Maryland is your state if your retirement requirements include safe, affordable housing, fun stuff to do, and fresh Chesapeake Bay blue crab.
We’ve created the ultimate guide for people looking to retire in the Old Line State. We produced a list of the best places to retire in Maryland for 2026.
To determine Maryland’s cream of the crop, we looked at several important factors like cost of living, crime, amenities, rent and the distance to the closest national airport for every place with over 10,000 residents. In total, we analyzed 22 cities.
We discovered that Maryland’s best places to retire are close to the state’s biggest cities, Baltimore and Frederick. Additionally, many of Pennsylvania’s best places to retire are also some of the state’s safest.
$1,860 median rent · $113,860 median income · #17 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, 25 miles south of Baltimore and about 30 miles east of Washington, D.C., Annapolis is part of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Its population was measured at 38,394 by the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,559 median rent · $121,208 median income · #12 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Charles County, Maryland
La Plata is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 8,753 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Charles County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,197 median rent · $74,653 median income · #4 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Talbot County, Maryland
Easton, Maryland is an incorporated town and the county seat of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,945 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2015 of 16,617. The primary ZIPCode is 21601, and the secondary is 21606. The primary phone exchange is 822, the auxiliary exchanges are 820, 763, and 770, and the area code is 410.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,058 median rent · $47,323 median income · #2 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Dorchester County, Maryland
Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 12,326 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county’s largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Maryland’s Eastern Shore region, after Salisbury, Elkton and Easton.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,416 median rent · $105,817 median income · #9 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Harford County, Maryland
Havre de Grace , abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which in full was once Le Havre de Grce. The population was 12,952 at the 2010 United States Census. The city was honored as one of America’s 20 best small towns to visit in 2014 by Smithsonian magazine.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$2,274 median rent · $128,649 median income · #21 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Montgomery County, Maryland
Rockville is a U.S. city located in the central region of Montgomery County, Maryland. It is the county seat and is a major incorporated city of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The 2010 census tabulated Rockville’s population at 61,209, making it the third largest incorporated city in Maryland, behind Baltimore and Frederick. Rockville is the largest incorporated city in Montgomery County, Maryland, although the nearby census-designated place of Germantown is more populous.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$741 median rent · $48,162 median income · #1 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Allegany County, Maryland
Cumberland Maryland, officially the City of Cumberland, is a western gateway city and seat of Allegany County, Maryland, United States and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a population of 103,299. Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. Cumberland is commonly referred to as “Where The South Begins,” as official United States Census Bureau records place it below the Mason-Dixon line.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$2,330 median rent · $141,995 median income · #22 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Prince George’s County, Maryland
Bowie is a city in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The population was 54,727 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George’s County, and the fifth most populous city and third largest city by area in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2014 CNN Money ranked Bowie 28th in its Best Places to Live in America list.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,476 median rent · $86,219 median income · #11 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Carroll County, Maryland
Westminster is a city in northern Maryland, United States. A suburb of both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., it is the seat of Carroll County. The city’s population was 18,590 at the 2010 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,331 median rent · $62,177 median income · #6 cheapest rent in Maryland
Located in
Baltimore city, Maryland
Baltimore is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland, and the 30th-most populous city in the United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Maryland’s statewide median.
Maryland statewide median: $103,678
Maryland statewide median: $429,705
On the map
Where to retire in Maryland
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Old Line State for 2026
To create our ranking of the best places in Maryland to retire, we used Saturday Night Science. We analyzed Census data to find all places in the Old Line State — 508 cities and towns.
We then narrowed it down to places with at least 10,000 people that weren’t townships. This left us with 22 places from across the state.
For these 22, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:
- Low cost of living as measured by rent
- Low crime
- Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
- Nice weather
- Distance to the closest international airport
- Other retirees (High median age)
We then ranked each of these places for each criterion from one to 22, with the lowest number being the best.
Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Annapolis, with the lowest average rank, was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second career.
The report has been updated for 2026. This list reflects our eleventh time ranking the best places to retire in Maryland.
The full plate
Best Places To Retire In Maryland
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Retire Score | Population | Median Income | Average Home Prices | Median Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annapolis | 7.90 | 40,720 | $113,860 | $618,838 | $1,860 |
| 2 | La Plata | 8.00 | 10,683 | $121,208 | $481,282 | $1,559 |
| 3 | Easton | 8.20 | 17,308 | $74,653 | $451,055 | $1,197 |
| 4 | Cambridge | 9.40 | 13,152 | $47,323 | $266,444 | $1,058 |
| 5 | Havre de Grace | 9.70 | 14,994 | $105,817 | $404,055 | $1,416 |
| 6 | Rockville | 10.10 | 67,671 | $128,649 | $618,892 | $2,274 |
| 7 | Cumberland | 10.40 | 18,804 | $48,162 | $152,202 | $741 |
| 8 | Bowie | 11.00 | 57,926 | $141,995 | $524,118 | $2,330 |
| 9 | Westminster | 11.00 | 20,445 | $86,219 | $462,869 | $1,476 |
| 10 | Baltimore | 11.20 | 573,243 | $62,177 | $188,101 | $1,331 |
| 11 | Gaithersburg | 11.80 | 69,825 | $112,467 | $527,608 | $2,058 |
| 12 | Hagerstown | 11.80 | 43,665 | $52,221 | $300,051 | $1,114 |
| 13 | Aberdeen | 12.20 | 17,298 | $74,826 | $343,948 | $1,363 |
| 14 | Ocean Pines | 12.20 | 12,351 | $91,824 | $388,975 | $2,069 |
| 15 | Hyattsville | 12.40 | 20,966 | $91,941 | $403,229 | $1,835 |
| 16 | Elkton | 12.50 | 15,910 | $58,640 | $367,248 | $1,382 |
| 17 | Takoma Park | 12.80 | 17,632 | $108,136 | $686,399 | $1,432 |
| 18 | New Carrollton | 13.00 | 13,564 | $81,509 | $399,605 | $1,749 |
| 19 | Salisbury | 13.70 | 33,285 | $58,576 | $264,545 | $1,318 |
| 20 | Frederick | 13.80 | 83,395 | $97,069 | $466,011 | $1,764 |
| 21 | Laurel | 13.80 | 29,798 | $100,504 | $476,648 | $1,873 |
| 22 | Greenbelt | 16.10 | 24,678 | $85,997 | $285,336 | $1,848 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, FBI UCR, OpenFlights. 22 cities with more than 10,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Maybe You’re Not Ready To Retire In Maryland Yet…
So there you have it, the best place to retire in Maryland goes to Annapolis.
The best places to retire in Maryland are Annapolis, La Plata, Easton, Cambridge, Havre de Grace, Rockville, Cumberland, Bowie, Westminster, and Baltimore.
If you’re not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley.
