Allegany County, MD

County Profile

67,452 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Allegany County, MD.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 26% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1169th of 1,255 counties measured27
Schools533rd of 973 counties measured47
Growth1139th of 1,226 counties measured22
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 1,255 counties measured100
ClimateTop 48% of 1,254 counties measured69
Physical resilienceTop 14% of 1,255 counties measured85
Access1010th of 1,255 counties measured63
Economic stability1165th of 1,255 counties measured27
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 5.3% and the Opportunity signal places Allegany County in the bottom 7%.

In the public schools here, 11% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.2 students for every teacher.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published profiles, placing Allegany County in the top 14% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
67,452
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$59,603
Bottom 34% nationally
Density
160/sq mi
422.2 sq mi of land
Median age
41.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Allegany County
Maryland
Metro area
Cumberland, MD-WV
Nearest major airport
LBE
59 mi · Arnold Palmer Rgnl
Median home value
$154,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.3% is lower than 15% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 0.9% over the past year, to 22,924 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,750$59,603Bottom 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$885$31,210Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income$49,414Bottom 20%of 1,2062023
Poverty rate16.9%Top 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.8 minBottom 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher21.1%Bottom 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment22,924Bottom 29%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-5.7%Bottom 4%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.9%Bottom 43%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force24,207Bottom 30%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation49.8%Bottom 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.6%Bottom 12%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate5.3%Top 15%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/067.53.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.3% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202460k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $59,603 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

11% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 21% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.2 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
22
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
11.4%
Bottom 41% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
20.7%
Bottom 35% in Maryland
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Mountain Ridge High SchoolAllegany County Public Schools74316.5
Allegany HighAllegany County Public Schools71916.0
Fort Hill HighAllegany County Public Schools65515.6
Washington MiddleAllegany County Public Schools57713.73%17%
Braddock MiddleAllegany County Public Schools53612.88%27%
South Penn ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools49110.49%14%
Beall ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools41513.019%30%
Mount Savage MiddleAllegany County Public Schools40812.43%22%
West Side ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools32111.921%28%
Center for Career & Technical EducationAllegany County Public Schools30011.5
Northeast ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools27214.315%15%
George's Creek ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools27213.68%12%

58.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Maryland’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $805 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.6 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
16.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$805
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$154,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.60Bottom 33%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.7%Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6332,720Top 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$41$805Bottom 36%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,969$154,900Bottom 33%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.2%Bottom 40%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.3%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
22/ 100
Ranks 1139 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2022 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 67,097 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
32
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.5
Bottom 6% nationally
Year over year
−9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202468k67k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
20222023202420253316
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+38%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 39.2 inches, including 28.7 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CUMBERLAND 2, 3.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation39.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall28.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

85 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and drought.

LandslideModerate
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, inland flooding, winter weather, heat wave, hail, avalanche, lightning, earthquake, ice storm, tornado, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Allegany County records 6.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 31.2 per 100,000 residents in Allegany County.

Homicide
6.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
31.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
20.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Allegany County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Allegany County rather than Allegany County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 59 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Arnold Palmer RgnlLBE59 mi8,222 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD81 mi11,500 ft
Pittsburgh IntlPIT101 mi11,500 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
56
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

Cities in Allegany County, MD