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%

Potomac$8,060/mo

Typical home $1.35M (Zillow) · tax rate 0.86%+ · or rent about $2,887/mo · Housing →

Annapolis$3,800/mo

Typical home $625K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.01% · or rent about $1,860/mo · Housing →

The difference: $4,260 a month, about $51,100 a year, between Potomac and Annapolis.

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; “+” means the Census top-codes that town’s bill at $10,000, so its real rate is higher.

Report cards

Potomac places higher on 14 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

–PotomacNot graded DAnnapolisSafer than 11% of U.S. towns

Schools

B+PotomacBetter than 72% of districts in the state BAnnapolisBetter than 56% of districts in the state

Health

A+PotomacHealthier than 99% of U.S. towns A−AnnapolisHealthier than 83% of U.S. towns

14Potomac

6Annapolis

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

Best schoolsSchools · 235 towns #5#189 Most conserved landOutdoors · 260 towns #32#204 Most walkableOutdoors · 261 towns #178#26 Fewest uninsuredHealth · 262 towns #1#149 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 262 towns #37#180 Most trailsOutdoors · 190 towns #26#124 Highest incomeIncome · 262 towns #4#126 Lowest obesityHealth · 262 towns #2#108

Left end = #1 in Maryland. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Potomac’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

PotomacAnnapolis

Snow a year6″19″

January low26°F 25°F

July high88°F 89°F

Growing season (days)202d 204d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)8th 1st

Outdoors & history

PotomacAnnapolis

Trails53 mi 4 mi

Conserved land20.2%3.9%

Settled—1649

National Register places3 24

Archive photos12 12

Famous people born here21 56

Community

PotomacAnnapolis

Library hours a week61 hrs 57 hrs

Colleges in town—2

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

37 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

PotomacMD AnnapolisMD

Potomac ↔ Annapolis37 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

PotomacAnnapolis

People

Population 45,902Highest 40,720Lowest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +4.6%Lowest MD: +7% +6.3%Highest MD: +7%

Median age 47.4±1.1Highest 20% above MD 43±2Lowest 9% above MD

Kids under 18 23.3%±1.5Highest MD: 22.2% 20.3%±2.2Lowest MD: 22.2%

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

Age 65+ 24.2%±1.2Highest MD: 16.7% 20.4%±1.8Lowest MD: 16.7%

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 84.9%Highest MD: 43.4% 53.8%Lowest MD: 43.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 5.2%±1Highest MD: 6.9% 5%±0.8Lowest MD: 6.9%

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

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $236,675±$16kHighest 128% above MD $113,860±$6kLowest 10% above MD

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $1,157,000±$21kHighest 176% above MD $548,900±$33kLowest 31% above MD

Rentmedian gross, monthly $2,887±$342Highest 69% above MD $1,860±$109Lowest 9% above MD

Property taxmedian, yearly $10,000+Highest at least 144% above MD $5,523Lowest 35% above MD

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 46.1%±8.8Lowest MD: 51.5% 48.9%±6.2Highest MD: 51.5%

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

Below poverty line 3.9%Lowest MD: 9.4% 7.8%Highest MD: 9.4%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 84.8%Highest MD: 67.6% 62%Lowest MD: 67.6%

Typical home builtmedian year 1977Highest 2 yrs older than MD 1975Lowest 4 yrs older than MD

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 30 minHighest 5% below MD 30 minLowest 5% below MD

Work from home 38.3%±3.3Highest MD: 19.3% 21%±2.4Lowest MD: 19.3%

Work in townworking residents 7.9%Lowest 18.8%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 10.3 miLowest 17.3 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 1.54Lowest 1.56Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Washington (18%)Parole (12%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in AnnapolisFew work in Potomac

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 20.2%Highest 3.9%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 52.5 miHighest 4.3 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 2.0 miHighest 0.5 miLowest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 28Highest 6Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 52.0Lowest 131Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #5 of 235 in MD #189 of 235 in MD

School district Montgomery County Public SchoolsAnne Arundel County Public Schools

High school in town Winston Churchill HighPhoenix Academy

Students per teacherat that high school 18.3Highest 1.7Lowest

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.

Potomac neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Potomac’s Town Square.

Annapolis neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Annapolis’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside Potomac and Annapolis

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Potomac

+ Compare

Travilah11,721 people · $1.33M homes

+ Compare

McLean, VA49,627 people · $1.41M homes

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Great Falls, VA15,228 people · $1.41M homes

+ Compare

Rockville67,671 people · $682K homes

Towns like Potomac

+ Compare

Bowie57,926 people · $459K homes

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Gaithersburg69,825 people · $497K homes

+ Compare

Frederick83,395 people · $402K homes

+ Compare

Hyattsville20,966 people · $482K homes

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.

Potomac vs Annapolis

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $4,260 more a month in Potomac

Potomac places higher on 14 of 21 MD lists

What daily life feels like in each

37 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Potomac and Annapolis

Bordering Potomac

Towns like Potomac

Post to Potomac

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