The Potomac near Rawlings, 1892
Rawlings’s story
146 years in pictures
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1892 and 6 maps from 1898 on.
- 1880Rawlings is settled
RawlingsMD
This town of 476 people was settled in 1880.
Population
476
Census survey, 2020–24
Typical home
$180K
+6.8% in a year
Household income
$68K
median
Median age
31.0
years
Jobs based here
1
A commuter town
Is Rawlings a good place to live?
8.8% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Rawlings, below both Maryland’s towns (42%) and U.S. towns (29%). Among 155 Maryland towns, just 3 have a lower value of a typical home than Rawlings. Rawlings has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
Small town
476 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Nearby towns
BierRawlings
Nearby attractions
All 42 attractions →Fallingwater and 12 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rawlings. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi MuseumFallingwater
Big draw35 mi National MemorialFlight 93 National Memorial286K visitors a year
23 mi MountainMount Davis
27 mi LakeDeep Creek Lake
8 mi National Historical ParkChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park4.6M visitors a year
10 mi LandmarkFort CumberlandSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Fallingwater: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Flight 93 National Memorial: James Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Davis: Wikiuser100, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Deep Creek Lake: Gohens84, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park: Bonnachoven, CC0 · Fort Cumberland: Unknown, Public domain
Getting set up
Moving to Rawlings: who provides what
Rawlings is unincorporated, so Allegany County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerPotomac Edison15.4¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterEastern Region Allegany Distrib. SystemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet4 providers99% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesAllegany CountyAllegany County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn Maryland you can register online until 21 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 21 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereAllegany County Board of ElectionsAllegany County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Aug 2025
ZIP code2155721557 100%Census 2020
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 Rawlings.
Housing
A home in Rawlings is worth about $180K, on Zillow’s estimate
In Rawlings, 80% of households live in a home they own. Home values are up 6.8% over the year to September 2026.
$180KZillow home value
Typical home value
Rawlings$180K
Maryland$425K
+6.8%
value change, 1 year
1
homes sold in September
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Natural hazards
Very low risk in Rawlings, with inland flooding at the top
54% of Rawlings’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by heat waves at 12%. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 97% of U.S. communities. One declared disaster, in 2003, has brought federal aid to Rawlings households.
3risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingHeat wavesStrong wind
1
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Work & commute
Most of Rawlings’ workers commute out: the town has 0.0 jobs for each of them
Rawlings’ mean commuting time comes in at 23 minutes. For half of commuters, work is under 10 miles away. Among residents in the town, 3.6% live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Cumberland (25%), Cresaptown (8%) and La Vale (8%).
0%work in town
| Rawlings | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.6% | 7% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
In Rawlings0%
Cumberland25%
Cresaptown8%
La Vale8%
Baltimore3%
10 mi
median commute distance
1
jobs based in Rawlings
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Climate
Four seasons and pleasant summers: that is Rawlings’ year
Expect July afternoons of 87° and January nights of 23°, with about 31 inches of snow a winter.
31″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter24–43°
Spring39–65°
Summer60–86°
Fall43–67°
Oct 24
typical first frost
Apr 15
typical last frost
+1.0°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Health
Compared with most of Maryland and the rest of the country, more of Rawlings’ adults get no exercise outside work
For adults in Rawlings, the share who smoke cigarettes is 19%. Among 262 Maryland towns, just one has a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Rawlings. This Maryland town does better than the Maryland average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 18.
| Rawlings | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 12% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 23% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 11% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 35% | 35% |
32 measures vs. Maryland
1 better13 too close to call18 worse
| What stands out | Rawlings | MD |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.4% | 76.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.4% | 5.9% |
Potomac Valley Hospital
11 mi away · emergency room
3 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Outdoors
Rawlings stands out in Maryland and nationally for how little of its land is conserved
Trails total 0.5 miles in 1 park or preserve. Rawlings has one park or preserve, 5 acres in all. Also worth knowing: for Rawlings, the concentration of trails is 0.6 miles per square mile.
0.7%conserved
| Rawlings | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
0.7%
conserved · 4 of 570 acres
0.5 mi
of trails · 0.6 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rawlings Area Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Rawlings
16pages on Rawlings
The big questions
Out and about
After high school
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Rawlings
Frostburg State UniversityUniversity or college · Public · Frostburg8.1 mi$10,220 in-state tuitionPotomac State College of West Virginia UniversityUniversity or college · Public · Keyser, WV8.6 mi$5,280 in-state tuitionAllegany College of MarylandCommunity college · Public · Cumberland11.4 mi$4,938 in-state tuition
About 4 of every 100 Rawlings residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
A commuter town
100% of working residents leave Rawlings for work
Where Rawlings’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
1jobs based in Rawlings
0%of working residents work in town
10 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
About Rawlings
Census-designated place in Maryland, United States
Rawlings is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, on the McMullen Highway (U.S. Route 220). As of the 2010 census, the Rawlings CDP had a population of 693. The community was named after Moses Rawlings, an officer in the Revolutionary War. It was originally known as "Rawlings Station" after a post office was established on the railroad there on March 7, 1856.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 750 ft
- ZIP code
- 21557
Questions about Rawlings
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rawlings, MD a good place to live?
Rawlings has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.