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Place dossier plate
SheetMD-WILLARDS-MD · Willards, MD 1,273 pop · income 53rd 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 Willards
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Willards on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Griggsville · lowest
37,457
Griggsville · lowest
37,457 median HH income
26.1% of the leader · rank #1
Ellsworth · near
72,609
Ellsworth · near
72,609 median HH income
50.6% of the leader · rank #2
Grovetown · near
72,612
Grovetown · near
72,612 median HH income
50.6% of the leader · rank #3
Willards · this city
72,614
Willards · this city
72,614 median HH income
50.6% of the leader · rank #4
Dover · near
72,616
Dover · near
72,616 median HH income
50.6% of the leader · rank #5
Arkansaw · near
72,617
Arkansaw · near
72,617 median HH income
50.6% of the leader · rank #6
Keedysville · highest
143,611
Keedysville · highest
143,611 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 Willards 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: 1,273.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Willards lands in the 53rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
53rd
percentile, household income
42nd
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: Willards, MD
1,273 people live in Willards, Maryland - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Willards report a median income of $72,614 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 17.0%. Willards's housing stock carries a median value of $196,800, and the median resident age is 40.3 years. About 15.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 65.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 5 residential building permits were authorized in Willards (Building Boom), up 150% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Maryland carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Maryland scores 105.0 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,657 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $255 across Maryland, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 60.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Willards'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Willards, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Willards?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.0%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Willards?
Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Rock Hall (1,286 residents, $68,906 income); Hebron (1,297 residents, $75,625 income); Keedysville (1,243 residents, $143,611 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Wiscasset, ME (1,273 residents); Lightstreet, PA (1,273 residents); Litchfield, CT (1,274 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Willards?
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 90.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Is Willards 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 +53 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 5 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Willards?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 15.7% 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.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
15.7%
Poverty estimate
17.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 17.0% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maryland average
F
City profile score · Willards, MD
30/100
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.
Household income C-
$72,614
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.7%
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
17.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Willards profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 52/100 (C-) · $72,614
Bachelor's+ share: 22/100 (F) · 15.7%
Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 17.0%
How does Willards compare to other US cities?
Willards measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income53% higher than other cities
Home value42% 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 Willards 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 Willards near the bottom of Maryland's cities
Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Willards ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Willards only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#342 of 445
23rd percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#397 of 450
12th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#49 of 479
90th percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#396 of 479
17th 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
53rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Willards's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$196,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 58% 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
Willards's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,082 of 15,516
More affordable than 67% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,455 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7×, Willards sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,082 of 15,516 and #4,455 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$72,614Willards, MD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Willards, 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 Willards, MD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,273
Median Income
$72,614
Median Home Value
$196,800
Median Age
40.3
Poverty Rate
17.0%
Labor force participation
65.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.7%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Willards's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
965 residents
2021
970 residents
2022
993 residents
2023
991 residents
2024
1,009 residents
2025
1,018 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
5
housing units authorized
Single-Family
5
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
2
2
0
$0.2M
2020
3
3
0
$0.4M
2021
7
7
0
$0.9M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
7
7
0
$1.1M
2024
5
5
0
$0.8M
Permit volume increased 150% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.9%
Carpool
3.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
4.2%
Other
1.0%
Based on 618 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 Willards. 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 Willards 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 Willards sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Willards 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 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.