Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Maryland

Rising Sun, Maryland

Rising Sun is a small town of about 2,800 people in Cecil County, Maryland. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.6 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 40 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,761
up 0.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$309,100
Cecil County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$85,563
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Philadelphia area
102.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
20 miles
Bel Air, MD
To Baltimore
40 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 3.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood3 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is Rising Sun High, about 5 miles away.
  • A hospital close byUmd Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, about 20 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBaltimore is about 40 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 Rising Sun 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
$309,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Cecil County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,210 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$85,563U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
58%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,888 a yearMaryland: $4,093
Homes built before 1940
11%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%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 Rising Sun 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
2,7612020: 2,750
Median age
35.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
28%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
26%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

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
Schools, health care and social services (28%); professional and business services (12%); finance, insurance and real estate (12%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
32 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
13%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 20 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 Rising Sun, run by Cecil County Public Schools. The nearest public high school is Rising Sun High, about 5 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
84%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%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
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
23 a year
Nights at or below freezing
125 a year
Rain and melted snow
48.4 inches a year
Snow
18 inches a year
Elevation
335 feet

Weather station: Octoraro Lake (7 miles away). 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, Lancaster, 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

6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Jeremiah Brown House and Mill Site.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • First State National Historical Park27 miles
  • Hampton National Historic Site34 miles
  • Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site37 miles
  • Valley Forge National Historical Park41 miles
  • Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine41 miles

Read about Rising Sun's history on Wikipedia.

Know Rising Sun?

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

  • Nottingham, PA (unincorporated)1,508 people, 4 miles
  • Little Britain, PA (unincorporated)439 people, 6 miles
  • Port Deposit, MD633 people, 7 miles
  • Wakefield, PA (unincorporated)573 people, 8 miles
  • Darlington, MD (unincorporated)353 people, 9 miles
  • Lincoln University, PA (unincorporated)2,017 people, 10 miles
  • Kirkwood, PA (unincorporated)307 people, 10 miles
  • Delta, PA713 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.