Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Takoma Park grades B overall, 150th of 259 graded towns in Maryland. It is among the most walkable places in the country. Residents are healthier than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $108K. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $670K, 5.3 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. Takoma Park’s property crime rate is 33.7 per 1,000 residents, above both the Maryland town median (13.8) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). Only 4 of Maryland’s 63 towns score lower on safety. Takoma Park is home to Washington Adventist University.
Where Takoma Park beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Takoma Park is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for safety (better than 3%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 164 in 1890, 17,629 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 6 maps from 1900 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Takoma Park. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw6 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw8 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw6 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw7 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw7 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 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · 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 Takoma Park, 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 Takoma Park.
Takoma Park sends many workers across the state line to Arlington, costs more than Silver Spring or any other town next door and has seen reported crime fall by a third or more.
Reported crimes fell from 1,083 to 665 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Takoma Park’s violent offense rate is 3.4 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Three of the 4 schools are below, and why each made the list. Public schools: the Montgomery County Public Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takoma Park MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,177 | A |
| Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 383 | – |
| Piney Branch ElementaryTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 575 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Silver Spring is next at $536K. The median property tax bill is $8,656, against $4,093 across Maryland, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Homes sold in Takoma Park spent a median 22 days on the market. The typical home value locally is about $670,000, about the same as a year ago, 58% above the Maryland typical home. The share of households in Takoma Park who own their home: 54%.
| Takoma Park | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 74% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,432 a month | $1,810 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Takoma Park: 13% of adults report frequent mental distress. Among adults locally, 30% have obesity and 8.5% smoke cigarettes.
| Takoma Park | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 11% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 23% |
| What stands out | Takoma Park | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.2% | 9.9% |
| Fewer smokers | 8.5% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Paid flood insurance claims in Takoma Park since 2018: 3. On expected storm and flood damage, Takoma Park sits below 92% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 58% come from inland flooding and 11% from heat waves. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2016.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
27% of working residents cross a state line to work, Arlington among the top destinations. 36% of workers work from home, against 19.3% across Maryland.
Just 3% of Takoma Park’s working residents have a job in town. 36% of workers do their job from home locally. Employers in Takoma Park shed 289 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 5,073. The typical journey to work for Takoma Park comes to 34 minutes.
| Takoma Park | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 36% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $108,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.5% | 3.1% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The biggest park or preserve is Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park, at 51 acres. There are 1.1 miles of trail across 16 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Takoma Park: 16, covering 104 acres.
| Takoma Park | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Takoma-Piney Branch Local Park | 0.6 mi | 12 |
| 2. Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park | 0.1 mi | 51 |
| 3. Long Branch Stream Valley Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
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
38 within 15 miles of the center of Takoma Park
About 5 of every 100 Takoma Park residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
Where Takoma Park’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
32 notable people were born in Takoma Park.
City in Maryland, United States
Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea City", is a Tree City USA and a nuclear-free zone. A planned commuter suburb, it is situated along the Metropolitan Branch of the historic Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, just northeast of Washington, D.C., and it shares a border and history with the adjacent Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Takoma. It is governed by an elected mayor and six elected councilmembers, who form the city council, and an appointed city manager, under a council-manager style of government.…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Takoma Park.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Takoma Park | #150 | B | C− | D− | B+ | A |
| Silver Spring | #76 | A− | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Chillum | #230 | C− | C+ | — | D | C+ |
| Langley Park | #248 | D | C+ | — | D | D |
Silver Spring, Chillum and Langley Park report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Takoma Park with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. It grades A for health, D− for safety and B+ for schools. Safety 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 C−.
32 notable people were born here, including Steve Francis and Sara McMann.
