Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kensington grades A overall, 56th of 259 graded towns in Maryland. It is among the most walkable places in the country. It is among the healthiest towns in the country on CDC estimates and the median household earns $152K. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $787K, 6.2 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. 76% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Kensington, above both Maryland’s towns (42%) and U.S. towns (29%). Kensington Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. Among 154 Maryland towns, just 6 have a higher typical home value than Kensington.
Where Kensington beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Kensington | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4% | 9.9% |
Where Kensington’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 Kensington is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 7%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 477 in 1900, 2,122 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1920 and 6 maps from 1908 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kensington. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw10 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw10 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw10 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw10 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw10 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kensington, and how to reach them.
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 Kensington.
Kensington draws workers from Wheaton and beyond and has less tooth loss than most of Maryland, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Maryland.
At 6.2 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income, the typical home (about $787K) costs more against local pay than in 93% of Maryland towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $8,808, against $4,093 across Maryland, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Kensington’s median rent is $2,076 a month. The typical Kensington home is worth about $787,000, about the same as a year ago, 85% above the Maryland typical home. 51% of households own their home in Kensington.
| Kensington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,076 a month | $1,809 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Maryland is tooth loss: 4% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.9% statewide.
Kensington beats the Maryland average on 24 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 11% of Kensington adults report frequent mental distress. Only 8 of the 261 Maryland towns we compare have a lower share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Kensington.
| Kensington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 36% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 38% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Kensington | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.3% | 15.4% |
| More adults with high cholesterol | 40.9% | 38.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3,316 jobs are based in Kensington, 3.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 21% of working residents cross a state line to work.
Most working residents leave Kensington for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Kensington has added 422 jobs, to 3,316 in 2023. The average trip to work in Kensington is 29 minutes.
| Kensington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $152,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 25% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.3% | 7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 97% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Kensington since 2019.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Kensington has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 26° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Kensington | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.6% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Warner Circle Special Park | — | 5 |
| 2. Kensington Cabin Park | — | 4 |
| 3. St. Paul Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
34 within 15 miles of the center of Kensington
About 5 of every 100 Kensington residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
5 notable people were born in Kensington.
Town in Maryland, United States
Kensington is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,122 at the 2020 United States census. Greater Kensington had a population of 19,753 in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Kensington.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington | #56 | A | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| South Kensington | #47 | A | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| North Kensington | #10 | A+ | C | — | B+ | A+ |
| Chevy Chase View | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Kensington, South Kensington and North Kensington report no FBI crime data of their own. Chevy Chase View isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Kensington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kensington grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #56 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A+ for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living 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 D.
5 notable people were born here, including Jeff Zients and Kevin Plank.
