Best suburbs of Baltimore

We scored all 56 towns and communities of 10,000+ people in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro area on what most people weigh when they pick a suburb: what homes cost compared with local pay, household income, poverty, commute times, education, homeownership and how many families with kids live there. Scaggsville, Linthicum and Honeygo come out on top.

top 10 upper half lower half Baltimore. Dot size shows population.

The top 25

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
1	Scaggsville, MD	82	10,564	$668,500	3.2×	$207,220	29.6 min	2.9%	18
2	Linthicum, MD	78	11,313	$401,600	3.0×	$134,673	23.2 min	3.3%	7
3	Honeygo, MD	75	12,250	$484,100	3.3×	$146,384	30.0 min	1.8%	12
4	Severna Park, MD	74	40,228	$647,200	3.8×	$169,953	28.0 min	2.8%	15
5	Ilchester, MD	73	28,364	$532,400	3.5×	$152,103	27.6 min	5.1%	10
6	Elkridge, MD	71	26,283	$454,200	3.2×	$139,913	27.4 min	7.6%	10
7	Crofton, MD	70	29,549	$519,900	3.5×	$150,577	32.4 min	2.9%	20
8	Bel Air North, MD	67	31,302	$446,500	3.3×	$137,336	33.3 min	3.5%	22
9	Arnold, MD	67	24,303	$564,200	4.0×	$141,639	28.1 min	3.1%	19
10	Mays Chapel, MD	67	16,066	$464,800	3.7×	$126,996	24.9 min	2.8%	10
11	Ellicott City, MD	65	75,257	$661,700	4.2×	$156,964	28.2 min	3.7%	12
12	Bel Air South, MD	64	58,137	$405,900	3.3×	$123,653	30.5 min	3.9%	22
13	Odenton, MD	63	45,002	$435,300	3.4×	$128,441	28.9 min	4.5%	17
14	Eldersburg, MD	63	31,695	$494,300	3.5×	$142,954	34.2 min	4.7%	20
15	Severn, MD	61	58,402	$479,200	3.6×	$134,423	27.8 min	5.7%	12
16	Fallston, MD	61	10,013	$562,300	3.6×	$154,688	35.8 min	4.6%	19
17	Perry Hall, MD	58	29,105	$349,600	3.3×	$106,244	28.9 min	6.8%	10
18	North Laurel, MD	58	25,563	$450,100	3.7×	$122,949	27.7 min	4.7%	17
19	Annapolis Neck, MD	58	12,032	$739,100	4.3×	$173,879	30.1 min	3.3%	26
20	Pasadena, MD	57	34,309	$423,400	3.3×	$129,727	31.6 min	5.7%	10
21	Timonium, MD	57	10,304	$480,800	4.0×	$119,863	25.8 min	5.8%	10
22	Catonsville, MD	56	43,368	$416,900	3.7×	$114,109	24.6 min	6.9%	7
23	Lake Shore, MD	56	18,249	$473,600	3.6×	$130,689	30.8 min	6.4%	16
24	Columbia, MD	55	104,338	$497,400	3.8×	$131,490	27.9 min	7.5%	15
25	Riviera Beach, MD	54	12,192	$350,300	3.1×	$112,672	30.0 min	4.7%	10

Show all 56 places

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
26	Arbutus, MD	53	22,507	$322,600	3.3×	$99,090	24.5 min	14.0%	6
27	Brooklyn Park, MD	53	16,067	$284,300	3.2×	$87,989	28.3 min	8.3%	6
28	Joppatowne, MD	53	14,237	$342,300	2.9×	$117,881	33.8 min	6.5%	16
29	White Marsh, MD	52	10,932	$369,200	3.1×	$117,426	31.2 min	9.6%	10
30	Overlea, MD	50	13,035	$263,900	3.0×	$88,841	28.8 min	9.1%	7
31	Parkville, MD	49	30,549	$260,400	3.3×	$79,178	27.2 min	8.6%	7
32	Ferndale, MD	48	17,529	$327,600	3.5×	$94,948	25.7 min	8.2%	8
33	Rosedale, MD	46	20,002	$276,200	3.2×	$85,711	29.0 min	10.1%	6
34	Pikesville, MD	45	33,524	$434,500	4.4×	$98,465	24.8 min	7.8%	8
35	Havre de Grace, MD	45	15,630	$392,900	3.7×	$105,817	28.0 min	9.0%	32
36	Owings Mills, MD	44	37,245	$361,000	3.8×	$96,243	29.4 min	5.6%	12
37	Edgewood, MD	43	24,922	$242,200	3.0×	$80,772	31.0 min	12.0%	19
38	Maryland City, MD	43	19,186	$424,900	3.6×	$117,337	29.8 min	8.9%	17
39	Woodlawn, MD	42	40,379	$294,200	3.6×	$82,466	26.0 min	11.6%	7
40	Dundalk, MD	40	65,969	$212,700	3.3×	$64,520	25.3 min	17.4%	7
41	Parole, MD	38	17,229	$533,500	4.4×	$120,361	30.1 min	5.7%	22
42	Aberdeen, MD	37	18,374	$261,400	3.5×	$74,826	27.5 min	14.3%	28
43	Rossville, MD	37	16,059	$317,000	3.5×	$90,000	28.9 min	7.7%	8
44	Glen Burnie, MD	36	72,590	$348,900	4.0×	$88,280	27.3 min	9.3%	10
45	Towson, MD	36	58,679	$469,000	4.6×	$101,320	25.1 min	12.1%	7
46	Middle River, MD	35	31,712	$271,700	3.5×	$78,398	28.4 min	14.7%	10
47	Annapolis, MD	31	40,634	$548,900	4.8×	$113,860	29.5 min	7.8%	23
48	Randallstown, MD	29	35,957	$327,200	3.8×	$85,735	32.4 min	9.2%	11
49	Reisterstown, MD	29	25,582	$358,700	4.2×	$85,543	29.9 min	10.7%	15
50	Westminster, MD	29	20,589	$337,600	3.9×	$86,219	28.5 min	10.0%	29
51	Lochearn, MD	28	27,074	$286,000	3.8×	$74,707	29.5 min	9.8%	7
52	Cockeysville, MD	28	23,962	$419,900	5.4×	$77,680	23.9 min	12.6%	12
53	Carney, MD	27	28,343	$319,700	3.8×	$83,620	29.4 min	11.0%	9
54	Milford Mill, MD	24	30,829	$273,600	3.9×	$69,711	31.3 min	8.7%	9
55	Essex, MD	20	40,580	$258,900	3.9×	$67,168	29.4 min	12.6%	9
56	Bel Air, MD	20	10,507	$318,400	4.3×	$74,605	27.7 min	13.8%	21

Most affordable homes

Joppatowne 2.9 years of income, $342,300
Linthicum 3 years of income, $401,600
Overlea 3 years of income, $263,900
Edgewood 3 years of income, $242,200
Riviera Beach 3.1 years of income, $350,300

Most families with kids

Crofton 43.1% of households
Elkridge 42.1% of households
Scaggsville 41.9% of households
Severna Park 40.9% of households
Arnold 40.0% of households

How the score works

For each measure we rank the 56 places from worst to best within this metro area, then combine the ranks with these weights: home value compared with household income (20%), household income (15%), poverty rate (15%), average commute (15%), share of adults with a bachelor's degree (10%), homeownership (10%), households with children (10%) and population growth since 2020 (5%). Unincorporated communities have no official growth estimate, so they get the middle value for that part. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure.

Everything comes from the Census Bureau: the American Community Survey 2020-2024 and the 2025 population estimates. We leave out crime and school ratings because comparable official data for every town does not exist; check local school district and police data for the places on your shortlist.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best suburbs of Baltimore?

On our data-only score, Scaggsville, Linthicum and Honeygo rank highest among 56 places of 10,000+ people in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro area.

What is the most affordable suburb of Baltimore?

Joppatowne has the lowest ratio of median home value to household income (2.9 years), with a median home of $342,300.

Which Baltimore suburb has the shortest commute?

Linthicum, where the average commute is 23.2 minutes each way.

Back to the Baltimore city profile, or see the best suburbs of other big cities.

Places are incorporated cities, towns and villages plus census-designated places with 10,000 or more residents, assigned to the metro area by county (OMB 2023 delineations). Distances are straight lines from the center of Baltimore. The Census Bureau caps published medians at $250,000 for income and $2,000,000 for home values, shown with a plus sign.