Annapolis, the state capital · Photo: Flickr user: high limitzz https://www.flickr.com/people/highlimitstudio/ · CC BY 2.0How Maryland stacks up
On health, Maryland is a state of two halves: 29% of residents live in top-quarter towns such as Bethesda and North Bethesda, and 23% in bottom-quarter ones such as Baltimore and Dundalk. The overall grade: B−, a score of 46 that ranks 28th.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
39th of 51C−24/100 Higher crime than most states. Ocean Pines is the exception, #45 nationally; almost no one else lives in a top-quarter town. Violent crime runs at 365 per 100,000 residents, 11% above the national figure (18th highest among the states). Many places report no crime of their own, so the town figures cover 28% of residents.
With property crime counted (property + 4 × violent), it places 14th highest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 23 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 28% of residents of Maryland’s 10,000+ towns.
The big places weigh on the total
Havre de Grace leads its towns at #1,271 of 3,410 nationally, with Rockville and Gaithersburg close behind. Baltimore, Hagerstown and Annapolis sit at the high-crime end of the national ranking. Of residents of its 10,000+ towns, 1% live in the safest quarter nationally and 68% in the quarter reporting the most crime.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Maryland | 1% | 68% |
Read the town figures with care
Our town measure uses the crime each local police department reports to the FBI; towns without enough of the last three years are left out. In Maryland, 28% of residents of 10,000+ towns are covered. In Columbia, Germantown, Waldorf and 113 other places, county or state police answer the calls, so there is no town figure. Next door, coverage runs from 55% in Virginia to 100% in Washington, D.C..
Schools
22nd of 51B58/100 Schools a notch above average. 32% of its 4th and 8th graders reach Proficient on the Nation’s Report Card, against 31% nationally (20th highest). Big places drag it down: Baltimore and Dundalk rank in the national bottom quarter.
In the class of 2023, 85.8% graduated on time, 23rd lowest; graduation counts as much as test results in the grade.
Spending: $20,258 per pupil, 17th highest. Shown for context, not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 139 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
31st of 51C+40/100 A bit expensive. Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia all do better on affordability. Compared with $3,119 nationally, the typical tax bill here is $4,093. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Cumberland its best at #280 of 5,235.
Against income, home values rank 22nd highest: 4.1 times the median household’s.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 139 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
13th of 51A−76/100 Healthy, but not everywhere. Its towns run the full range: Bethesda and North Bethesda rank near the top of the country, Baltimore and Dundalk near the bottom. Compared with 19% nationally, 18% of adults here report fair or poor health. Among its neighbors it does best on health, with Virginia second.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 139 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
10th of 51A−82/100 More homeowners than most states. Compared with 65% nationally, 68% of homes here are owner-occupied. Green Valley is among the ten best towns in the country for home ownership (#4).
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 139 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
2nd of 51A+98/100 Low risk nearly everywhere. No state puts more of its people in the nation’s lowest-risk quarter of towns (98%). Compared with $155 nationally, FEMA expects $60 a year in damage per $100,000 of buildings here. Fort Meade ranks #5 of 5,239 U.S. towns for hazard risk.
The federal government declared five major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (10th fewest).
What drives it: inland flooding 67%, hurricane 16%, earthquake 5% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 139 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
50th of 51D−2/100 The commute is the toll. Only 1% of residents live in a town in the national top quarter, led by Fort Meade. Maryland workers average 31.1 minutes to work, against 26.4 nationally. Every neighbor scores higher, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia among them.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 139 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
23rd of 51B56/100 Growing a bit faster than average. North Laurel is among the ten best towns in the country for growth (#5). At +7.0% from 2010 to 2020, growth here was the 23rd fastest among the states. Permits point the other way: 2.4 new homes per 1,000 residents in 2025 (9th fewest).
Building: 2.4 new homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025, 9th fewest.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 134 Maryland towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Maryland compares to its neighbors
Against Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., Maryland trails on the commute.
| Maryland | Pennsylvania | Delaware | Virginia | West Virginia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | B− 4628th of 51 | A 887th of 51 | C 3434th of 51 | A− 7812th of 51 | C 2837th of 51 |
| Safety | C− 2434th official · 1% in top towns | A 8816th official · 29% in top towns | C− 1632nd official · 0% in top towns | B 587th official · 3% in top towns | C 3222nd official · 0% in top towns |
| Schools | B 5820th official · 11% in top towns | A 8812th official · 38% in top towns | C− 2247th official · 0% in top towns | A− 8021st official · 17% in top towns | B− 4849th official · 4% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C+ 4039th official · 25% in top towns | B 5833rd official · 43% in top towns | A− 7613th official · 32% in top towns | C+ 4427th official · 10% in top towns | A+ 1002nd official · 96% in top towns |
| Health | A− 7618th official · 29% in top towns | B 6227th official · 23% in top towns | C+ 3829th official · 9% in top towns | B+ 7420th official · 32% in top towns | D− 051st official · 0% in top towns |
| Housing | A− 8223rd official · 21% in top towns | A 9017th official · 26% in top towns | A 885th official · 10% in top towns | B− 5427th official · 14% in top towns | A− 801st official · 8% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | A+ 982nd official · 98% in top towns | A− 7811th official · 39% in top towns | B+ 6617th official · 15% in top towns | A 908th official · 72% in top towns | D 1047th official · 5% in top towns |
| Commute | D− 250th official · 1% in top towns | C 3036th official · 15% in top towns | C+ 3634th official · 15% in top towns | C− 2042nd official · 13% in top towns | B− 5238th official · 75% in top towns |
| Growth | B 5623rd official · 27% in top towns | D 844th official · 9% in top towns | B 6214th official · 27% in top towns | B− 5419th official · 19% in top towns | D− 451st official · 3% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work