Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Dundalk's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades C, 221st of 259 graded towns in Maryland. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 92% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is health: residents are less healthy than 85% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Dundalk has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them U.S. Post Office and Courthouse and Dundalk Historic District. Among 154 Maryland towns, just 4 have a lower typical home value than Dundalk. The biggest park or preserve is Merritt Point Park, at 40 acres.
Where Dundalk beats most towns.
U.S. Post Office and CourthouseWhere Dundalk’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Dundalk is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 82,248 in 1960, 67,796 in 2020. The archive holds 2 maps from 1908 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dundalk. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw39 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaM&T Bank Stadium
3 mi MuseumNS Savannah
7 mi Stadium & arenaOriole Park at Camden Yards
Big draw39 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M 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 · M&T Bank Stadium: United States Department of Defense Cherie Cullen, Public domain · NS Savannah: Elton Lord/Atomic Energy Commission, Public domain · Oriole Park at Camden Yards: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain
Dundalk is unincorporated, so Baltimore 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 Dundalk.
Dundalk has hotter summers than almost anywhere else in Maryland and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it has poverty well above the Maryland rate.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 96% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 302 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dundalk.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Baltimore County Public Schools. Two of its 20 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holabird MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–8 | Grades 4–8 | 1,027 | C |
| Dundalk HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,087 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
At 2.2 years of the Baltimore metro’s $99K median household income, the typical home (about $218K) costs less against local pay than in 98% of Maryland towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living.
The typical Dundalk home is worth about $218,000, down 1.8% in a year, 49% below the Maryland typical home. 61% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent in Dundalk, where Maryland’s towns sit at 51% and U.S. towns at 48%. The median rent in Dundalk is $1,473 a month.
| Dundalk | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 61% | 51% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,473 a month | $1,810 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its C−, from Baltimore (C) to Edgemere (B).
20% of adults report frequent mental distress in Dundalk, against 15% in Maryland’s towns and 17% across U.S. towns. 25% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Dundalk. Only 10 of the 261 Maryland towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Dundalk.
| Dundalk | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 23% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 11% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Dundalk | MD |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 5.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.4% | 9.9% |
| More smokers | 17.6% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Dundalk for work: only 7% work in town. 17% of Dundalk residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Baltimore (29%), Towson (4%) and Edgemere (3%).
| Dundalk | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
8.8 miles of trail in 30 parks and preserves.
| Dundalk | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stansbury Park | 1 mi | 38 |
| 2. Dundalk Heritage Park | 1 mi | 7 |
| 3. Veteran's Park | 0.6 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons average 89°, the #2 highest of 536 Maryland places with climate records; January nights average 27.8°.
Dundalk has chilly winters and warm summers. Dundalk’s July high is 89°F. About 19 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Dundalk | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 89°F | 88°F | 85°F |
| January low | 28°F | 26°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
15 within 15 miles of the center of Dundalk
About 5 of every 100 Dundalk residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
4 places in Dundalk on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Dundalk.
Unincorporated community in Maryland, United States
Dundalk ( DUN-dawk or DUN-dok) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 67,796 at the 2020 census. In 1960 and 1970, Dundalk was the largest unincorporated community in Maryland. It was named after the town of Dundalk in County Louth, Ireland. Dundalk is considered one of the first inner-ring suburbs of Baltimore.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Dundalk.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Dundalk grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #221 of 259 in Maryland. It grades C− for health and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 2.2 years of the area's median household income ($99,470 across the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro area).
4 notable people were born here, including Scott Seiss and Deborah Rudacille.
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