Ocean Pines, Maryland

Area Profile

12,351 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Ocean Pines, in Worcester County.

68out of 100
Area Score
Top 21% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 12 sources
OpportunityTop 8% of 4,199 cities measured80
SchoolsTop 2% of 4,162 cities measured91
Growth2,551st of 4,224 cities measured45
Housing affordability3,549th of 4,218 cities measured45
ClimateTop 39% of 4,225 cities measured72
Physical resilienceTop 43% of 4,226 cities measured64
Access3,794th of 4,226 cities measured69
Economic stabilityTop 35% of 4,226 cities measured65
The quick read

Ocean Pines ranks in the top 8% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.6% and median household income of $91,824. The unemployment rate is published for Worcester County, MD, which contains Ocean Pines, rather than for Ocean Pines alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 61% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 2% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 206 units authorized over the past twelve months, 35% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Worcester County, MD, which contains Ocean Pines, rather than for Ocean Pines 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
12,351
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$91,824
Top 23% nationally
Density
1,907/sq mi
6.5 sq mi of land
Median age
62.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Maryland
Micro area
Nearest major airport
DOV
54 mi · Dover AFB
Median home value
$380,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Worcester County, MD, which contains Ocean Pines, is 3.6%, lower than in 77% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Worcester County, MD, which contains Ocean Pines, grew 1.6% over the past year, to 29,460 employed residents.

40% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 82% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWorcester County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$90,07375th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWorcester County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$75,69057th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,3632024 ACS 5-Year$91,824Top 23%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,9282024 ACS 5-Year$53,755Top 14%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%Top 25%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.4 minBottom 46%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year40.4%Top 18%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year73.0%36th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWorcester County, MD’s figureJuly 202629,460Bottom 35%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Worcester County, MD’s figureJuly 2026+1.5%Top 25%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Worcester County, MD’s figureJuly 2026+1.6%Top 12%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceWorcester County, MD’s figureJuly 202630,57634th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%Bottom 44%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%77th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Worcester County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 38%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateWorcester County, MD’s figureJuly 20263.6%Top 23%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year17.2%81st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202492k81k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $91,824 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Worcester County, MD, which contains this city.

61% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 72% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.7 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
61.1%
Top 6% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
71.8%
Top 4% in Maryland
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Stephen Decatur HighWorcester County Public Schools1,46217.463%81%
Stephen Decatur MiddleWorcester County Public Schools66512.857%73%
Showell ElementaryWorcester County Public Schools63811.672%67%
Berlin IntermediateWorcester County Public Schools61312.053%62%
Buckingham ElementaryWorcester County Public Schools51812.057%62%

44.0% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland is up 46% over five years, and up 5.3% 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 $2,571 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.68% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,194, below the $2,069 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,194 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,800 a year, about 52% of the median household income here of $91,824.

The typical renter household here spends 39% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $2,069 a month.

A median home at $380,100 costs 4.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,364, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
38.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,194
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$2,069
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$380,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Ocean Pines’s median household income of $91,824, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland’s figure2026 Q2+5.3%81st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland’s figure2026 Q2+46.0%66th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland’s figure2026 Q2+90.3%47th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.0Bottom 17%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year90.5%79th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3592024 ACS 5-Year9,00093rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,035Top 25%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,661Top 27%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,194Top 21%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1882024 ACS 5-Year$2,069Bottom 7%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,2562024 ACS 5-Year$380,10081st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$972024 ACS 5-Year$2,57167th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,1132024 ACS 5-Year$94,364Top 32%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.68%27th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year38.5%Bottom 13%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3002024 ACS 5-Year2,96499th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year32.9%96th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.2%22nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2992024 ACS 5-Year3,16499th 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.

Development Momentum

45/ 100
Ranks 2,551 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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 206 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Worcester County, MD, which contains Ocean Pines, rather than for Ocean Pines alone.

Federal tax returns show Worcester County, which contains Ocean Pines, gained about 0.5% 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 $90,073, above the $75,690 of households that moved out.

At 3.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Worcester County, MD, which contains Ocean Pines, rather than for Ocean Pines alone.

Units permitted
206
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.8
Top 37% nationally
Year over year
−35%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
48%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$90,073
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$75,690
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Wicomico County, MD 526 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Sussex County, DE 217 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  3. Baltimore County, MD 186 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  4. Anne Arundel County, MD 168 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  5. Accomack County, VA 118 people · 3.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Wicomico County, MD 638 people · 21% of departures
  2. Sussex County, DE 349 people · 12% of departures
  3. Somerset County, MD 108 people · 3.6% of departures
  4. Baltimore County, MD 87 people · 2.9% of departures
  5. Anne Arundel County, MD 69 people · 2.3% 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 Worcester 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 Ocean Pines, MD is not one. This is the figure for Worcester 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 84°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 42.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station OCEAN CITY MUNI AP, 5.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals42.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

64 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and coastal flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 41% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneHigh
Coastal floodingHigh

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

Violent crime
24
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
196
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Ocean Pines's police department reported 24 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 196.

Worcester County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 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 24.0 per 100,000 residents in Worcester County.

Homicide
3.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
24.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
12.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Ocean Pines’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 Ocean Pines (Worcester County) rather than Ocean Pines itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Dover AFB at 54 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year93.1%Top 34%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle54 miBottom 10%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%Top 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dover AFBDOV54 mi9,602 ft
Atlantic City IntlACY80 mi10,001 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI98 mi10,503 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
68
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
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
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 Ocean Pines

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Ocean Pines with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Ocean Pines closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
2181124,377$90,082$388,900—