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Place dossier plate
SheetMD-SMITHSBURG-MD · Smithsburg, MD 3,069 pop · income 67th 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 Smithsburg
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Smithsburg on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
George West · lowest
47,402
George West · lowest
47,402 median HH income
20.2% of the leader · rank #1
Jenison · near
86,063
Jenison · near
86,063 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #2
Alondra Park · near
86,064
Alondra Park · near
86,064 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #3
Lorane · near
86,064
Lorane · near
86,064 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #4
Smithsburg · this city
86,065
Smithsburg · this city
86,065 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #5
Fairview CDP… · near
86,071
Fairview CDP… · near
86,071 median HH income
36.7% of the leader · rank #6
Monrovia · highest
234,712
Monrovia · highest
234,712 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Smithsburg on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 3,069.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Smithsburg - the verdict
Smithsburg ranks in the 67th percentile for household income and the 84th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
67th
percentile, household income
67th
percentile, home value
84th
percentile, median rent
84th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Smithsburg, MD
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 3,069 residents in Smithsburg, a small town within Maryland. Median household income here is $86,065 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 17.6%. Home values in Smithsburg run a median of $317,600, and the median resident age is 34.2 years. About 22.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 65.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 3 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 200% from five years earlier. Smithsburg reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 530.4 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 52.3°F.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,657 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Maryland's average monthly utility costs around $255 (state average). 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 Smithsburg'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to schools and households to population change to reported crime to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Smithsburg, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Smithsburg?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 88.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Smithsburg?
Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Andrews AFB (3,075 residents, $91,905 income); Maugansville (3,057 residents, $75,840 income); Konterra (3,212 residents, $144,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mountain View, NC (3,068 residents); Monument Beach, MA (3,067 residents); Turnersville, NJ (3,071 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What physical conditions frame life in Smithsburg?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 52.3°F. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Maryland is 60.2 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
What does the education layer cover for Smithsburg?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 22.9% 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 city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
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.
Population change
Is Smithsburg 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 +220 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +7.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 3 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+7.4%
2025 estimate
3,212
2020 estimate
2,992
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Smithsburg?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 530.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 77% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
468.0
Violent rate
62.4
Total reported rate
530.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Smithsburg?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.6%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$86,065
Home value
$317,600
Value / income
3.7×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 17.6% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maryland average
D
City profile score · Smithsburg, MD
47/100
5 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.
Violent crime A-
62 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B-
$86,065
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
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.
Poverty rate F
17.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Smithsburg profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 80/100 (A-) · 62 /100k
Household income: 65/100 (B-) · $86,065
Bachelor's+ share: 43/100 (D) · 22.9%
Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index
Poverty rate: 18/100 (F) · 17.6%
Where Smithsburg sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Smithsburg's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Smithsburg highlighted among 22 peers.Read the chart values
Smithsburg, MD (this city): home $317,600, crime 530/100k
George West, TX : home $133,400, crime 1,431/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Smithsburg compare to other US cities?
Where Smithsburg sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income67% higher than other cities
Home value67% pricier than other cities
Median rent84% pricier than other cities
Safety84% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Maryland and the picture shifts: Smithsburg ranks #9 of 70 Maryland cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Smithsburg 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 Smithsburg near the bottom of Maryland's cities
Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Smithsburg ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Smithsburg only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#286 of 445
36th percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#285 of 450
37th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#46 of 479
90th percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#330 of 479
30th 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
67th percentile nationally for median household income · 84th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Smithsburg's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Smithsburg's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Smithsburg's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$317,60033rd percentilemore affordable than 33% 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
Smithsburg's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,689 of 15,516
More affordable than 38% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,710 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.7×, Smithsburg sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,689 of 15,516 and #7,710 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$86,065Smithsburg, MD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Smithsburg, 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 Smithsburg, MD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,069
Median Income
$86,065
Median Home Value
$317,600
Median Age
34.2
Poverty Rate
17.6%
Labor force participation
65.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
530.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
62.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
468.0
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
52.3°F
Annual Precipitation
N/A
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Smithsburg's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,992 residents
2021
3,082 residents
2022
3,120 residents
2023
3,161 residents
2024
3,202 residents
2025
3,212 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
3
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
35
35
0
$8.2M
2021
18
18
0
$3.6M
2022
18
18
0
$3.8M
2023
7
7
0
$2.6M
2024
3
3
0
$1.1M
Permit volume increased 200% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
88.3%
Carpool
3.4%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
1.1%
Work from Home
6.9%
Based on 1,469 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 Smithsburg. 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 Smithsburg 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 Smithsburg sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Smithsburg 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.