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Towns / Maryland

Perryville, Maryland

Perryville is a suburb of about 4,600 people in Cecil County, Maryland, in the Bel Air area. It has grown about 3% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.8 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, Baltimore, is about 35 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Bel Air

Population
4,592
up 2.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$295,200
Cecil County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$77,733
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Philadelphia area
102.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
16 miles
Bel Air, MD
To Baltimore
35 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 2.6% above the U.S. average in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood10 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 12.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byUmd Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, about 16 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBaltimore is about 35 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 Perryville 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.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Perryville runs into the built-up area around Bel Air (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$295,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Cecil County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$916 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$77,733U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
66%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,921 a yearMaryland: $4,093
Homes built before 1940
11%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
7%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
102.6U.S. average = 100 (the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area)

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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area, not Perryville 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, 2025 estimate
4,5922020: 4,473
Median age
40.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
16%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
19%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%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
Retail (19%); schools, health care and social services (18%); manufacturing (14%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Umd Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, Bel Air, MD, about 16 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 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

3 public schools in Perryville, run by Cecil County Public Schools.

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
86%U.S.: 76%

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
25°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
36 a year
Nights at or below freezing
106 a year
Rain and melted snow
48.4 inches a year
Snow
18 inches a year
Elevation
104 feet

Weather stations: Conowingo Dam (8 miles away) and Octoraro Lake (15 miles 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: Umd Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, Wilmington, Baltimore.

Cecil County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Perry Point Mansion House and Mill.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Hampton National Historic Site30 miles
  • First State National Historical Park30 miles
  • Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine35 miles
  • Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site45 miles
  • Valley Forge National Historical Park47 miles

Read about Perryville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Perryville?

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

  • Port Deposit, MD633 people, 3 miles
  • Darlington, MD (unincorporated)353 people, 9 miles
  • Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (unincorporated)2,193 people, 9 miles
  • Perryman, MD (unincorporated)2,174 people, 11 miles
  • Nottingham, PA (unincorporated)1,508 people, 12 miles
  • Chesapeake City, MD749 people, 14 miles
  • Betterton, MD283 people, 14 miles
  • Little Britain, PA (unincorporated)439 people, 14 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.