These Are The 10 Best Places In Maryland

Maryland is the ninth smallest state in the U.S. but don’t let it’s demure size fool you, there is a reason that this East Coast state has earned so many grand sounding nicknames including: The Free State, the Old Line State, Little America, or the Home of our Nation’s Anthem. Maryland packs a lot of punch, not only is in the top 20 most populous states, it’s the fifth most densely populated—and, as it turns out is made up of a whole lot of cities, towns, and places.
As part of Movoto Real Estate’s ongoing rankings, we have been moving from state to state, objectively looking at each to determine which 10 areas make for the best places to call home. So far we have visited New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, just to name a few. And today we are moving across that Old Line, into the Home of Babe Ruth—and apparently, the home of more nicknames than there are players on the Orioles.
Maryland, you’re up to bat. So without further ado, here are the 10 best places in Maryland:
1. Travilah
2. North Potomac
3. Bethesda (tie)
3. Burtonsville (tie)
5. Potomac (tie)
5. South Kensington (tie)
7. Poolesville
8. Clarksburg
9. Olney
10. Chevy Chase (CDP)
Narrowing down our list to a mere 10 great places in Maryland would have been harder than choosing a favorite state nickname (we’re leaning toward Little America), fortunately we have concrete data to lend us a helping hand. Read on to learn how we determined why each of these places are this year’s Marylander MVPs.

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 our MVP, 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.
For a more detailed look at how each of the top 50 places in Maryland ranked, skip down to the end of the post. Otherwise, keep on reading to find out why each of our top 10 are so special, starting with our winner.

1. Travilah

Travilah, which earned our No. 1 spot, is located just outside of Potomac (which we’ll see again later in the list), is a haven for doctors, lawyers, and those who have grown tired of the hustle and bustle of the Beltway. Travilah scored well in most of our criteria; but particularly in regards to real estate, where it came in first both in the highest median home value ($1,006,800) and the highest median rental price ($6,500).
Travilah also came in with the second highest median annual income in the state of $204,911, but just like other places on our list, the good life in Travilah comes with a hefty price tag. The cost of living here is 31 percent higher than the state average, and a whopping 64.7 percent higher than the nation’s average.
Of course as one of CNN Money’s recent “25 Top-Earning towns,” Travilah residents can certainly afford it.

2. North Potomac

Coming in at No. 2 is North Potomac. Having in the past been named as one of CNN Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live in the U.S. and one of the most affluent areas in the country by Forbes, North Potomac is truly the epitome of living the good life—a sort of Pleasantville for Montgomery County.
North Potomac scored well in our study with a low unemployment rate of just 4.7 percent, a median household income of over $139,000, and a median home price of $629,100—that’s 85 percent higher than the state average.
North Potomac has a high rate of high school diploma attainment—96 percent of their population are high school graduates—and yet this ordinarily impressive statistic is no huge feat in Maryland, which, evidently, should have one more nickname: The Educated State. Of course sixth place in education is nothing to scoff at—even in a state where it seems high school education is a given.

3. Bethesda (tie)

Tying for No. 4 spot on our list is Bethesda. This community just north of Washington D.C. is also in Montgomery County (beginning to see a pattern here?), and takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House, which in Hebrew means “House of Kindness.”
Bethesda is not just kind, but is also well employed, with an unemployment rate of just 4.7 percent; it is well educated, with a high school diploma attainment rate of 97 percent, and it has one of the highest median home values on our list—an average of $798,900.
And we’re not the first to take notice of this little gem outside of D.C. Recently, Bethesda ranked first in Forbes list of America’s Most Educated Small Towns, ranked second on their list of America’s Most Livable Cities, and a few years ago, based on education, income, health, and fitness, Total Beauty ranked Bethesda first on its list of the U.S.’s Top 10 Hottest-Guy Cities. Way to go, Bethesda—especially for that last one.

3. Burtonsville (tie)

Tying with Bethesda is Burtonsville. No surprises here—just like Bethesda (and yes, the rest of our top 10 as well), Burtonsville is in Montgomery County.
Also, much like our other top 10 places, Burtonsville has a low unemployment rate of 4.7 percent, and a high school graduation rate of 97 percent, tying it for second in the education category. What sets Burtonsville apart, though, is its community feel and character. So named after Isaac Burton—the founder, the community’s first postmaster, father of 17, and all around cool guy—Burtonsville still celebrates its roots each year with a Burtonsville Day. Petting zoos, crafts, games, and events spring up all over the town, bringing the community together on this day—but the feeling of kinship lasts the whole year. It really is an idyllic little town.

5. Potomac (tie)

Tying for our No. 6 spot are Potomac and South Kensington, both of which are located in the affluent Montgomery County. Potomac has some of the highest home values on our list, the median price being $877,900; and with one of the highest median household incomes on our list, at $162,766, it seems as though residents can certainly afford it.
To put this into perspective for you, let’s look at what some other sites have said about Potomac. In 2013, CNNMoney.com listed Potomac as the most affluent town in the U.S. based on median household income, and in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek named it one of the richest zip codes in the U.S. If that doesn’t paint a clear enough picture, think about it this way: Potomac, along with three other zip codes (all in Manhattan) was named as having the highest concentration of the “1 percent” in the U.S.

5. South Kensington (tie)

The second No. 5 on our list is South Kensington. Just like Potomac, South Kensington scored major points for a median household income of $162,766, a median home value of $877,900, and an unemployment rate under 5 percent.
This Montgomery County town has also been named one of CNN Money’s Best Places to Live, and for good reason. South Kensington is a safe community, with a crime rate 58 percent lower than Maryland’s average, and also seems to be one of Montgomery County’s most hopping locale, as noted with their A plus score on amenities by Areavibes.com. This takes into account things like shopping, food and drink, schools, coffee shops, and of course, parks—of which South Kensington has six of nearby.

7. Poolesville

Coming in at No. 7 is another area in Montgomery County, Poolesville. Like many of the other affluent places in the area, Poolesville is considered a “bedroom” community for many commuters to Washington D.C. What sets this community apart from the rest are its high scores in employment, with an unemployment rate below 5 percent, its low crime rate of just 1,247 crimes out of 100,000, and again, an A plus in education, with a high school diploma attainment rate of 95 percent.
Even with this high score for high school, Poolesville ranked 15th in terms of its diploma attainment. Of course this doesn’t say anything negative about Poolesville, so much as it says something great about Maryland, with some of the highest diploma attainment rates we’ve seen in our research so far, giving Poolesville some tough competition.

8. Clarksburg

Clarksburg came in at No. 8 on our list, earning major points for its No. 1 ranking as the safest place in Maryland, with a crime rate 83 percent lower than the state’s average and for its impressive (and by impressive, we mean high) rental prices, averaging around $2,200 per month.
These high rent prices probably have something to do with Clarksburg’s recent growth in the last decade. In the heart of the community, a new town center is being built, and schools, parks, and houses are springing up right and left to accommodate the area’s influx of people. But even with its growing population, Clarksburg has managed to maintain a quaint, community feel, making it one of the best places to live in Maryland.

9. Olney

Our ninth spot goes to Olney, which, you guessed it, is also located in Montgomery County. Other than its location, Olney also shares a low unemployment rate of 4.7 percent with the other winners on our list, making it one of the best employed in the state.
Olney also scored points in education, with a high school diploma attainment rate of 96 percent. It includes some of the best institutions in the area, even down to its elementary schools. Grove Elementary, for example, was recently awarded the prestigious Blue Ribbon School for Excellence Award.
Outside of the classroom, Olney is a cultural haven, home to the Olney Big Band and the Olney Concert Band, and the Olney Theater, and it is dotted with parks and green spaces like the Olney Manor Park. No wonder it was recently voted one of “Money Magazine’s” “100 Best Places to Live”—and of course, Movoto Real Estate’s No. 9 Best Places in Maryland.

10. Chevy Chase (CDP)

Coming in at No. 10 on our list was Chevy Chase—certainly the most friendly-sounding town on our list.
The Census Designated Place, not be confused with the town of the same name, came in first for its high school graduation rate (97 percent) and ranked well for median household income ($157802).
Of course there is a cost, the cost of living in the area is among the the highest in the state.
We should also note that in this case we used county-level crime data, as we crime data for Chevy Chase was not available.

Another Nickname for the Books

Maryland, you may have more than enough nicknames to choose from for such a small state, just as you have more than enough places. However, if you want to identify yourselves, one thing is clear: Maryland really is a Little America (see why it’s our favorite?). It is well educated, affluent, safe, idyllic, the very picture of the American Dream–especially in Montgomery County. So congratulations, Maryland winners—and a big congratulations to Chevy Chase, this state’s true MVP (Well, aside from Babe Ruth. He was kind of a big deal, too.)
 
(click to enlarge table)

 
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