Memorial Wall
33 mi MuseumNational Capital Trolley MuseumRaven Rock Mountain Complex: US Government, Public domain · Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center: Unknown, Public domain · Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Antietam National Battlefield: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · CIA Memorial Wall: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · National Capital Trolley Museum: Frank Hicks, Wheaton Maryland, Public domain
Braddock Heights is unincorporated, so Frederick 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 Braddock Heights.
Braddock Heights has less food insecurity than most of Maryland and sends most of its workers to Frederick and beyond.
Expected losses in Braddock Heights break down as 62% from inland flooding and 7% from tornadoes. Braddock Heights’ risk rating from FEMA stands at 4 of 100, against 6 of 100 in Maryland’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick Christian Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 199 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Maryland is food insecurity: 7.3% of its 2,503 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide.
Braddock Heights: nearly one in ten adults smoke cigarettes, where Maryland’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 14%. For adults in the town, the share who feel lonely is 30%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Braddock Heights beats Maryland on 19 and trails on 3.
| Braddock Heights | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 38% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.4% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Braddock Heights | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.3% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7% | 13.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.9% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Braddock Heights has 148 jobs for its 1,562 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. 29.9% of workers work from home, against 19.3% across Maryland.
For most workers, Braddock Heights is a place to come home to: only 1% work in town. Since 2013, Braddock Heights has lost 122 jobs, to 148 in 2023. Braddock Heights’ typical journey to work comes in at 33 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 22 miles.
| Braddock Heights | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $124,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 3.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 10% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 25% of residents (17% statewide). Braddock Heights’ median age stands at 47.8 years. A bachelor’s degree or higher: 43% of adults 25 and older, vs 44% across Maryland.
| Braddock Heights | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 47.8 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 42% | 29% |
Somewhere between 42% and 64% women
The Census survey reached too few of Braddock Heights’ residents to say more: its margin here is ±10.7 points. Across Maryland, 51.3% of residents are women.
| Braddock Heights | MD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.7% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.2% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.7% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.9% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 19% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.8% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.8% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.2% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.6% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.4% | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 17.7% | 23.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.7% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.4% | 6.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.1% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.7% | 20.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,900, single groups can be off by several points
A winter brings about 31 inches of snow, with January nights at 24° and July afternoons at 87°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Across 1 park or preserve: 0.1 miles of trail. One park or preserve covers 8 acres in Braddock Heights.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Braddock Heights Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Among households in Braddock Heights, 91% own their home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Braddock Heights
About 4 of every 100 Braddock Heights residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
Where Braddock Heights’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in Maryland
Braddock Heights is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,608 at the 2010 census. The local ZIP codes are 21714 (post office boxes only) and 21703.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Braddock Heights grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #57 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
The typical home is worth about $538,000, 27% above the Maryland typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
