Fort MeadeMD
A town of 11,225.
Is Fort Meade a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fort Meade grades B overall, 135th of 259 graded towns in Maryland. Natural-hazard risk is low. The median household earns $103K and it is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about for a typical one and times the Baltimore metro’s $99K median household income. 2.3% of residents are 65 or older in Fort Meade, below both Maryland’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (18%). No town in Maryland scores lower than Fort Meade on cost of living. Fort Meade is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 76% of U.S. towns.
What makes Fort Meade stand out
Where Fort Meade beats most towns.
Every workday, about 5,408 people come to Fort Meade for work
Where Fort Meade’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Fort Meade grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Fort Meade is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
White House and 283 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Meade. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw21 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw24 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw23 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw21 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaNorthwest StadiumPhoto credits
White 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 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Northwest Stadium: Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0
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Moving to Fort Meade: who provides what
Fort Meade is unincorporated, so Anne Arundel 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Fort Meade.
Fort Meade draws workers from Baltimore and beyond, has less heart disease than most of Maryland and is mostly renters.
In Fort Meade, the average trip to work runs shorter than in the typical Maryland or U.S. town
5,472 jobs are based in Fort Meade, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 16.2 minutes, against 31.1 across Maryland.
Fort Meade’s average trip to work is 16 minutes. Jobs based in Fort Meade grew to 5,472 in 2023, 1,025 more than in 2013. 4.1% of Fort Meade residents live below the poverty line.
| Fort Meade | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 10% | 18% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.1% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fort Meade’s schools rank behind 52% of Maryland districts
Its public schools are run by the Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacArthur MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 992 | B |
| Meade HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,045 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Fort Meade
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 99% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fort Meade stands out in Maryland and nationally, with the median age lower than most
Only 0% of households own their home, against 67.6% across Maryland.
The median age in Fort Meade is 25.1 years. Adults 18 to 34 are 44% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 24% of residents (40% statewide). 29% of residents are under 18 in Fort Meade.
| Fort Meade | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 25.1 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 29% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 50% | 42% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 128 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.1 points). Across Maryland, 51.3% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 69% are men (MD 51%). Median age: women 26.9, men 24.2.
| Fort Meade | MD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 20.4% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 20.5% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 23.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.1% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 3.2% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 2% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 0.3% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.1% | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 7.6% | 23.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.7% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.5% | 6.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 32.9% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.3% | 20.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Fort Meade’s grade for health is an A
Its widest gap with Maryland is heart disease: 2.1% of its 6,207 adults have heart disease, against 5.8% statewide.
Of the 261 Maryland towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who binge drink than Fort Meade. Fort Meade beats the Maryland average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. Among 261 Maryland towns, just 1 have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Fort Meade.
| Fort Meade | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 5.4% | 12% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 14% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 35% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 79% | 79% |
| What stands out | Fort Meade | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 2.1% | 5.8% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.1% | 7.6% |
| More binge drinkers | 21.8% | 14.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four seasons and hot summers in Fort Meade
Fort Meade has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 26° and about 19 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conserved land covers 2.5% of Fort Meade
0.8 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Burba Lake Recreation Area, at 59 acres.
| Fort Meade | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Burba Lake Recreation Area | — | 59 |
| 2. Baltimore-Washington Parkway | — | 43 |
| 3. Patuxent Research Refuge | — | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median home in Fort Meade sells for about $477K
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Fort Meade
Colleges nearby
10 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Meade
About 14 of every 100 Fort Meade residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
Famous people from Fort Meade
7 notable people were born in Fort Meade.
About Fort Meade
Census-designated place in Maryland, United States
Fort Meade is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,324 at the 2020 census. It is the home to the National Security Agency, Central Security Service, United States Cyber Command and the Defense Information Systems Agency, which are located on the U.S. Army post Fort George G. Meade.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 8.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 180 ft
Fort Meade’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Fort Meade.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Meade | #135 | B | D− | — | B− | A |
| Severn | #116 | B+ | D | — | B− | A− |
| Odenton | #102 | A− | D | — | B− | A |
| Maryland City | #155 | B− | D | — | B− | B+ |
| Jessup | #139 | B | D | — | B+ | B |
Fort Meade, Severn, Odenton, Maryland City and Jessup report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fort Meade with a neighbor →
Questions about Fort Meade
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Fort Meade, MD a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fort Meade grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #135 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A for health and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.