Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,643, settled in 1902.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Owings earns an A+, 3rd among Maryland's 259 graded towns. The median household earns $176K, it is healthier than 88% of U.S. towns, and its schools outperform 80% of the state's. Its lowest mark, a B−, is in cost of living. Owings’ median household income is $176,000, above both Maryland’s towns ($113,000) and U.S. towns ($80,000). Maidstone and Joseph D. Lyons House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Only 6 of the 261 Maryland towns we compare have a lower share of residents below the poverty line than Owings.
Where Owings beats most towns.
Where Owings’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 Owings is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2016 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Owings. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw26 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw28 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw27 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw26 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw20 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 · 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
Owings is unincorporated, so Calvert 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 Owings.
Owings has less food insecurity than most of Maryland and has household incomes well above the Maryland norm.
Its widest gap with Maryland is food insecurity: 8.6% of its 1,629 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide. Against the 1,480 U.S. towns with household incomes like Owings’s, it is less healthy than 74%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
17% of Owings adults get no exercise outside work. Owings beats the Maryland average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 8.6% of Owings adults worry about having enough food.
| Owings | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 23% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 16% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Owings | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.6% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.1% | 8.4% |
| More binge drinkers | 17% | 14.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Owings home is worth about $612,000, about the same as a year ago, 44% above the Maryland typical home. 95% of households own their home in Owings.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Owings for work: only 2% work in town. Owings’ average trip to work is 34 minutes. Since 2013, Owings has added 101 jobs, to 378 in 2023.
| Owings | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 3.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median household earns $176,378, against $103,678 across Maryland, one input to its A+ for jobs and income.
Adults 35 to 64 are 51% of residents (40% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (22% statewide). The median age in Owings is 45.5 years. 51% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across Maryland.
| Owings | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 51% | 42% | 29% |
| Median age | 45.5 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 16% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.8 points. Across Maryland, 51.3% of residents are women.
| Owings | MD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.3% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.6% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.5% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.7% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.8% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 23.7% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9% | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 14.9% | 23.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.7% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.6% | 6.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 35.3% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.4% | 20.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,600, single groups can be off by several points
Owings has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 27° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Owings | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8.3% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cross Point Homeowners recreation area | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Owings; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Owings residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maryland.
Census-designated place in Maryland, United States
Owings is a town center and much larger census-designated place (CDP) in northern Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,149 at the 2010 census, up from 1,325 in 2000. In 2025 the county proposed doubling the size of the town center.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Owings.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owings | #3 | A+ | B− | — | A− | A |
| Friendship | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Owings reports no FBI crime data of its own. Friendship isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Owings with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Owings grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #3 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A for health and A− for schools.
That is 4.8 years of the area's median household income ($126,256 across the Lexington Park, MD 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 B−.
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