Urbana, Maryland

Area Profile

14,260 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Urbana, in Frederick County.

72out of 100
Area Score
Top 9% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 37% of 4,199 cities measured62
SchoolsTop 8% of 4,162 cities measured83
Growth3,370th of 4,224 cities measured34
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 4,218 cities measured85
Climate2,184th of 4,225 cities measured70
Physical resilienceTop 13% of 4,226 cities measured89
Access2,944th of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stabilityTop 1% of 4,226 cities measured86
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.5% and median household income $182,500, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Frederick County, MD, which contains Urbana, rather than for Urbana alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 73% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 8% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,025 units authorized over the past twelve months, 32% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Frederick County, MD, which contains Urbana, rather than for Urbana 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
14,260
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$182,500
Top 2% nationally
Density
1,835/sq mi
7.8 sq mi of land
Median age
38.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Maryland
Nearest major airport
IAD
27 mi · Washington Dulles Intl
Median home value
$640,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Frederick County, MD, which contains Urbana, is 3.5%, lower than in 81% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Frederick County, MD, which contains Urbana, fell 2.3% over the past year, to 149,856 employed residents.

66% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $182,500 is higher than in 98% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsFrederick County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$91,95876th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftFrederick County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$80,36465th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$25,6052024 ACS 5-Year$182,500Top 2%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,3102024 ACS 5-Year$66,096Top 7%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%Top 10%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year35.6 minBottom 15%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year66.0%Top 5%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year61.5%14th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentFrederick County, MD’s figureJuly 2026149,856Top 37%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Frederick County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−4.0%Bottom 7%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Frederick County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−2.3%Bottom 16%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceFrederick County, MD’s figureJuly 2026155,33663rd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year87.2%Top 17%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 ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%78th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Frederick County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 38%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateFrederick County, MD’s figureJuly 20263.5%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year30.6%95th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024183k169k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $182,500 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 publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Frederick County, MD, which contains this city.

73% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 76% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.4 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
72.5%
Top 1% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
75.9%
Top 2% in Maryland
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Urbana HighFrederick County Public Schools1,98920.184%83%
Oakdale HighFrederick County Public Schools1,70219.679%84%
Oakdale ElementaryFrederick County Public Schools1,16716.764%52%
Urbana MiddleFrederick County Public Schools1,09017.670%79%
Oakdale MiddleFrederick County Public Schools1,08517.859%76%
Sugarloaf ElementaryFrederick County Public Schools84519.2——
Windsor Knolls MiddleFrederick County Public Schools81217.758%71%
Urbana ElementaryFrederick County Public Schools73618.476%73%
Centerville ElementaryFrederick County Public Schools47116.278%82%

16.9% 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 Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda, MD Metropolitan Division is up 29% over five years, and up 1.3% 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 $6,942 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 $2,870, some 8% above the $2,649 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,870 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $114,800 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $182,500.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $2,649 a month.

A median home at $640,100 costs 3.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $200,288, 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
23.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,870
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$2,649
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$640,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Urbana’s median household income of $182,500, 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 Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda, MD Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+1.3%26th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda, MD Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+29.4%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda, MD Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+56.6%5th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.2Bottom 30%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year80.3%59th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3152024 ACS 5-Year4,45887th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$2,570Bottom 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$3,620Bottom 9%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,870Bottom 8%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$982024 ACS 5-Year$2,649Bottom 2%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,8212024 ACS 5-Year$640,10093rd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3492024 ACS 5-Year$6,94296th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$17,6612024 ACS 5-Year$200,288Top 2%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 ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.4%Top 26%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±212024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%18th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±652024 ACS 5-Year5452nd 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

34/ 100
Ranks 3,370 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 1,025 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 16% are in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Frederick County, MD, which contains Urbana, rather than for Urbana alone.

Federal tax returns show Frederick County, which contains Urbana, gained about 1.0% 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 $91,958, above the $80,364 of households that moved out.

At 3.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Frederick County, MD, which contains Urbana, rather than for Urbana alone.

Units permitted
1,025
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.6
Top 39% nationally
Year over year
−32%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
16.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
43%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$91,958
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$80,364
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Montgomery County, MD 4,543 people · 29% of arrivals
  2. Washington County, MD 895 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  3. Howard County, MD 778 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. Baltimore County, MD 568 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  5. Carroll County, MD 562 people · 3.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Washington County, MD 1,711 people · 13% of departures
  2. Montgomery County, MD 1,492 people · 11% of departures
  3. Carroll County, MD 640 people · 4.9% of departures
  4. Berkeley County, WV 367 people · 2.8% of departures
  5. Howard County, MD 302 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 Frederick 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 Urbana, MD is not one. This is the figure for Frederick 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 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.9 inches, including 31.4 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DAMASCUS 3 SSW, 7.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year642024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals47.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals31.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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

89 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 65% 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 87% of measured US cities.

LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

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

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.

Frederick County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.4 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 5.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 7.2 per 100,000 residents in Frederick County.

Homicide
2.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
5.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
7.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
9.5
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 Urbana (Frederick County) rather than Urbana 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Washington Dulles Intl at 27 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year98.4%Top 12%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle27 miBottom 32%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%Top 17%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Washington Dulles IntlIAD27 mi11,500 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI37 mi10,503 ft
Harrisburg IntlMDT67 mi10,001 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
72
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—

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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 Urbana
ArlingtonArlington County236,25473Arlington vs Urbana
AlexandriaAlexandria city156,97660Alexandria vs Urbana
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 Urbana side by side with a similar place.

Urbana vs LinganoreUrbana vs Wyndham

Moving to Urbana 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 Urbana

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Urbana 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 Urbana 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
2170420,006$161,063$612,00071
217548,156$182,188$647,300—