The 10 Richest Cities In Maryland For 2023


We analyzed 41 places in Maryland to determine where the 1% live.

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You probably won’t find these places featured on the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, but Maryland’s richest places house many of the state’s super wealthy.

Yes, The Old Line State has the finest blue crab cakes, some super rich housewives in Potomac, and, now, HomeSnacks’ list of the top ten richest places for 2023.

How do you get your hands on one of these Maryland gems? Well, a couple of things are going to have to fall into place for you. First, you are going to need a high paying job: one that pays on average $82,098/year. Although, to make this dream a reality, you might want to bring a job to the table: currently, there are not many high paying jobs within a short driving distance of the top ten places. Incidentally, the highest paying jobs in the state are in healthcare and tech and the state’s overall unemployment rate is below the national average.

The upside to living the Maryland dream, however, once you get settled in one of the state’s richest places, you will be able to experience all of the posh features that this state has to offer. Like, the Michelin Star restaurants in Rockville, season passes to the Baltimore Ravens, and/or five star weekends in Annapolis.

Whatever you decide, don’t make any major life changing decisions until you take a gander at the list of Maryland’s richest places below.

It was quite a feat to narrow down the richest places in Little America. The state is, after all, one of the richest states in the country. So, to cut down our list, we looked at the latest Census data from the American Community Survey for 42 Maryland cities with more than 5,000 residents. And, folks, the number one richest place in Maryland does not disappoint.

So, what is the richest place in Maryland for 2023? That would be, Walkersville.

To see a list of the rest of Maryland’s richest places, hit that down arrow. And if you don’t find what you’re looking for there, head to the bottom.

Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Maryland:

The 10 Richest Cities In Maryland For 2023

1. Walkersville

Walkersville, MD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,134
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $114,340
Unemployment Rate: 1.1%
Poverty Rate: 1.8%
More on Walkersville: Real Estate | Photos

2. Mount Airy

Mount Airy, MD

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 9,621
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Median Income: $136,250
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Mount Airy: Real Estate | Photos

3. Chesapeake Beach

Chesapeake Beach, MD

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,303
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $120,194
Unemployment Rate: 1.1%
Poverty Rate: 4.3%
More on Chesapeake Beach: Real Estate | Photos

4. Poolesville

Poolesville, MD

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,666
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $201,607
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 0.5%
More on Poolesville: Real Estate | Photos

5. La Plata

La Plata, MD

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,054
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $108,043
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 3.0%
More on La Plata: Real Estate | Photos

6. Manchester

Manchester, MD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,350
Rank Last Year:
Median Income: $97,000
Unemployment Rate: 1.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.8%
More on Manchester: Real Estate | Photos

7. Rockville

Rockville, MD

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 67,095
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $116,031
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 7.0%
More on Rockville: Real Estate | Photos

8. Bowie

Bowie, MD

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 58,113
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $127,029
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on Bowie: Real Estate | Photos

9. Glenarden

Glenarden, MD

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,341
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 1)
Median Income: $91,467
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Poverty Rate: 6.0%
More on Glenarden: Real Estate

10. Thurmont

Thurmont, MD

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,247
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Median Income: $82,098
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 7.0%
More on Thurmont: Real Estate | Photos

Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In Maryland For 2023

Map Of The Richest Places To Live In Maryland
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.

However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income
  • Unemployment Rate

Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.

After we collected the data for all 42 places with more than 5,000 people in Maryland, we ranked each place from 1 to 42 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Walkersville, crowned the “Richest City In Maryland For 2023”. You can download the data here.

You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 42 places.

Summary: The Wealthiest Places In Maryland For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Maryland, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Maryland.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Maryland, according to data:

Poorest: Frostburg
2nd Poorest: Hagerstown
3rd Poorest: Cambridge

For more Maryland reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Maryland

Rank City RichScore Median Income
1 Walkersville 3.33 $114,340
2 Mount Airy 4.0 $136,250
3 Chesapeake Beach 4.0 $120,194
4 Poolesville 5.0 $201,607
5 La Plata 5.33 $108,043
6 Manchester 6.0 $97,000
7 Rockville 8.0 $116,031
8 Bowie 9.0 $127,029
9 Glenarden 13.0 $91,467
10 Thurmont 14.0 $82,098
11 Takoma Park 14.67 $86,644
12 Hyattsville 15.67 $84,763
13 Havre De Grace 16.0 $86,576
14 Cheverly 17.0 $106,732
15 Easton 17.67 $72,771
16 Annapolis 18.33 $92,026
17 Riverdale Park 18.67 $87,819
18 Taneytown 18.67 $75,167
19 Brunswick 19.33 $96,659
20 Hampstead 20.0 $80,385
21 Ocean City 20.33 $58,563
22 Laurel 20.33 $85,615
23 Gaithersburg 20.33 $98,089
24 Frederick 22.33 $82,563
25 Aberdeen 23.0 $70,885
26 Mount Rainier 24.0 $59,268
27 New Carrollton 24.67 $73,629
28 Westminster 26.0 $65,816
29 Bel Air 26.67 $64,036
30 Greenbelt 28.67 $75,832
31 Cheste 30.33 $44,665
32 College Park 30.67 $69,736
33 Bladensburg 31.33 $54,208
34 District Heights 32.67 $69,099
35 Elkton 33.0 $57,682
36 Fruitland 34.67 $56,150
37 Baltimore 35.0 $54,124
38 Cumberland 37.33 $43,699
39 Salisbury 38.0 $48,310
40 Cambridge 38.33 $40,094
41 Hagerstown 38.67 $42,965
42 Frostburg 39.0 $44,327

How Is The Area In ?

Editor’s Note: Data has been updated for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the richest cities in Maryland.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.