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Wildewood
Maryland›St. Mary's County

WildewoodMD

A town of 7,552.

1 bordering townMap →
St. Andrew's Church · Photo: Pubdog · Public domain
Photo of Wildewood

Wildewood, MD · St. Andrew's Church · Photo: Pubdog · Public domain

Is Wildewood a good place to live?

Wildewood is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A overall, 64th among Maryland's 259 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $127K. It also does better than most on health: it is healthier than 81% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $383K, 3 years of the Lexington Park metro’s $126K median household income. Wildewood’s average trip to work is 37 minutes, against 32 minutes in Maryland’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Wildewood has 1 place on the National Register.

What makes Wildewood stand out

Where Wildewood beats most towns.

A commuter town

96% of working residents leave Wildewood for work

Where Wildewood’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.

14% → California California 14% 10% → Leonardtown Leonardtown 10% 5% → Washington Washington 5% 4% → Lexington Park Lexington Park 4% 2% → Baltimore Baltimore 2% 2% → Waldorf Waldorf 2% Wildewood · 4% stay
2,160jobs based in Wildewood
4%of working residents work in town
12 mimedian commute distance

Census LEHD 2023

How Wildewood grades

Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Wildewood is from typical.

How grading works
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.

How TownRatings grades towns →

Getting set up

Moving to Wildewood: who provides what

Wildewood is unincorporated, so St. Mary's County and regional agencies provide most services.

PowerSouthern Maryland Elec Coop16.4¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterLexington ParkNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet5 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesSt. Mary's CountySt. Mary's County provides services here
SchoolsSt. Marys County Public SchoolsWhich school depends on your addressNCES
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.gov
Who runs elections hereSaint Mary's County Board of ElectionsSt. Mary's County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Aug 2025
ZIP code2061920619 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 Wildewood.

Wildewood has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in Maryland, has homes that are cheap against local pay and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.

Natural hazardsHazard risk grade A

Very low risk in Wildewood, with inland flooding at the top

Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities.

12risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
12Very low riskLowerHigher
Inland floodingHurricanesStrong wind

FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

SchoolsB+

On state tests, Wildewood’s schools beat 68% of Maryland districts

Its public schools are run by the St. Mary's County Public Schools. Its one school is below.

68%of MD districts it outscoresB+School Grade
SchoolLevelStudentsLetter
Evergreen Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5Grades PK–5715B+

NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation

HealthA−

For health, Wildewood earns an A−

Against the 4,869 U.S. towns with household incomes like Wildewood’s, it is less healthy than 50%: its national edge comes with its incomes.

18% of adults binge drink in Wildewood. Wildewood beats the Maryland average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 30% of adults have high blood pressure in Wildewood.

81%healthier than U.S. townsA−Health Grade
WildewoodMaryland townsU.S. towns
Binge drink (CDC PLACES)18%14%16%
High blood pressure (CDC PLACES)30%35%35%
Diabetes (CDC PLACES)9.4%12%12%
Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES)11%12%14%
32 measures vs. Maryland
13 better16 too close to call3 worse
What stands outWildewoodMD
Fewer adults who have had a stroke2.4%3.4%
Fewer adults facing food insecurity10.9%15.4%
More binge drinkers18.1%14.1%
Medstar Saint Mary's Hospital
4.9 mi away · emergency room
2 of 3
care shortages: primary care, mental health
64th
percentile among MD towns

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA

Work & commuteJobs & income grade A

With 0.7 jobs for every working resident, most of Wildewood’s workers commute out

Most working residents leave Wildewood for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Wildewood grew to 2,160 in 2023, 352 more than in 2013. 4.7% of Wildewood residents live below the poverty line.

4%work in town
WildewoodMaryland townsU.S. towns
Median household income$127,000$113,000$80,000
Below the poverty line4.7%7%9.6%
Working residents who work in town4.1%3.1%8%

Where working residents work

In Wildewood4%
California14%
Leonardtown10%
Washington5%
Lexington Park4%
12 mi
median commute distance
2,160
jobs based in Wildewood
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
B
Walkability grade: more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Climate

Wildewood has four seasons and pleasant summers

The Patuxent River Nas weather station, 7 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 230 days, the highest of 536 Maryland places with climate records.

Wildewood has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 27° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.

13″snow a winter

Typical low → high °F

Winter29–48°
Spring45–66°
Summer66–86°
Fall49–69°
Nov 26
typical first frost
Mar 22
typical last frost
+1.5°
vs. the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

OutdoorsB+

6% of Wildewood is conserved land

0.9 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.

6%conserved
WildewoodMaryland townsU.S. towns
Miles of trail per square mile0.3 miles per square mile0.60.4
Conserved land6%9.5%4.3%
6%
conserved · 111 of 1,864 acres
0.9 mi
of trails · 0.3 per sq mi
Biggest places to walkTrailsAcres
1. Wildewood Community Park0.3 mi10
2. Wildewood Park #2—11
3. Pepperidge Park—4

Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

HousingCost of living grade C+

A home in Wildewood sells for about $417K at the median

At 3 years of the Lexington Park metro’s $126K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 81% of Maryland towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.

Wildewood’s median rent is $2,144 a month.

$417Kmedian sale price
WildewoodMaryland townsU.S. towns
Median rent$2,144 a month$1,809 a month$1,185 a month
Households that own their home64%74%73%
Market temperature
Seller’s marketA strong seller's marketBuyer’sSeller’s
40
days on market
99.8%
sale-to-list price
20
homes sold in May

Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center

Nearby attractions

George Washington Birthplace National Monument and 15 more within 40 miles

Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wildewood. Close and well known come first.

All 250 attractions →
Sources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits

George Washington Birthplace National Monument: National Park Service Digital Image Archives, Public domain · Point Lookout State Park: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · U-1105: U.S. Navy, Public domain · Patuxent River Naval Air Museum: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · George Washington Memorial Parkway: Yoichi Okamoto, Public domain · Fort Washington Park: Dfowlerdc, CC BY-SA 3.0

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Wildewood

16pages on Wildewood
After high school

Colleges nearby

1 within 15 miles of the center of Wildewood

About Wildewood

Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Wildewood is a planned community and census-designated place (CDP) in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. It is in east-central St. Mary's County, 7 miles (11 km) east of Leonardtown, the county seat, and 58 miles (93 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. It is bordered to the east by the unincorporated community of California. Homesites feature large shade trees. Wildewood was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census which listed a population of 7,821.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Area
2.9 sq mi
Elevation
105 ft

Wildewood’s neighbors

One town shares a border with Wildewood.

Explore the map →
How the neighbors grade
TownMD rankOverallCostSafetySchoolsHealth
Wildewood#64AC+—B+A−
California#39AB+—B+B+

Wildewood and California report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Wildewood with a neighbor →

Questions about Wildewood

Short answers, built from the data on this page.

Is Wildewood, MD a good place to live?

By most measures, yes. Wildewood grades A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns and #64 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A− for health and B+ for schools.

Is Wildewood, MD expensive?

The typical home is worth about $383,000, 10% below the Maryland typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.