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Place dossier plate
SheetMD-COLLEGE-PARK-MD · College Park, MD 34,397 pop · income 56th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around College Park
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest College Park on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Meridian · lowest
34,657
Meridian · lowest
34,657 median HH income
24.0% of the leader · rank #1
Vernon Center · near
74,853
Vernon Center · near
74,853 median HH income
51.8% of the leader · rank #2
Duanesburg · near
74,853
Duanesburg · near
74,853 median HH income
51.8% of the leader · rank #3
College Park · this city
74,867
College Park · this city
74,867 median HH income
51.8% of the leader · rank #4
St. Augustine… · near
74,873
St. Augustine… · near
74,873 median HH income
51.8% of the leader · rank #5
Northfield · near
74,875
Northfield · near
74,875 median HH income
51.8% of the leader · rank #6
Pleasant Hill · highest
144,513
Pleasant Hill · highest
144,513 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for College Park on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 34,397.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, College Park lands in the 56th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
56th
percentile, household income
80th
percentile, home value
84th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: College Park, MD
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 34,397 residents in College Park, a small city within Maryland. College Park households earn a median of $74,867 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.1%. Typical homes in College Park are valued around $429,000, and the median resident age is 21.6 years. About 49.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 51.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Maryland carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 105.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,657 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Maryland run around $255, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for College Park workers runs 20.6 minutes, with 48.2% driving alone and 15.5% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 60.2 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of College Park's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to schools and households to population change to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For College Park, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in College Park?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
What does the education layer cover for College Park?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 49.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Is College Park growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +683 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.0% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for College Park?
Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Pikesville (34,253 residents, $97,218 income); Montgomery (34,161 residents, $96,487 income); Chillum (35,163 residents, $78,513 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dalton, GA (34,402 residents); Valparaiso, IN (34,377 residents); Goshen, IN (34,374 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in College Park?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 48.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 20.6 minutes.
Public transit
6.9%
Work from home
15.5%
Drive alone
48.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 15,876 workers age 16+.
Above median income · poverty 8.1% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maryland average
D
City profile score · College Park, MD
49/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A-
49.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C-
$74,867
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
105.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
College Park profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 83/100 (A-) · 49.4%
Household income: 54/100 (C-) · $74,867
Poverty rate: 47/100 (D) · 8.1%
Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index
How does College Park compare to other US cities?
Where College Park sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income56% higher than other cities
Home value80% pricier than other cities
Median rent84% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares College Park against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Maryland only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Maryland-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places College Park near the bottom of Maryland's cities
Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, College Park ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares College Park only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#332 of 445
25th percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#163 of 450
64th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#118 of 479
75th percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#119 of 479
75th percentile in Maryland
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Maryland only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
56th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How College Park's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$429,00020th percentilemore affordable than 20% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
College Park's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,839 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,890 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.7×, College Park sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,839 of 15,516 and #2,890 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$74,867College Park, MD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context College Park, MD median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for College Park, MD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)49.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
34,397
Median Income
$74,867
Median Home Value
$429,000
Median Age
21.6
Poverty Rate
8.1%
Labor force participation
51.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
49.4%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
College Park's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
34,735 residents
2021
34,484 residents
2022
34,388 residents
2023
34,453 residents
2024
34,694 residents
2025
35,418 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
20.6 minutes
Drive Alone
48.2%
Carpool
8.7%
Public Transit
6.9%
Walk
15.3%
Work from Home
15.5%
Other
5.4%
Based on 15,876 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Maryland statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $255
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Maryland at $255 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Maryland statewide averages, not a meter reading for College Park. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Maryland's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around College Park is $1,657/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Maryland statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 60.2 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Maryland statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county College Park sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How College Park compares to similar-size Maryland cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.