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Ranked · Best value · Maryland

Best value cities in Maryland

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Best value” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

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Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Hagerstown, MD44k residents

    62/100

    cost of living index: 92 · median home price: $224,500 · median household income: $52,221

  2. 2.Severna Park, MD40k residents

    60/100

    cost of living index: 118 · median home price: $647,200 · median household income: $169,953

  3. 3.Baltimore, MD573k residents

    59/100

    cost of living index: 99 · median home price: $220,000 · median household income: $59,000

  4. 4.Glen Burnie, MD73k residents

    58/100

    cost of living index: 107 · median home price: $348,900 · median household income: $88,280

  5. 5.Dundalk, MD66k residents

    58/100

    cost of living index: 95 · median home price: $212,700 · median household income: $64,520

  6. 6.Essex, MD41k residents

    58/100

    cost of living index: 97 · median home price: $258,900 · median household income: $67,168

  7. 7.Lochearn, MD27k residents

    57/100

    cost of living index: 100 · median home price: $286,000 · median household income: $74,707

  8. 8.Woodlawn CDP (Baltimore County), MD40k residents

    56/100

    cost of living index: 101 · median home price: $294,200 · median household income: $82,466

  9. 9.Bel Air North, MD31k residents

    56/100

    cost of living index: 110 · median home price: $446,500 · median household income: $137,336

  10. 10.Parkville, MD31k residents

    56/100

    cost of living index: 100 · median home price: $260,400 · median household income: $79,178

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is the best value in Maryland?
Hagerstown, MD ranks first with a fit score of 62/100, followed by Severna Park (60) and Baltimore (59), using the "Best value" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.