Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 18,336.
East Riverdale's standout: it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C−, ranked 240th of 259 in Maryland. Natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is schools: its schools rank behind 92% of the state's. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in East Riverdale, above both Maryland’s towns (7%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 28 of Maryland’s 329 towns score lower on health. The biggest park or preserve is Baltimore-Washington Parkway, at 91 acres.
Where East Riverdale beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| William Wirt Middle | 6–8 | 1,124 |
| Parkdale High | 9–12 | 2,588 |
15,509 counted in 2010 and 18,459 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far East Riverdale is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for schools (better than 8%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 8,941 in 1970, 18,459 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2016 and 3 maps from 1900 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around East Riverdale. 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 draw10 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaNorthwest StadiumWhite 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 · Northwest Stadium: Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0
East Riverdale 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 East Riverdale.
East Riverdale draws workers from Washington and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it has poverty well above the Maryland rate.
8,801 jobs are based in East Riverdale, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 24% of working residents cross a state line to work.
Most working residents leave East Riverdale for work: only 2% work in town. East Riverdale’s average trip to work is 33 minutes. Jobs based in East Riverdale grew to 8,801 in 2023, 4,866 more than in 2013.
| East Riverdale | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $82,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.7% | 3.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Prince George's County Public Schools. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Parkdale High, with 2,588 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Wirt MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,124 | C− |
| Parkdale HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,588 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
36% of adults worry about having enough food in East Riverdale. East Riverdale beats the Maryland average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 22. 70% of adults had a checkup this year in East Riverdale.
| East Riverdale | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 14% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 79% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 8% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | East Riverdale | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.6% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.4% | 25.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 29.2% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
East Riverdale 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
At 2.9 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income, the typical home (about $363K) costs less against local pay than in 84% of Maryland towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
The typical East Riverdale home is worth about $363,000, down 3.2% in a year, 14% below the Maryland typical home. 53% of East Riverdale households own their home.
| East Riverdale | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,716 a month | $1,810 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in East Riverdale is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Baltimore-Washington Parkway | — | 91 |
| 2. Browning's Grove Park | 0.2 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
33 within 15 miles of the center of East Riverdale
About 5 of every 100 East Riverdale residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
Where East Riverdale’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in Maryland, United States
East Riverdale is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 18,459 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with East Riverdale.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Riverdale | #240 | C− | C+ | — | D | C− |
| Riverdale Park | #250 | D | C− | D | D | C |
| Bladensburg | #252 | D | C+ | D | D | C− |
| Woodlawn | #175 | C+ | B− | — | D | C+ |
| Edmonston | — | — | C | — | D | B+ |
| New Carrollton | #236 | C− | C | C− | D | C+ |
| Greenbelt | #235 | C− | B− | D− | D | B |
Edmonston has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. East Riverdale, Woodlawn and Edmonston report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare East Riverdale with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
East Riverdale grades C− overall, better than 18% of U.S. towns and #240 of 259 in Maryland. It grades C− for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.9 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+.
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