A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Mount Rainier$2,800/mo

Typical home $451K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.17% · or rent about $1,457/mo · Housing →

Cambridge$1,590/mo

Typical home $262K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.01% · or rent about $1,058/mo · Housing →

The difference: $1,210 a month, about $14,500 a year, between Mount Rainier and Cambridge.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Mount Rainier places higher on 12 of 21 MD lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Maryland ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

DMount RainierSafer than 9% of U.S. towns DCambridgeSafer than 6% of U.S. towns

Schools

DMount RainierBetter than 8% of districts in the state DCambridgeBetter than 12% of districts in the state

Health

BMount RainierHealthier than 57% of U.S. towns DCambridgeHealthier than 7% of U.S. towns

12Mount Rainier

9Cambridge

Lists won, of 21 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Lowest property taxCost of living · 259 towns #232#20 Most walkableOutdoors · 261 towns #1#211 Rent easiest to affordCost of living · 92 towns #13#85 Most affordableCost of living · 259 towns #195#23 Most remote workersWork · 256 towns #118#239 Fewest smokersHealth · 262 towns #127#249 Shortest commuteGetting around · 262 towns #135#19 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 262 towns #92#205

Left end = #1 in Maryland. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Mount Rainier’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

Mount RainierCambridge

Snow a year6″14″

January low26°F 29°F

July high88°F 88°F

Growing season (days)202d 220d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)85th 13th

Outdoors & history

Mount RainierCambridge

Trails0 mi 8 mi

Conserved land5.8%10.4%

Settled1910 1793

National Register places1 11

Archive photos—10

Famous people born here—23

Community

Mount RainierCambridge

Library hours a week44 hrs 42 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

55 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

Mount RainierMD CambridgeMD

Mount Rainier ↔ Cambridge55 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Maryland average

Mount RainierCambridge

People

Population 8,245Lowest 13,152Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +3.1%Lowest MD: +7% +6.2%Highest MD: +7%

Median age 40.1±3.6Highest about the MD average 39.4±2.2Lowest about the MD average

Mount Rainier and Cambridge are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 23.3%±4.9Highest MD: 22.2% 21.7%±2.8Lowest MD: 22.2%

Mount Rainier and Cambridge are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 15.5%±4.1Lowest MD: 16.7% 21.1%±2.5Highest MD: 16.7%

Cambridge and Mount Rainier are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 37.9%Highest MD: 43.4% 20.1%Lowest MD: 43.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 4.6%±2.5Highest MD: 6.9% 4.1%±1.6Lowest MD: 6.9%

Mount Rainier and Cambridge are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $68,505±$5kHighest 34% below MD $47,323±$8kLowest 54% below MD

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $529,600±$44kHighest 26% above MD $257,900±$19kLowest 39% below MD

Rentmedian gross, monthly $1,457±$63Highest 15% below MD $1,058±$93Lowest 38% below MD

Property taxmedian, yearly $6,173Highest 51% above MD $2,617Lowest 36% below MD

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 44.2%±9Lowest MD: 51.5% 63.2%±9.4Highest MD: 51.5%

Below poverty line 6.3%Lowest MD: 9.4% 26.4%Highest MD: 9.4%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 23.5%Lowest MD: 67.6% 41.1%Highest MD: 67.6%

Typical home builtmedian year 1958Lowest 21 yrs older than MD 1970Highest 9 yrs older than MD

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 32 minHighest about the MD average 24 minLowest 24% below MD

Work from home 18.6%±3.8Highest MD: 19.3% 6.9%±2.8Lowest MD: 19.3%

Work in townworking residents 1.1%Lowest 25.6%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 4.3 miLowest 19.8 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.17Lowest 1.12Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Washington (44%)Easton (10%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in CambridgeFew work in Mount Rainier

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 5.8%Lowest 10.4%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 0.1 miLowest 7.7 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.2 miLowest 0.6 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 2Lowest 10Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 228Highest 38.7Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #224 of 235 in MD #180 of 235 in MD

School district Prince George's County Public SchoolsDorchester County Public Schools

High school in town None in townCambridge-South Dorchester High School

Students per teacherat that high school — 16.7

Maryland average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Mount Rainier neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Mount Rainier’s Town Square.

Cambridge neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Cambridge’s Town Square.

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Bordering Mount Rainier

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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Mount Rainier vs Cambridge

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $1,210 more a month in Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier places higher on 12 of 21 MD lists

What daily life feels like in each

55 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Mount Rainier and Cambridge

Bordering Mount Rainier

Towns like Mount Rainier

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