Maryland Best Places To Live
Which places in Maryland are really living the good life? Here is a list of the most desirable places to call home in The Free State.
Maryland is the ninth smallest state in the U.S. but it is jam packed with so many great places to live. Maryland packs a lot of punch, not only is in the top 20 most populous states, it is home to Babe Ruth, the National Anthem and many great areas to call home.
Here are 10 of the best places in Maryland:
1. Columbia
2. Sykesville
3. Berlin
4. Frederick
5. Rockville
6. Bethesda
7. Kensington
8. Gaithersburg
9. Annapolis
10. Ellicott City
Columbia has much to offer for families and individual. There are miles of trails that run throughout the city and concerts you can attend at Merriweather Post Pavilion as well as so much more! Columbia was recently voted the Best Place to Live in 2016 by Money Magazine.
Skyesville won the title of America’s Coolest Smallest Town in 2016 because of its charm, history unique boutiques and family-friendly festivals.
Berlin also won the title of America’s Coolest Smallest Town in 2014 because of its adorable Main Street that makes you feel like you traveled back in time, and architecture that represents Victorian, Federal and the 20th Century. Berlin was also the filming location for Julia Robert and Richard Gere’s “Runaway Bride” and the fictional setting for “Tuck Everlasting.”
Ranked on livability.com’s list of Top 100 Places to Live in 2015, Frederick offers quaint water views, impressive restaurants, large calendar of yearly events and is home to the Frederick Keys baseball team.
Gaithersburg gives you the best of both worlds, suburbs and city life. Voted One of the Best Places to Raise a Family on livability.com, Rockville allows you own a home and be close to everything.
Bethesda is a great place to live because of its culture, dining, and nearby areas. With a beautiful downtown area with plenty of restaurants, bars and stores, if you like city living, it’s a great city to check out.
Keinsington was voted #1 on AreaVibes.com’s 2017 Most Livable Place in the State. With A+ scores in amenities, crime, employment, and housing and an A for education, it is a great place to live.
Gaithersburg is one of Maryland’s largest cities and offers an array of activities and events for those young and senior.
CreditDonkey.com ranked Annapolis #1 on their best places to live in the state which placed their decision on commute time, crime, income and many other areas. Located on the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland’s capital offers a cute historic town with water views and great restaurants and is also home to the US Naval Academy.
Ellicott City has found itself on thrillist.com’s Best Places to Live list multiple times. The city offers a charming town with unique character and pride.
How We Did It
The small state of Maryland has more going on within its borders than some countries do on a busy day. There is world-famous sailing, fishing—and baseball, of course. The state is also rich with history, pride, and culture, but in order to find the 10 best places of today, we needed several measurable criteria, and chose the following seven:
- Cost of living
- Crime rate
- High school graduation rate
- Median household income
- Median home value
- Median rent price
- Unemployment rate
With these seven things in mind, we looked at the U.S. Census data for 185 places in Maryland with at least 5,000 residents. Each area was ranked from one to 185 in each criteria, the lower the score, the better. Then, the individual rankings were averaged into an overall Big Deal Score, with the lowest score being Travilah.
While each of these places is a valuable player in its own right, in general, these 10 made the list for scoring well in our criteria—low costs of living, unemployment rates, and crime rates; and high median household incomes, home values, rent prices, and high school diploma attainments.
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