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Cresaptown, Maryland

Cresaptown is an unincorporated community of about 5,100 people in Allegany County, Maryland. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 2.1 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Pittsburgh, is about 84 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
5,121
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$142,600
Allegany County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$68,370
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Maryland
93.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
7 miles
Cumberland, MD
To Pittsburgh
84 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.8% below the U.S. average in the parts of Maryland outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Frankfort High School, about 4 miles away.
  • A hospital close byWestern Maryland Regional Medical Center in Cumberland, about 7 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPittsburgh is about 84 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Cresaptown meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$142,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Allegany County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$68,370U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
94%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,360 a yearMaryland: $4,093
Homes built before 1940
17%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
5%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
93.2U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Maryland outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Maryland outside metro areas, not Cresaptown alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
5,121The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
38.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
10%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
5%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
12%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Transportation, warehousing and utilities (13%); government (10%)
Unemployment rate
0%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
3%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Western Maryland Regional Medical Center, Cumberland, MD, about 7 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Cresaptown, run by Allegany County Public Schools. The nearest public high school is Frankfort High School, about 4 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Maryland's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
93%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
94%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
22°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
37 a year
Nights at or below freezing
111 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.4 inches a year
Snow
31 inches a year
Elevation
787 feet

Weather stations: Cumberland 2 (5 miles away) and Cresaptown-bel Air 0.9 SSE (1 mile away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Western Maryland Regional Medical Center, Frederick, Pittsburgh.

Allegany County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park4 miles
  • Flight 93 National Memorial31 miles
  • Fort Necessity National Battlefield42 miles
  • Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park48 miles
  • Johnstown Flood National Memorial52 miles

Read about Cresaptown's history on Wikipedia.

Know Cresaptown?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Bel Air, MD (unincorporated)1,837 people, 1 mile
  • Potomac Park, MD (unincorporated)978 people, 2 miles
  • Bowling Green, MD (unincorporated)966 people, 3 miles
  • Bier, MD (unincorporated)118 people, 3 miles
  • Carpendale, WV824 people, 3 miles
  • Wiley Ford, WV (unincorporated)630 people, 4 miles
  • Rawlings, MD (unincorporated)476 people, 5 miles
  • Ridgeley, WV570 people, 5 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.