Golden BeachMD
3,830 residents make their home in this town in Maryland.
Is Golden Beach a good place to live?
A solid town with one catch. Its standout strength is incomes: the median household earns $133K. At A overall, Golden Beach ranks 51st of 259 in Maryland. Nationally, it does better than 90% of U.S. towns. It also does well on health (B+): CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 71% of the country. The drawback is walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 70% of U.S. towns. Homes run about $383K for a typical one, 3 times the Lexington Park metro’s $126K median household income.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow.
What makes Golden Beach stand out
Where Golden Beach beats most towns.
Golden Beach lives by the ocean
Coastal flooding makes up 8% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
- Main Beach
- Long Point Directions ↗
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
How Golden Beach grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Golden Beach is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Golden Beach: who provides what
Golden Beach is unincorporated, so St. Mary'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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Golden Beach.
Golden Beach has homes that are cheap against local pay and has less food insecurity than most of Maryland, but it has little public open land.
Top of a very low hazard risk in Golden Beach: inland flooding
The natural-hazard score from FEMA for Golden Beach comes to 16 of 100, above the Maryland town median (6 of 100) but below the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). 35% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by hurricanes at 18%. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 84% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most people working in Golden Beach commute elsewhere
Golden Beach has 102 jobs for its 1,396 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 45.5 minutes, against 31.1 across Maryland.
For Golden Beach, the typical journey to work is 46 minutes. Among 261 Maryland towns, just 6 have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Golden Beach. In Golden Beach, 2.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 7% in Maryland’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. The top destinations are Waldorf (8%), Washington (5%) and Leonardtown (5%).
| Golden Beach | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 46 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $133,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.7% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.2% | 3.2% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Golden Beach’s grade for health is a B+
Its widest gap with Maryland is food insecurity: 9.9% of its 2,822 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide. Against the 4,238 U.S. towns with household incomes like Golden Beach’s, it is less healthy than 75%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Golden Beach, 9.9% worry about having enough food and 77% had a checkup this year. CDC measures, 32 in all: Golden Beach beats Maryland on 10 and trails on 4. In Golden Beach, 18% of adults binge drink.
| Golden Beach | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 16% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 14% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 77% | 79% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 34% | 33% |
| What stands out | Golden Beach | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.9% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.8% | 8.4% |
| More binge drinkers | 17.9% | 14.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Golden Beach, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Expect July afternoons of 88° and January nights of 27°, with about 15 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Protected land: 0.8% of Golden Beach
Just 22 of its 2,964 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Golden Beach itself; its outdoors grade is D.
Among 248 Maryland towns, just 4 have a lower share of conserved land than Golden Beach. Parks and preserves locally: 3, covering 12 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Indian Creek Natural Resource Management Area | — | 10 |
| 2. Main Beach | — | 1 |
| 3. Long Point | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes in Golden Beach sell for about $415K
At 3 years of the Lexington Park metro’s $126K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 81% of Maryland towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living.
Homes sold in Golden Beach spent a median 48 days on the market. Only 9 of the 261 Maryland towns we compare have a higher share of homes lived in by their owners than Golden Beach. Bidding over the asking price: 47% of homes sold in the town.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
White House and 226 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Golden Beach. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw33 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw33 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw33 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw33 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw33 mi National MemorialLincoln Memorial7.7M visitors a yearPhoto 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 · Lincoln Memorial: Aerial_view_of_Lincoln_Memorial_-_east_side.jpg: Carol M. Highsmith derivative w, Public domain
Everything we know about Golden Beach
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Golden Beach; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Golden Beach residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
100% of working residents leave Golden Beach for work
Where Golden Beach’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Golden Beach
CDP in Maryland, United States
Golden Beach is an upscale census-designated place (CDP) in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,796 at the 2010 census. It consists of a small housing development with a private beach, located within the larger postal designation of Mechanicsville. One former resident was popular 1960s romantic recording artist Ronnie Dove.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 13 ft
Questions about Golden Beach
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Golden Beach, MD a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Golden Beach grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #51 of 259 in Maryland. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools.
Is Golden Beach, MD expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $383,000, 10% below 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 B+.