Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 25,134, settled in 1822.
Fort Washington’s grades pull in different directions. Schools are its weak spot: its public schools trail 92% of Maryland towns on state tests and graduation. It also trails on cost of living: the typical home is worth about $444K, 3.5 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. Incomes are where it shines: the median household earns $143K. The overall grade comes out at C+, 185th of 259 in Maryland. That leaves it better than 39% of U.S. towns. This Maryland town has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Fort Washington and St. John's Church. Its median rent is $2,690 a month, where Maryland’s towns sit at $1,809 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Fort Washington beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Colin L Powell Academy | PK–8 | 1,661 |
| Fort Washington Forest Elem | PK–5 | 323 |
| Fort Foote Elementary | PK–5 | 277 |
Where Fort Washington’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 Fort Washington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 24,032 in 1990, 24,261 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1793 and 5 maps from 1913 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Washington. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw11 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw11 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw11 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw11 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw11 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 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Lincoln Memorial: Aerial_view_of_Lincoln_Memorial_-_east_side.jpg: Carol M. Highsmith derivative w, Public domain
Fort Washington 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 Fort Washington.
Fort Washington sends many workers across the state line to Arlington and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Maryland.
Its public schools are run by the Prince George's County Public Schools. One of its 6 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. 5 public schools serve Fort Washington, with 3,269 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colin L Powell AcademyLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 1,661 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Of the losses FEMA expects in Fort Washington, 63% come from inland flooding and 9% from hurricanes. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in the town than in 89% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Fort Washington once, in 2003.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
51% of working residents cross a state line to work, Arlington among the top destinations. Fort Washington has 2,642 jobs for its 10,424 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
For residents in Fort Washington, the share who live below the poverty line is 5.3%. Only 2% of working residents stay in Fort Washington for work; the rest commute out. Also worth knowing: between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Fort Washington dropped by 376, to 2,642. The typical journey to work for Fort Washington comes to 38 minutes.
| Fort Washington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 38 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $143,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 19% | 18% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.3% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Maryland it is less healthy than 59% of the 261 graded towns: Maryland sets a high bar. Against the 3,288 U.S. towns with household incomes like Fort Washington’s, it is less healthy than 88%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
In Fort Washington, 16% of adults have diabetes. CDC measures, 32 in all: Fort Washington beats Maryland on 10 and trails on 5. Among adults locally, 11% binge drink and 12% report frequent mental distress.
| Fort Washington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 20% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 12% |
| What stands out | Fort Washington | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with depression | 13.1% | 19.4% |
| Fewer smokers | 8.2% | 10.9% |
| More adults with diabetes | 15.7% | 12.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect July afternoons of 89° and January nights of 27°, with about 13 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest place to walk is Fort Washington Park, 351 acres with 4.3 miles of trail. Count the trails in 10 parks and preserves and they come to 6.4 miles. For Fort Washington, the density of trails is 0.4 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Washington Park | 4.3 mi | 351 |
| 2. Fort Foote Park | 1.4 mi | 74 |
| 3. Piscataway Creek Stream Valley Park | — | 259 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Maryland has 44% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 43%. People 65 and older are 22% of residents (17% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (22% statewide). Fort Washington’s age of the median resident is 45.9 years.
| Fort Washington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 45.9 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 42% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5 points. Across Maryland, 51.3% of residents are women. Median age: women 48.4, men 43.9.
| Fort Washington | MD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.2% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.3% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.7% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.9% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.8% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.8% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.1% | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.4% | 23.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.8% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.6% | 6.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.9% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19% | 20.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
A typical home in Fort Washington is worth about $444,000, down 0.9% in a year, close to the Maryland typical home. Among households in the town, 91% own their home. Homes sold in Fort Washington spent a median 48 days on the market.
| Fort Washington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,690 a month | $1,809 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 91% | 74% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
29 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Washington
About 6 of every 100 Fort Washington residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maryland.
4 places in Fort Washington on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Fort Washington.
Census-designated place in Maryland
Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 24,261. The Fort Washington community is located west of Maryland Route 210, with some additional area to the east of the highway.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Fort Washington.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Washington | #185 | C+ | C− | — | D | B+ |
| Accokeek | #210 | C | C− | — | D | B+ |
| Clinton | #192 | C+ | C+ | — | D | B− |
| National Harbor | #215 | C | D | — | D | B+ |
| Friendly | #191 | C+ | C− | — | D | B− |
| Oxon Hill | #168 | B− | B− | — | D | B− |
Fort Washington, Accokeek, Clinton, National Harbor, Friendly and Oxon Hill report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fort Washington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fort Washington grades C+ overall, better than 39% of U.S. towns and #185 of 259 in Maryland. It grades B+ for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
14 notable people were born here, including Jeff Kinney and Tim Miller.
