Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,727, settled in 1889.
Shady Side grades B− overall, 157th of 259 graded towns in Maryland, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 83% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it has 6 miles of trail. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $154K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $429K for a typical one and 4.3 times the Baltimore metro’s $99K median household income. Shady Side’s median rent is $2,490 a month, against $1,809 a month in Maryland’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Shady Side has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Capt. Salem Avery House and Columbia Beach. Only 8 of the 261 Maryland towns we compare have a higher median age than Shady Side.
Where Shady Side beats most towns.
Coastal flooding makes up 22% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Shady Side is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1984 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shady Side. Close and well known come first.
Big draw28 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw28 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw30 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw29 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw28 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw19 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
Shady Side is unincorporated, so Anne Arundel 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 Shady Side.
Shady Side has less food insecurity than most of Maryland and sends most of its workers to Parole and beyond.
Its widest gap with Maryland is food insecurity: 9% of its 4,644 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide. Against the 2,530 U.S. towns with household incomes like Shady Side’s, it is less healthy than 70%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
17% of adults binge drink in Shady Side. Shady Side beats the Maryland average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 19% of adults get no exercise outside work in Shady Side.
| Shady Side | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 23% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 9% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 19% |
| What stands out | Shady Side | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9% | 15.4% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.8% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shady Side ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 391 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 409 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Shady Side.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5.7 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Franklin Point State Park, 487 acres with 3.7 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Franklin Point State Park | 3.7 mi | 487 |
| 2. Jack Creek Park | 1.4 mi | 56 |
| 3. Shady Cove Natural Area | 0.6 mi | 26 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Shady Side has 447 jobs for its 2,476 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 1,222 in 2013 to 447.
Most working residents leave Shady Side for work: only 3% work in town. The average trip to work in Shady Side is 37 minutes. Jobs based in Shady Side fell to 447 in 2023, 775 fewer than in 2013.
| Shady Side | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $154,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 37 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.8% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.3% | 3.1% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (40% statewide). 37% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across Maryland. 19% of Shady Side residents are 65 or older.
| Shady Side | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 42% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 16% | 18% |
46% women, 54% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.3 points. Across Maryland, 51.3% of residents are women.
| Shady Side | MD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 15.1% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.5% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 6.7% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.9% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 20.6% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.6% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.6% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.1% | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.2% | 23.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 31.3% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4% | 6.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.4% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18% | 20.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,700, single groups can be off by several points
Shady Side has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 28° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Shady Side home is worth about $429,000, up 1.5% in a year, close to the Maryland typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Shady Side
About 7 of every 100 Shady Side residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maryland.
Where Shady Side’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Shady Side on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Maryland, United States
Shady Side is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 5,803 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Shady Side.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shady Side | #157 | B− | C | — | B− | A− |
| Galesville | — | — | C | — | B− | A− |
| Deale | #127 | B+ | C− | — | B− | A |
Galesville has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Shady Side, Galesville and Deale report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Shady Side with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Shady Side grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns and #157 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A− for health and B− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
.jpg){kind=link}