Fort Washington, Maryland

Area Profile

25,134 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Fort Washington, in Prince George's County.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 32% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity3,219th of 4,199 cities measured43
Schools3,585th of 4,162 cities measured21
Growth3,819th of 4,224 cities measured25
Housing affordabilityTop 50% of 4,218 cities measured67
ClimateTop 42% of 4,225 cities measured72
Physical resilienceTop 30% of 4,226 cities measured76
Access2,916th of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stabilityTop 19% of 4,226 cities measured72
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Fort Washington in the bottom 23%. The unemployment rate is published for Prince George's County, MD, which contains Fort Washington, rather than for Fort Washington alone.

In the public schools here, 16% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.4 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,873 units authorized over the past twelve months, 30% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Prince George's County, MD, which contains Fort Washington, rather than for Fort Washington alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
25,134
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$143,333
Top 5% nationally
Density
1,822/sq mi
13.8 sq mi of land
Median age
45.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
Nearest major airport
IAD
28 mi · Washington Dulles Intl
Median home value
$480,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Prince George's County, MD, which contains Fort Washington, is 4.7% — higher than in all but 36% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Prince George's County, MD, which contains Fort Washington, fell 3.6% over the past year, to 470,870 employed residents.

43% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 84% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $143,333 is higher than in 95% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsPrince George's County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,52824th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftPrince George's County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$63,49031st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$10,4402024 ACS 5-Year$143,333Top 5%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,4672024 ACS 5-Year$58,044Top 11%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%Top 26%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year41.8 minBottom 6%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year43.0%Top 16%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year65.9%20th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentPrince George's County, MD’s figureJuly 2026470,870Top 17%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Prince George's County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−5.7%Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Prince George's County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−3.6%Bottom 4%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forcePrince George's County, MD’s figureJuly 2026494,01383rd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year84.4%Top 26%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$91,930Top 6%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$71,060Top 8%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.4%93rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Prince George's County, MD’s figureJuly 20260.0%Bottom 45%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment ratePrince George's County, MD’s figureJuly 20264.7%Bottom 36%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year19.1%84th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024146k128k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $143,333 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.

Largest occupations — Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers112,530$156,460
Business Operations Specialists, All Other76,600$104,770
Software Developers69,060$154,930
Retail Salespersons66,920$36,610
Management Analysts62,360$126,830
Fast Food and Counter Workers60,560$34,600

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a labor-market series for this place — true of a consolidated city-county, a city and county sharing one government, or a Puerto Rico municipio, regardless of population. This is the figure for Prince George's County, MD, which contains this city.

16% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 31% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.4 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
15.7%
Bottom 6% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
31.4%
Bottom 14% in Maryland
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Colin L Powell AcademyPrince George's County Public Schools1,66116.1——
Friendly HighPrince George's County Public Schools89414.717%52%
Oxon Hill MiddlePrince George's County Public Schools77313.18%22%
Tayac ElementaryPrince George's County Public Schools45913.522%17%
Excel Academy Public Charter · charterPrince George's County Public Schools45417.518%28%
Fort Washington Forest ElemPrince George's County Public Schools32314.722%27%
Avalon ElementaryPrince George's County Public Schools30213.75%23%
Apple Grove ElementaryPrince George's County Public Schools27712.019%29%
Fort Foote ElementaryPrince George's County Public Schools27713.217%32%
J. Frank Dent ElementaryPrince George's County Public Schools24313.53%17%
Indian Queen ElementaryPrince George's County Public Schools23511.832%52%

74.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Maryland’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 109.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Washington, DC-MD Metropolitan Division is up 17% over five years, and up 0.5% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $5,175 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.08% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,010, below the $2,690 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,010 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $80,400 a year, about 56% of the median household income here of $143,333.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $2,690 a month.

A median home at $480,100 costs 3.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $145,639, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
109.5

Prices here run about 10% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,010
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$2,690
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$480,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Fort Washington’s median household income of $143,333, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area’s figure2023109.5Bottom 27%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Washington, DC-MD Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+0.5%11th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Washington, DC-MD Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+16.7%2nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Washington, DC-MD Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+52.2%3rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.3Bottom 28%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year91.3%81st percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5042024 ACS 5-Year8,89793rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,800Bottom 27%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,540Bottom 34%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,010Bottom 32%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$3422024 ACS 5-Year$2,690Bottom 2%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,8372024 ACS 5-Year$480,10088th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3172024 ACS 5-Year$5,17590th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$14,9052024 ACS 5-Year$145,639Top 7%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year1.08%57th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.3%Bottom 35%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±162024 ACS 5-Year963rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%32nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1742024 ACS 5-Year35786th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

25/ 100
Ranks 3,819 of 4,224 published city profiles

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.

Federal tax returns show Prince George's County, which contains Fort Washington, lost about 1.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,528, below the $63,490 of households that moved out.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Prince George's County, MD, which contains Fort Washington, rather than for Fort Washington alone.

Units permitted
1,873
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 40% nationally
Year over year
−30%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
20.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
60%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,528
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$63,490
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. District of Columbia, DC 6,849 people · 18% of arrivals
  2. Montgomery County, MD 6,334 people · 16% of arrivals
  3. Anne Arundel County, MD 2,647 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  4. Charles County, MD 2,057 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  5. Fairfax County, VA 1,799 people · 4.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Montgomery County, MD 6,486 people · 14% of departures
  2. District of Columbia, DC 5,786 people · 12% of departures
  3. Anne Arundel County, MD 4,672 people · 9.7% of departures
  4. Charles County, MD 4,002 people · 8.3% of departures
  5. Howard County, MD 2,399 people · 5.0% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Prince George's County, MD. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and Fort Washington, MD is not one. This is the figure for Prince George's County, MD, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.8 inches, including 13.7 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 39, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WASHINGTON REAGAN AP, 8.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year632024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals13.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year32024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year392024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
39
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
63
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

76 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 54% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 70% of measured US cities.

EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
LandslideModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

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

Prince George's County records 7.4 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 9.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.8 per 100,000 residents in Prince George's County.

Homicide
7.4
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
13.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
6.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Fort Washington (Prince George's County) rather than Fort Washington itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. Either no municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — or its department did not report every month of the year. Either way 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
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Washington Dulles Intl at 28 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year96.2%Top 19%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle28 miBottom 30%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year2.6%Top 22%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Washington Dulles IntlIAD28 mi11,500 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI36 mi10,503 ft
Richmond IntlRIC86 mi9,003 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
54
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Other cities in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia681,29468Washington vs Fort Washington
ArlingtonArlington County236,25473Arlington vs Fort Washington
AlexandriaAlexandria city156,97660Alexandria vs Fort Washington
GermantownMontgomery County90,71968
FrederickFrederick County83,39567
WaldorfCharles County82,94360
Silver SpringMontgomery County81,46268
CentrevilleFairfax County71,70667
Dale CityPrince William County71,01663
GaithersburgMontgomery County69,82568
BethesdaMontgomery County69,39770
RockvilleMontgomery County67,67170

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Fort Washington side by side with a similar place.

Fort Washington vs FriendlyFort Washington vs Clinton

Moving to Fort Washington from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Fort Washington

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Fort Washington with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
2074454,441$124,190$439,40054