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Towns / Maryland

Shady Side, Maryland

Shady Side is an unincorporated community of about 4,700 people in Anne Arundel 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 3.3 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, Washington, is about 27 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
4,727
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$503,500
Anne Arundel County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$153,661
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Baltimore area
104.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Annapolis, MD
To Washington
27 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.5% above the U.S. average in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.3 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: 1 elementary and 1 other. No public high school in town: the nearest is Southern High, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byLuminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, INC in Annapolis, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityWashington is about 27 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 Shady Side 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
$503,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Anne Arundel County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,490 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$153,661U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
89%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,334 a yearMaryland: $4,093
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
11%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
104.5U.S. average = 100 (the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 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 16% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro area, not Shady Side 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
4,727The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
49.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
37%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%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 (17%); professional and business services (15%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (13%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
37 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
15%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
4%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, INC, Annapolis, MD, about 11 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 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 Shady Side, run by Anne Arundel County Public Schools. The nearest public high school is Southern High, about 6 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 any internet subscription
98%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
30°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
20 a year
Nights at or below freezing
56 a year
Rain and melted snow
45 inches a year
Snow
16 inches a year
Elevation
7 feet

Weather stations: Annapolis Naf (11 miles away) and Upper Marlboro 3 NNW (13 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: Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, Bowie, Washington.

Anne Arundel 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 Columbia Beach.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • National Capital Parks18 miles
  • Greenbelt Park22 miles
  • Frederick Douglass National Historic Site25 miles
  • Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument26 miles
  • George Washington Memorial Parkway26 miles

Read about Shady Side's history on Wikipedia.

Know Shady Side?

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

  • Galesville, MD (unincorporated)1,062 people, 2 miles
  • Friendship, MD (unincorporated)278 people, 7 miles
  • Highland Beach, MD104 people, 8 miles
  • Romancoke, MD (unincorporated)2,064 people, 10 miles
  • Queen Anne, MD (unincorporated)1,443 people, 11 miles
  • Dunkirk, MD (unincorporated)2,166 people, 11 miles
  • Upper Marlboro, MD708 people, 13 miles
  • Tilghman Island, MD (unincorporated)741 people, 13 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.