Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,337, settled in 1751. 2.1 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Maryland town.
Trash & recyclingFew places in the country grade higher. Thurmont earns an A+, 12th among Maryland's 259 graded towns. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, a typical home costs about $394K, 3.1 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income, and its schools rank ahead of 76% of Maryland towns. Its lowest mark, a B, is in health. Only 5 of Maryland’s 98 towns score higher on civic life. Catoctin Furnace Historic District and Roddy Road Covered Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. Only 9 of the 251 Maryland towns we compare have a lower median rent than Thurmont.
Where Thurmont beats most towns.
Census counts: 583 in 1870, 6,213 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 4 maps from 1911 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Thurmont is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Thurmont. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi LandmarkRaven Rock Mountain Complex
in town National park siteCatoctin Mountain Park461K visitors a year
16 mi Ancient siteGettysburg Battlefield
19 mi National BattlefieldAntietam National Battlefield161K visitors a year
17 mi LandmarkGettysburg National Cemetery
13 mi National Military ParkGettysburg National Military Park730K visitors a yearRaven Rock Mountain Complex: US Government, Public domain · Catoctin Mountain Park: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gettysburg Battlefield: Veggies, Public domain · Antietam National Battlefield: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gettysburg National Cemetery: Photo: Henryhartley at en.wikipedia Statue: Randolph Rogers (1825-1892), Public domain · Gettysburg National Military Park: David Dugan, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Thurmont, 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 Thurmont.
Thurmont pairs an A+ overall with homes cheaper than the Maryland norm, pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and fares better on crime within Maryland than nationally.
At 8.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 92% of Maryland’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 7 reported in 2025, 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
Thurmont’s property crime rate is 5.5 per 1,000 residents, below both the Maryland town median (14.4) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). Thurmont’s violent crime rate is 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Thurmont | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.5 per 1,000 residents | 14.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its A− for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $394K.
Its public schools are run by the Frederick County Public Schools. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thurmont MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 507 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
2.2 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Eyler Road Recreation Area, at 30 acres. Thurmont’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile, against 0.6 in Maryland’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Thurmont | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 9.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Catoctin Mountain Park | 0.4 mi | 19 |
| 2. Eyler Road Recreation Area | — | 30 |
| 3. Thurmont Park | — | 25 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 2011, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Thurmont.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Thurmont has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 23° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Within Maryland it is less healthy than 65% of the 261 graded towns: Maryland sets a high bar. Against the 8,849 U.S. towns with household incomes like Thurmont’s, it is less healthy than 51%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Thurmont beats the Maryland average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 24% of Thurmont adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Thurmont | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 20% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Thurmont | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.3% | 13.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.8% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.5% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Thurmont for work: only 7% work in town. The average trip to work in Thurmont is 29 minutes. Jobs based in Thurmont grew to 2,622 in 2023, 199 more than in 2013.
| Thurmont | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $98,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Thurmont grades A+ overall with a typical home of about $394K, below the Maryland typical value; only 13 of the 54 Maryland towns graded A− or better can say that.
The typical Thurmont home is worth about $394,000, about the same as a year ago, 7% below the Maryland typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4 within 15 miles of the center of Thurmont
About 4 of every 100 Thurmont residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Maryland.
Town in Maryland
Thurmont is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 6,935 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the northern part of Frederick County (north of Frederick, the county seat), approximately ten miles from the Pennsylvania border, along U.S. Highway 15. It is very close to Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain Park, the latter of which contains the presidential retreat of Camp David. Thurmont is also home to Catoctin Colorfest, an arts and crafts festival that draws in about 125,000 people each autumn. In 2005, Thurmont was designated as a Maryland Main Street Community, and in that year was designated a National Main Street under the National Tr…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Thurmont.
Graceham isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Thurmont with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Thurmont grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #12 of 259 in Maryland. It grades B for health, A− for safety and A− for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
2 notable people were born here, including Russell R. Waesche and Richard Troxell.
