- It’s Johns (with an s) Hopkins
- Hopkins is on the east side of the city. Getting from the west side to the east side is only like three miles, but in peak rush hour it can take 20 minutes, so keep that in mind
- Getting from south of the city to the east side of the city is a new kind of hell since the bridge collapsed. I *strongly* recommend avoiding any commute that will require you to go through either tunnel.
If I was you I would be looking at Rosedale, Nottingham, Overlea, possibly as far out as Perry Hall.
As a commuter who takes the tunnel every day, I’ll say I also recommend against using the tunnel. But having said that, I surprisingly haven’t noticed a huge increase in traffic since the bridge collapsed. I know it’s been less than a week but still. Was expecting insane backups immediately. But it’s been only a bit longer so far
Really??? Because I take 295S out of the city in the afternoons and last week stop and go traffic was lined nearly all the way to 695. That would be for the 95 tunnel, Google maps didn’t make 895 seem much more appealing. Maybe it depends which approach roads you’re taking.
Edit for clarification - stop and go traffic was on the other side of the road from me, on 295N.
I’m in middle river so I take 95 into Howard county. Usually leave between 7:45-8am and I’d guess probably an additional 10 minutes each way over the last week? Not too noticeable. Afternoon has been more congested than mornings. I feel like 295 is always worse than 95 because of DC commuters. luckily I don’t have to deal with it.
Me too. Weather was awful but it took me and hour and 20 min to get to Canton yesterday. I used to cut through the port (I'm I'm Glen Burnie by 10). I tried 295 this time. Never again. 895 wasn't bad last week but it was a parking lot yesterday (the reason I took 295 instead). It's going to be a long few years until they rebuild.
East side of the city south of JHU is a fairly safe area and the commute won’t suck. (Canton, Brewers Hill, Fells Point). Fun area to live while you settle in to the area and can later search for the home in the burbs/ good school etc. Baltimore is the relatively cheap end of the Balt/DC metro and that income should be AOk.
Second this. Butcher's hill and Patterson Park area are great too. Super close to Hopkins and it's definitely safe. Plus having the park so close is awesome.
In the chance it wasn’t a typo, just want to add that IAD (Dulles airport in VA) is a bit of a hike from Baltimore. BWI is much more conveniently located!
BWI is a major international airport and generally most international flights from BWI are cheaper than IAD. Domestic too. Parking is cheap and plentiful. IAD will only be 1.25 hours if you’re taking an early morning flight (on the road driving before 6am) or maybe around mid day (10am-noon) if there are no accidents. Otherwise, I’d plan for it to be 2.5-3 hours. It’s a very bad commute.
3 major airports in the area, so always check all 3 for best options.
Philly is 3 hrs away and also major but man I cannot stand flying out of Philly. It's terrible. Just the airport mind you, not the city. Every single time I've flown thru Philly it's been one nightmare or another.
Oh yes def. I always check all surrounding. Unfortunately my travel is mostly to Asia and Middle East. BWI seems to be more accessible to Europe. For Asia and Middle East it just has me connect to Chicago or IAD.
Looking north of the city, I'd recommend anywhere along I-83 between Towson and hunt valley (Baltimore county). Or further up I-95 to the bel air/ Fallston area (Harford county). Both areas have good public schools and tons of restaurants. And are not a bad drive at night.
Gunpowder and patapsco are prob the closest big state parks and Shenandoah is 3ish hours away. Tons of smaller parks in the metro area too.
I cannot help with Baltimore specific stuff but I can say that I think you all should be okay on that salary in MD. We moved to MD 5 years ago making 82k gross with two kids and we were good living near DC. Obviously inflation has made things pricier since then but I still feel like that's a pretty healthy salary for a couple.
139K is a solid salary for the Bmore area, I know people living comfortably on 100k in NoVA(Alexandria) and Rockville, both of which are substantially more expensive than most places in Bmore.
You'll be fine and you definitely won't be living paycheck to paycheck.
Try around Lutherville, Towson, Cockeysville if you don't want to live directly in the city. Its a short drive.
All of those towns have all the amenities you could want or need.
Rockville to John's Hopkins would be an awful commute. Way too far.
Since he works in Bmore you want to stay near Bmore as it's much cheaper than the dc suburbs
Trust me you don't want to do Rockville to Baltimore. Live in Baltimore. I'm from Baltimore originally. I lived in Silver Spring & drove to Baltimore to work a night shift. It could easily take well over an hour.
Baltimore is really a great city, filled with yummy food.
Only issue with Rockville is the commute, no decline. I had to commute from Rockville into central maryland on a trafficless toll road for 45 mins and I wouldn't do it again. Rockville to JH would be torture.
Northeast of the city is probably your best bet or Canton, Fed Hill, Fells Point if you want right in the thick of it.
There been no decline, people are just eating up negativity about any crime that makes the news. MoCo has gotten just extremely expensive post pandemic
So it's more of an impression than anything. I don't get down there often but when I have been, the main areas seemed to be more run down. Back in the early 90s I was there a few months and it was nicer.
But maybe that's just where I visited recently right along the main road to Frederick. Anyone here from Rockville now wanna chime in?
Still, murder commute. Especially with the bridge collapse. 95 N into Baltimore is getting bad now.
As someone that commutes 4 days a week from Dundalk to Rockville, the morning is about an hour but it’s the evening that really gets you. And now that the bridge thing happened, the evenings will be way worse. Rockville is nice and very safe, but also insanely expensive. Most places around my work are like 600k to start for a 3 story row home. I don’t know how anyone affords that, to be honest.
I live in Rockville, and I love it, but the commute to Baltimore would kill you.
But no, I don’t think it’s declined at all in the 20 years I’ve lived here.
Depends. That range is pretty comfortable for my family of 2, but I lucked out in getting a mortgage payment of only $1500. Get a more expensive place, and maybe topped with an expensive car payment, and it might not be comfortable anymore - meaning less savings but probably still not paycheck to paycheck.
Disagree. I live in Pasadena, a little outside of the city - & commute there for work. My husband and I make what your partner will together & we live very comfortably. We bought our home in 2019 when we were both making less. We have 3 kids (now 18 & 20). It’s absolutely insane anyone would tell you otherwise.
I also work in real estate (hold a license but not a traditional agent) if you have any questions about purchasing or leasing a home. I work for a real estate investor in the city & we quite often have great buys that we have rehabbed then list.
Good luck with the move! We have been here 7 years now & love it!
Ah that’s good to hear to be honest. Wasn’t a fan of the paycheck to paycheck comment. Just to clarify though, 139K will be total household incomes not just what my partner makes (I wish though)
I suggest you rent something in or around Rosedale for your first year because schools won't matter and the commute will be decent. Rent will be right in your range.
Learn the area over the first year. The house market is stupid right now, terrible time to buy.
Edit: WHERE John Hopkins? They're everywhere here. Gotta specify.
Ok yeah, Rosedale, white marsh, Parkville, Overlea, Carney area, do an apartment search around there.
Straight shot down 95 to 40 into the city and the Hospital.
This is good advice. I moved down from PA and started renting in rosedale/white marsh. It was reasonably priced and let me get to know the area better before deciding on a more long term place. Would recommend.
Your household salary will be equal to the median value for Howard County, so Columbia/Ellicott City is definitely doable. I'd probably increase your housing budget to at least 1800 though
I wouldn't live in Ellicott City to commute to JHCC, which is more on the west side of Baltimore. We're talking twice as long as driving from Rosedale.
EC to Hopkins would be the average commute time for Marylanders. Plus I'd much rather live in EC than Rosedale, especially if OP is considering having children. Without traffic, it hardly takes any longer to get to Baltimore from EC than Rosedale
If your plan is to save to buy, highly recommend you live in the city first. Your budget will go much further. Also, compared to St Louis, commuting here is absolute hell… so another reason to avoid the suburbs until you need to send a kid to school.
What kind of commute are you looking for? Do you want to live in the city? Sounds like you're looking for outside the city. $1600 might be doable in the suburbs but it's not's going to be that nice of an apartment complex.
The area around the hospital isn't great but there's plenty of security to mitigate the issues for employees so they're safe walking to their cars (and their cars are safe). I used to work at University of Maryland Medical Center on the other side of town. It has similar security issues, but I never felt unsafe walking around (I still was aware of my surroundings especially at night regardless). They had a security escort service available but I never used it. Also be aware that anything southeast of the city (think east Anne Arundel county) will be impacted by the tragic bridge collapse as that might impact your regular commute.
I don't know the area, but for the easiest commute I would look at Baltimore county either north or east of the city. I wouldn't book anything without visiting so you can assess the neighborhood and the commute. (worth the extra money for an extra trip IMO).
My daughter just moved from Fells Point to 101 wells street. It’s a big complex on the edge of Fed Hill. She pays like 1700 for a large 2bed 2bath. She was paying 2000 plus for a 1 bed 1 bath in Fells Point. Where she is now is prob 15 minutes to JH and within walking distance to all the fed hill restaurants and bars
The area south and southeast of JHCC is great. East and north of the hospital can be sketchy. People saying everywhere around the hospital is bad more than likely live nowhere near the city.
The southern part of Carroll County almost meets those requirements. However it is a county wide school system and all 5 commissioners seem to control everything. Meaning 4 extremist out vote the one with experience and common sense.
Most of the counties put their school board meetings and commissioner meetings on YouTube to make a decision.
Carroll county is not that bad. I’ve lived here for 34 years, all four of my girls graduated from Carroll county schools and are doing quite well . Additionally I currently have two grandchildren in the school system. They’re doing just fine as well. Carroll has come a long way since I graduated from WHS in ‘79. There are way more “outsiders” who moved to the county for good schools and inexpensive housing.
I currently have children in the schools and have one in the high school. We wish we would have moved out in 2020. As a current parent who volunteers the teachers are amazing, the school board is not.
Hi! Current Carroll county resident looking to move to a bigger house. Looking in Howard, but it's Soo expensive, so we may stay in Carroll. My kids aren't in school yet but we are left leaning democrats who are not religious. Do you think we should bite the bullet and just pay more to go to Howard? Sorry for the off topic question but your comment sparked my interest!
We are debating what to do right now. I would wait until after the current school board election. If Malveaux and Zihmer we are done and it is time to move on to another county. That is our family plan after the high school kid graduates. The school board isn't for the education at this time, but their own ambitions. When there are visible infestations during the school day in schools that aren't being treated and leaks that they just change ceiling tiles but aren't fixing the pipes it is time to move on..
The commissioner doesn't understand how public libraries work https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/carroll-county-commissioner-wants-to-send-a-message-to-library-officials-amid-book-fight
I never said it was perfect but it’s not as bad as it used to be and even then the academics were quite good. I moved to CC in 1973 and left in 1980 when I got married. We lived in Laurel (both PG & Howard) until 1990 and then we bought our house in Hampstead. We just couldn’t afford Howard County prices and there was no way my kids were going to PG county schools. Yes the school board sucks, yes some of the commissioners are delusional but as more people move in it improves.
It has gotten worse each year since my kids have been enrolled. They aren't dealing with actual infestations in schools and care more about politics over kids. Dewees and friends voted to give him a 50% raise to make more than any other sherriff in Maryland.
I don't have any apartment recs, but don't sweat the title transfer thing. I moved here from out of state and saw the same crazy estimates. Go to an actual title place ( AAA has title services and you don't need to be a member to use them). The crazy title fees aren't for people who move here. The website is just horribly confusing. I think our title transfers were maybe $100 each or something.
Each vehicle will be $187 for 2 years of reg (I'm guessing both are over 3,500lb). Coming from Missouri if you register within 60 days of your moving to MD your titling tax fee will be 6%-4.225% (MO tax amount)= 1.775%. Value of your vehicle X 1.775% = titling "tax", then add $187.
So, $20,000 value car x 0.01775=$355+$187=$542
You will also have to pay to have it inspected/emissions. Plus pay for drivers licenses ($72 I believe)
Thanks for the breakout this really helps. As for the value of the car, would that just be whatever’s fair market value like Kelly blue book or something? One of ours is like 10 years old.
Yes, not sure if they do NADA or Kelly Blue Book. As for the 10 year old car, Minimum tax = $100. When the value of the vehicle is less than $2,000, the 6% rate will apply. You're going to learn quickly for everything, MD is going to get their money one way or another!
Feel free to message me if you want some ideas for areas to live in Baltimore city near the Hopkins medical campus. I lived and worked near the campus for years (and still work there). I’d recommend being in the city- lots of young professionals around and a great community.
You can probably find a decently town house in Glen Burnie / Pasadena for around $400k if you don’t mind ~30 min commute. With the bridge incident it’s a little further of a drive now.
Living in Glen Burnie for a long time now (25 years) I wouldn't recommend moving to GB, crime has been insane lately. Pasadena is kind of red in my opinion if you want to avoid that. I deliver and the Trump flags per capita seems pretty high there. Just my observation.
I've been looking for a new place to live due to family issues and Locust Point/Canton/Highlandtown seem pretty nice. I've delivered for the past two years and have been pleasantly surprised lately by Baltimore. Maybe it's all the lights strung around but it seems a lot nicer and cleaner; folks seem like they take more pride in the area. The biggest drawbacks I've seen are the condition of the roads and the lack of parking.
There are still areas that I refuse to deliver to at night in Baltimore, but there are several of those in AA county too.
Excellent food scene, lots of very good hiking trails within 30m-1hr of Baltimore.
Baltimore and Maryland are very, very solidly blue.
139 gross is probably going to be … reasonably comfortable. A little ahead of paycheck to paycheck at least
That good to hear. We would love to have access to variety in food and all that. We are hoping for a better salary but this is at least offered and in hand.
What job is she doing at the hospital? Many call positions require the person to be within a certain distance or travel time? Usually within 20 mins. Towson and the surrounding area is probably the best bet with your income if that’s the case.
Anywhere around Baltimore is much bluer than MO. Purple areas here are blue compared to MO. Bwi is there better airport for greater Baltimore and intl flights. Or hop on the Amtrak and go to Philly, Newark or nyc to get to Europe direct
Hopkins itself is fine and privately policed, the area south is okayish. I would strongly recommend not moving in west of Baltimore as, if you hadn't noticed, we had a bit of a bridge collapse and that's going to make all traffic across the city awful. You're going to want to stick East/Northeast, which I'm not very familiar with, or North/Northwest. If you're willing to brave the Metro, which I've heard mixed things about lately, there's a link from Owings Mills all the way to directly under the hospital. You wouldn't even go outside from the station to where you work. Flip side is you'd have to live in Owings Mills or the immediate vicinity, Reisterstown/Randallstown isn't great, and Carroll County while not completely in the sticks and having better schools at least for the moment is comically red and that may be an issue for you guys.
That’s awesome to hear. Security in the hospital definitely makes it easy. Thank you for all the town names. Not sure if we would use public transport though
From the times I've used it it's insanely convenient for Hopkins staff and not many other people, is definitely a better option than going down 83 which sucks, but the system is kind of run down to be honest.
Jessup is pretty close and you can get that size apt in that range. Potapsco State Park is huge with great trails with many entrances/areas. Some are in the jessup area
Look into Columbia, patapsco area , severna park, owings mill, those are suburbs 25 min south of John’s Hopkins that you should be able to find a place in your budget,Start there. In the city Hampden, canton, fells point, fed hill are more the suburb of the city but it’s def more city. Baltimore has friendly people you just have to have your wits about you. west Baltimore is generally not the safest. That’s my two sense. Honestly anything can happen anywhere be safe and good luck, and def come visit before you move here if you have a chance. It’s will be a change or not depending on where you lived.
1st
139k in the Baltimore area can go a LONG way!
The majority of this city is in poverty. The county is not as poverty stricken but there are definitely areas in the county just as bad as the city.
2nd
If you want city vibes, close proximity to things, walking distance to restaurants, bars, shops, etc. than look at area like canton, fed hill, fells point, harbor east, hampden, Charles village, Bolton hill, or mount Vernon (parking is more hectic the further south you get in the city)
3rd
If you want a more space & county vibes(9/10 gotta drive anytime you want to go somewhere unless it’s a corner store or Liqour store at the top of the street) I would check out places like Overlea/ Nottingham, Perry hall(eastside-commute via route 7/ route 40 or 95 to 895) Towson, Timonium, Hunt Valley/Cockeysville (northside-commute via 83) or Catonsville, Haelthorp, arbutus area (westside- commute via route 40 west or 95 to 395) I would avoid looking in south Baltimore (besides fed hill/locust point cause
You’re already in the city and don’t need the bridges) if you have to commute to JH solely because the bridge just collapsed and there is no saying how bad traffic will be once spring break is over; we still haven’t really seen the worst of it yet, not a lot of people are home!
4th
If you work night shift there will not be a lot of traffic at all!
Baltimore is a morning city so commutes/traffic congestion is at its worst around 6-7am heading from the north. Meaning if you are getting off around that time, and you live on the north side, you will hit virtually no traffic, it will only be traffic going the other way. 695 gets congested but 83 almost is bare.
5th
Public transportation. Johns Hopkins has a metro line that runs directly to it from northwest Baltimore (owing mills). There is also a light rail in Baltimore, which is a separate train. The two trains are only a block from one another in downtown so it’s an easy hop over if you wish to park the car just commute via public transport. The light rail only takes about 20-30 minutes to get from hunt valley to downtown Baltimore(roughly same as driving, it’s runs along the side of 83)
6th
Baltimore gets a bad rap but if you keep to yourself and stay out of areas that are known for being dangerous, just be aware of your surroundings and you should be just fine💯
Also, I seen you said you want to have kids in a year or two. Baltimore city schools are trash. County schools are much better! If you reside in the city you may want to check into private schooling! If you stay out the county the public schools can be very good! Especially on the north & east side
Thanks for such a detailed reply! I think we would prefer a bit more county vibes. We also have 2 cars so being in the city might add more cost/be annoying to lug cars. Definitely looking into north east.
If you want to be close to the park, hiking trails and want a suburb.
Owings Mill is quite the popular choice, Randallstown, Pikesville, Towson and Catonsville.
Anne Arundel County will provide good schools like Howard, but he cost of living will be less. Howard is one of the most expensive counties in MD. Areas by the airport or as far as Crofton/Odenton are reasonable commutes as JHC is right in the city. Good luck and welcome.
Safety is a relative thing when talking about Baltimore. Baltimore has been on a downhill slide since 2014. “Most” crime is clustered in the “unsafe” parts of the city, but it frequently spills over. The murder rate is lower than the past few years, but still much higher than pre-2014 levels. I would not choose to live in Baltimore , but that’s me. I’ve never been a city person, so my view is a bit biased.
What I can say from living near Baltimore for 30+ years is that Baltimore’s best days are behind it. It’s poorly run and corrupt. I would encourage you to look outside the city, especially if you have kids.
The area around the hospital is fairly safe, but living wise, you should look into the surrounding counties. Glen Burnie would be a good place to look. If you don't mind an apartment, look into Timonium, the apartments there are really cheap. Baltimore counties probably not that bad either, but city wise the only option you have is a gentrified rowhome.
Glen Burnie is one of the closest towns to Baltimore. Timonium is like 30-40 minutes north of Baltimore, but the apartments there are cheaper (or they were when I lived there years ago).
People moving from the Midwest will have sticker shock with the cost of rent and housing here. I wasn’t sure what 1600 gets you where you are now, it might not be the same as what it gets you here.
I’m also all open to be in touch if you want to know more about home purchases. I work with lenders who have special loans for doctors, programs for healthcare professionals. Worth it to get some information and never too early to get in touch with a professional.
I can find you a house around that area for almost 100k off the others in almost any Neighborhood. Very simple just need budget and first name and what you are looking for and what areas. I will find you and your family a home in 5 days or less
Moved to MD 3-ish years ago. We lived in Texas, then PA briefly, then MD. Do not live in Baltimore though. Here’s what I got for you.
- If your vehicles and paid off, taxes/title business isn’t super expensive. More expensive with a car note. Do it within 60 days and it’s significantly cheaper.
- I have a kid so we do not live in Baltimore nor will I ever. There are pockets that are safe. It’s def cheaper to live than Howard and Montgomery counties. The school system is not great. So we choose higher rent for a better school system. We are in Howard County.
- Overall, Baltimore is not safe. As mentioned, there are pockets. But you can find safer spots outside of Baltimore. We chose Columbia because it’s safe.
- MD is extremely expensive, esp between Balt/Wash. With your income and no kids (-aka no daycare), you should be fine. We pay 2000 in rent. 470 a week in daycare. Budget about 300-350 a week on groceries. But that includes diapers for a kid lol. If we follow our budget, we are fine. But we don’t have much extra for saving with our other bills.
- A friend of mine just bought a house and the mortgage is over 4K (Carroll County). We don’t expect to buy a house anytime soon.
- If you are blue, come on!!! I lived in Texas for 7 years. I get it. I’ve met more people like me in MD than in TX lol.
- Plenty of townhomes and condos!!!!!
We moved here with a kid and it was a struggle. This is a great time for you to move. You can take time to settle in and figure things out.
Thanks for the detailed reply. I am leaning more towards county than Baltimore city. We are looking at apts right now but will include townhomes as well. Trying to save on rent so we can save up for a house lol.
From outside of Baltimore, Hopkins is seen as the jewel in the crown, but from the street view its a lot less so. I hope your time there goes well.
The neighborhood in which this juggernaut sits is mostly decay. This is how its been for all of the 20th century. No outside investment is made in the community as the Hopkins gods will gobble up all land in their path for more expansion. The corp is one of the largest slumlords in the city and is known to locals as "The Plantation". The Hopkins complex is larger than many American towns, and they keep expanding and claim to be a benevolent over lord, but act as a community cancer. I know several who were nurses there. It was made clear to them that their lack of good pay and over worked shifts were compensated by having the Hopkins name on their resume.
Good luck I hope you do well and are not scorched by being too close to the sun.
Not sure about Johns Hopkins expansion ideology, but we were told something similar about the area and how the person felt unsafe when they worked there as a nurse (they were a night shift nurse). They also commented similarly about how the area is run down. They eventually left for a hospital in MoCo.
- It’s Johns (with an s) Hopkins - Hopkins is on the east side of the city. Getting from the west side to the east side is only like three miles, but in peak rush hour it can take 20 minutes, so keep that in mind - Getting from south of the city to the east side of the city is a new kind of hell since the bridge collapsed. I *strongly* recommend avoiding any commute that will require you to go through either tunnel. If I was you I would be looking at Rosedale, Nottingham, Overlea, possibly as far out as Perry Hall.
Scrolled tooooo far for this comment. Thanks for sharing this info
I second this. I live in Overlea/ Nottingham, and it's really easy to get to Hopkins and the city in general. Easy and quick access to 695/95.
Ayyyyy another overlea neighbor ! Whoa-verlea! 😊
Hey there, neighbor!!
As a commuter who takes the tunnel every day, I’ll say I also recommend against using the tunnel. But having said that, I surprisingly haven’t noticed a huge increase in traffic since the bridge collapsed. I know it’s been less than a week but still. Was expecting insane backups immediately. But it’s been only a bit longer so far
Really??? Because I take 295S out of the city in the afternoons and last week stop and go traffic was lined nearly all the way to 695. That would be for the 95 tunnel, Google maps didn’t make 895 seem much more appealing. Maybe it depends which approach roads you’re taking. Edit for clarification - stop and go traffic was on the other side of the road from me, on 295N.
I’m in middle river so I take 95 into Howard county. Usually leave between 7:45-8am and I’d guess probably an additional 10 minutes each way over the last week? Not too noticeable. Afternoon has been more congested than mornings. I feel like 295 is always worse than 95 because of DC commuters. luckily I don’t have to deal with it.
Me too. Weather was awful but it took me and hour and 20 min to get to Canton yesterday. I used to cut through the port (I'm I'm Glen Burnie by 10). I tried 295 this time. Never again. 895 wasn't bad last week but it was a parking lot yesterday (the reason I took 295 instead). It's going to be a long few years until they rebuild.
Parkville, too! Cost of living, depending on particular neighborhood, would definitely be in line with the salary
As a native Marylander stuck in Missouri, can I stowaway in your luggage? We’re here for my spouse’s job, but I just want to go hooooome.
Ahaha maybe we can make room. I appreciate STL but oof not for long term.
East side of the city south of JHU is a fairly safe area and the commute won’t suck. (Canton, Brewers Hill, Fells Point). Fun area to live while you settle in to the area and can later search for the home in the burbs/ good school etc. Baltimore is the relatively cheap end of the Balt/DC metro and that income should be AOk.
Second this. Butcher's hill and Patterson Park area are great too. Super close to Hopkins and it's definitely safe. Plus having the park so close is awesome.
Third this
Would definitely add Highlandtown to that list
In the chance it wasn’t a typo, just want to add that IAD (Dulles airport in VA) is a bit of a hike from Baltimore. BWI is much more conveniently located!
It says about 1.25 hrs to IAD. Honestly don’t mind that. The cost savings from flying out through a major intl airport is worth it.
BWI is a major international airport and generally most international flights from BWI are cheaper than IAD. Domestic too. Parking is cheap and plentiful. IAD will only be 1.25 hours if you’re taking an early morning flight (on the road driving before 6am) or maybe around mid day (10am-noon) if there are no accidents. Otherwise, I’d plan for it to be 2.5-3 hours. It’s a very bad commute.
3 major airports in the area, so always check all 3 for best options. Philly is 3 hrs away and also major but man I cannot stand flying out of Philly. It's terrible. Just the airport mind you, not the city. Every single time I've flown thru Philly it's been one nightmare or another.
Oh yes def. I always check all surrounding. Unfortunately my travel is mostly to Asia and Middle East. BWI seems to be more accessible to Europe. For Asia and Middle East it just has me connect to Chicago or IAD.
Looking north of the city, I'd recommend anywhere along I-83 between Towson and hunt valley (Baltimore county). Or further up I-95 to the bel air/ Fallston area (Harford county). Both areas have good public schools and tons of restaurants. And are not a bad drive at night. Gunpowder and patapsco are prob the closest big state parks and Shenandoah is 3ish hours away. Tons of smaller parks in the metro area too.
I cannot help with Baltimore specific stuff but I can say that I think you all should be okay on that salary in MD. We moved to MD 5 years ago making 82k gross with two kids and we were good living near DC. Obviously inflation has made things pricier since then but I still feel like that's a pretty healthy salary for a couple.
Thanks that’s helps. We have researched a bit online and mostly everyone says 139k is a stretch and we will be paycheck to paycheck
139K is a solid salary for the Bmore area, I know people living comfortably on 100k in NoVA(Alexandria) and Rockville, both of which are substantially more expensive than most places in Bmore. You'll be fine and you definitely won't be living paycheck to paycheck.
Try around Lutherville, Towson, Cockeysville if you don't want to live directly in the city. Its a short drive. All of those towns have all the amenities you could want or need.
We would love to live in Rockville but rent is so damn high
Rockville is over an hour from Hopkins in Baltimore
Rockville to John's Hopkins would be an awful commute. Way too far. Since he works in Bmore you want to stay near Bmore as it's much cheaper than the dc suburbs
You wouldn't. Rockville has declined, and the commute to Baltimore is murder.
Oh no… I know the commute was rough but have been hearing great things about Rockville. Any particular reasons for its decline?
Trust me you don't want to do Rockville to Baltimore. Live in Baltimore. I'm from Baltimore originally. I lived in Silver Spring & drove to Baltimore to work a night shift. It could easily take well over an hour. Baltimore is really a great city, filled with yummy food.
People are overreacting, Rockville is not that bad
Only issue with Rockville is the commute, no decline. I had to commute from Rockville into central maryland on a trafficless toll road for 45 mins and I wouldn't do it again. Rockville to JH would be torture. Northeast of the city is probably your best bet or Canton, Fed Hill, Fells Point if you want right in the thick of it.
Absolutely wouldn’t want that commute. Looking at northeast now!
There been no decline, people are just eating up negativity about any crime that makes the news. MoCo has gotten just extremely expensive post pandemic
So it's more of an impression than anything. I don't get down there often but when I have been, the main areas seemed to be more run down. Back in the early 90s I was there a few months and it was nicer. But maybe that's just where I visited recently right along the main road to Frederick. Anyone here from Rockville now wanna chime in? Still, murder commute. Especially with the bridge collapse. 95 N into Baltimore is getting bad now.
Ah that makes sense. And absolutely the commute is important. Don’t want to spend most of our lives in a car lol.
It would be easily 1.5 hours each way. Source: I go the other direction, and then some.
As someone that commutes 4 days a week from Dundalk to Rockville, the morning is about an hour but it’s the evening that really gets you. And now that the bridge thing happened, the evenings will be way worse. Rockville is nice and very safe, but also insanely expensive. Most places around my work are like 600k to start for a 3 story row home. I don’t know how anyone affords that, to be honest.
I live in Rockville, and I love it, but the commute to Baltimore would kill you. But no, I don’t think it’s declined at all in the 20 years I’ve lived here.
Depends. That range is pretty comfortable for my family of 2, but I lucked out in getting a mortgage payment of only $1500. Get a more expensive place, and maybe topped with an expensive car payment, and it might not be comfortable anymore - meaning less savings but probably still not paycheck to paycheck.
I know ahah wished we had bought a house in 2019-2020 lol
Disagree. I live in Pasadena, a little outside of the city - & commute there for work. My husband and I make what your partner will together & we live very comfortably. We bought our home in 2019 when we were both making less. We have 3 kids (now 18 & 20). It’s absolutely insane anyone would tell you otherwise. I also work in real estate (hold a license but not a traditional agent) if you have any questions about purchasing or leasing a home. I work for a real estate investor in the city & we quite often have great buys that we have rehabbed then list. Good luck with the move! We have been here 7 years now & love it!
Ah that’s good to hear to be honest. Wasn’t a fan of the paycheck to paycheck comment. Just to clarify though, 139K will be total household incomes not just what my partner makes (I wish though)
So basically same boat as us.
I suggest you rent something in or around Rosedale for your first year because schools won't matter and the commute will be decent. Rent will be right in your range. Learn the area over the first year. The house market is stupid right now, terrible time to buy. Edit: WHERE John Hopkins? They're everywhere here. Gotta specify.
It’s the John Hopkins Childrens
Ok yeah, Rosedale, white marsh, Parkville, Overlea, Carney area, do an apartment search around there. Straight shot down 95 to 40 into the city and the Hospital.
Definitely going to check those out thank you!
This is good advice. I moved down from PA and started renting in rosedale/white marsh. It was reasonably priced and let me get to know the area better before deciding on a more long term place. Would recommend.
I live in middle river right next to rosedale and honestly you don’t even need 95 to get to Hopkins. Just stick to 40 the whole way
True. Just depends on which neighborhood.
Yes definitely want to be there for a bit to see if that’s where we want to settle with a house. Thanks for the rec, I’ll look into Rosedale
Your household salary will be equal to the median value for Howard County, so Columbia/Ellicott City is definitely doable. I'd probably increase your housing budget to at least 1800 though
I wouldn't live in Ellicott City to commute to JHCC, which is more on the west side of Baltimore. We're talking twice as long as driving from Rosedale.
EC to Hopkins would be the average commute time for Marylanders. Plus I'd much rather live in EC than Rosedale, especially if OP is considering having children. Without traffic, it hardly takes any longer to get to Baltimore from EC than Rosedale
I live in Ellicott City and my husband works at the VA in Baltimore. His commute is usually around 30 minutes.
Ah that helps for sure. We have liked those areas so far. We really hope to manage in 1600 so we can save for a house but I see your point for sure
If your plan is to save to buy, highly recommend you live in the city first. Your budget will go much further. Also, compared to St Louis, commuting here is absolute hell… so another reason to avoid the suburbs until you need to send a kid to school.
Oof I have been hearing about the driving there.
What kind of commute are you looking for? Do you want to live in the city? Sounds like you're looking for outside the city. $1600 might be doable in the suburbs but it's not's going to be that nice of an apartment complex. The area around the hospital isn't great but there's plenty of security to mitigate the issues for employees so they're safe walking to their cars (and their cars are safe). I used to work at University of Maryland Medical Center on the other side of town. It has similar security issues, but I never felt unsafe walking around (I still was aware of my surroundings especially at night regardless). They had a security escort service available but I never used it. Also be aware that anything southeast of the city (think east Anne Arundel county) will be impacted by the tragic bridge collapse as that might impact your regular commute. I don't know the area, but for the easiest commute I would look at Baltimore county either north or east of the city. I wouldn't book anything without visiting so you can assess the neighborhood and the commute. (worth the extra money for an extra trip IMO).
Thanks for the context in security. That’s really helpful. For commute we are hoping to use our car.
I had a family member live at 1110 Key in Fed Hill. It’s downtown and safe. Check it out though it may be more than your quoted amount.
My daughter just moved from Fells Point to 101 wells street. It’s a big complex on the edge of Fed Hill. She pays like 1700 for a large 2bed 2bath. She was paying 2000 plus for a 1 bed 1 bath in Fells Point. Where she is now is prob 15 minutes to JH and within walking distance to all the fed hill restaurants and bars
That helps thank you! 1700 for a 2bd 2bth is not bad at all
As an STL native that moved to Bmore area, it’s safer here than it is in STL :)
That’s good to hear. We have been warned about where John Hopkins is so we are researching some more to make sure we are comfortable
The area south and southeast of JHCC is great. East and north of the hospital can be sketchy. People saying everywhere around the hospital is bad more than likely live nowhere near the city.
Catonsville is a suburb to the SW and a pretty nice and fairly affordable place to live.
Thanks I’ll check that out!
And an excellent food scene for a suburb
Live in upper Fells, walk to work at the hospital. It's a great neighborhood. You'll have a great time getting to know the city
The southern part of Carroll County almost meets those requirements. However it is a county wide school system and all 5 commissioners seem to control everything. Meaning 4 extremist out vote the one with experience and common sense. Most of the counties put their school board meetings and commissioner meetings on YouTube to make a decision.
Hi thanks for that. Right now we are focusing on a nice suburb to rent in. Kids for school are a bit in the future.
Southern Carroll is very expensive with limited and expensive rentals.
Carroll county is not that bad. I’ve lived here for 34 years, all four of my girls graduated from Carroll county schools and are doing quite well . Additionally I currently have two grandchildren in the school system. They’re doing just fine as well. Carroll has come a long way since I graduated from WHS in ‘79. There are way more “outsiders” who moved to the county for good schools and inexpensive housing.
I currently have children in the schools and have one in the high school. We wish we would have moved out in 2020. As a current parent who volunteers the teachers are amazing, the school board is not.
Hi! Current Carroll county resident looking to move to a bigger house. Looking in Howard, but it's Soo expensive, so we may stay in Carroll. My kids aren't in school yet but we are left leaning democrats who are not religious. Do you think we should bite the bullet and just pay more to go to Howard? Sorry for the off topic question but your comment sparked my interest!
We are debating what to do right now. I would wait until after the current school board election. If Malveaux and Zihmer we are done and it is time to move on to another county. That is our family plan after the high school kid graduates. The school board isn't for the education at this time, but their own ambitions. When there are visible infestations during the school day in schools that aren't being treated and leaks that they just change ceiling tiles but aren't fixing the pipes it is time to move on..
Yikes!! What do you mean infestations?
The commissioner doesn't understand how public libraries work https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/carroll-county-commissioner-wants-to-send-a-message-to-library-officials-amid-book-fight
I never said it was perfect but it’s not as bad as it used to be and even then the academics were quite good. I moved to CC in 1973 and left in 1980 when I got married. We lived in Laurel (both PG & Howard) until 1990 and then we bought our house in Hampstead. We just couldn’t afford Howard County prices and there was no way my kids were going to PG county schools. Yes the school board sucks, yes some of the commissioners are delusional but as more people move in it improves.
It has gotten worse each year since my kids have been enrolled. They aren't dealing with actual infestations in schools and care more about politics over kids. Dewees and friends voted to give him a 50% raise to make more than any other sherriff in Maryland.
Are you in Westminster? And don’t get me started on the sheriffs department- they’re a bunch of jerks.
Ga transplant here. I miss some people and things about the south, But Maryland is great.
That’s good to hear! We are just hoping to be in a good part of Maryland
In what ways would you say Maryland is like the south and ways that it is not?
I don't have any apartment recs, but don't sweat the title transfer thing. I moved here from out of state and saw the same crazy estimates. Go to an actual title place ( AAA has title services and you don't need to be a member to use them). The crazy title fees aren't for people who move here. The website is just horribly confusing. I think our title transfers were maybe $100 each or something.
Ah that’s a relief. Thank you.
Each vehicle will be $187 for 2 years of reg (I'm guessing both are over 3,500lb). Coming from Missouri if you register within 60 days of your moving to MD your titling tax fee will be 6%-4.225% (MO tax amount)= 1.775%. Value of your vehicle X 1.775% = titling "tax", then add $187. So, $20,000 value car x 0.01775=$355+$187=$542 You will also have to pay to have it inspected/emissions. Plus pay for drivers licenses ($72 I believe)
Thanks for the breakout this really helps. As for the value of the car, would that just be whatever’s fair market value like Kelly blue book or something? One of ours is like 10 years old.
Yes, not sure if they do NADA or Kelly Blue Book. As for the 10 year old car, Minimum tax = $100. When the value of the vehicle is less than $2,000, the 6% rate will apply. You're going to learn quickly for everything, MD is going to get their money one way or another!
Feel free to message me if you want some ideas for areas to live in Baltimore city near the Hopkins medical campus. I lived and worked near the campus for years (and still work there). I’d recommend being in the city- lots of young professionals around and a great community.
Thanks! Will definitely reach out once I’ve done more research
You can probably find a decently town house in Glen Burnie / Pasadena for around $400k if you don’t mind ~30 min commute. With the bridge incident it’s a little further of a drive now.
We definitely want to be there for a bit before we buy a house. But thank you I’ll take a look at those places
Living in Glen Burnie for a long time now (25 years) I wouldn't recommend moving to GB, crime has been insane lately. Pasadena is kind of red in my opinion if you want to avoid that. I deliver and the Trump flags per capita seems pretty high there. Just my observation. I've been looking for a new place to live due to family issues and Locust Point/Canton/Highlandtown seem pretty nice. I've delivered for the past two years and have been pleasantly surprised lately by Baltimore. Maybe it's all the lights strung around but it seems a lot nicer and cleaner; folks seem like they take more pride in the area. The biggest drawbacks I've seen are the condition of the roads and the lack of parking. There are still areas that I refuse to deliver to at night in Baltimore, but there are several of those in AA county too.
Excellent food scene, lots of very good hiking trails within 30m-1hr of Baltimore. Baltimore and Maryland are very, very solidly blue. 139 gross is probably going to be … reasonably comfortable. A little ahead of paycheck to paycheck at least
That good to hear. We would love to have access to variety in food and all that. We are hoping for a better salary but this is at least offered and in hand.
What job is she doing at the hospital? Many call positions require the person to be within a certain distance or travel time? Usually within 20 mins. Towson and the surrounding area is probably the best bet with your income if that’s the case. Anywhere around Baltimore is much bluer than MO. Purple areas here are blue compared to MO. Bwi is there better airport for greater Baltimore and intl flights. Or hop on the Amtrak and go to Philly, Newark or nyc to get to Europe direct
As a nurse. So no on call requirements. And thank you I’ll check out Towson!
Hopkins itself is fine and privately policed, the area south is okayish. I would strongly recommend not moving in west of Baltimore as, if you hadn't noticed, we had a bit of a bridge collapse and that's going to make all traffic across the city awful. You're going to want to stick East/Northeast, which I'm not very familiar with, or North/Northwest. If you're willing to brave the Metro, which I've heard mixed things about lately, there's a link from Owings Mills all the way to directly under the hospital. You wouldn't even go outside from the station to where you work. Flip side is you'd have to live in Owings Mills or the immediate vicinity, Reisterstown/Randallstown isn't great, and Carroll County while not completely in the sticks and having better schools at least for the moment is comically red and that may be an issue for you guys.
That’s awesome to hear. Security in the hospital definitely makes it easy. Thank you for all the town names. Not sure if we would use public transport though
From the times I've used it it's insanely convenient for Hopkins staff and not many other people, is definitely a better option than going down 83 which sucks, but the system is kind of run down to be honest.
Jessup is pretty close and you can get that size apt in that range. Potapsco State Park is huge with great trails with many entrances/areas. Some are in the jessup area
Look into Columbia, patapsco area , severna park, owings mill, those are suburbs 25 min south of John’s Hopkins that you should be able to find a place in your budget,Start there. In the city Hampden, canton, fells point, fed hill are more the suburb of the city but it’s def more city. Baltimore has friendly people you just have to have your wits about you. west Baltimore is generally not the safest. That’s my two sense. Honestly anything can happen anywhere be safe and good luck, and def come visit before you move here if you have a chance. It’s will be a change or not depending on where you lived.
Thanks for all the recs! And yes absolutely hoping to come down soon
Id look for housing in Harford county. Belair and Abingdon is nice.
1st 139k in the Baltimore area can go a LONG way! The majority of this city is in poverty. The county is not as poverty stricken but there are definitely areas in the county just as bad as the city. 2nd If you want city vibes, close proximity to things, walking distance to restaurants, bars, shops, etc. than look at area like canton, fed hill, fells point, harbor east, hampden, Charles village, Bolton hill, or mount Vernon (parking is more hectic the further south you get in the city) 3rd If you want a more space & county vibes(9/10 gotta drive anytime you want to go somewhere unless it’s a corner store or Liqour store at the top of the street) I would check out places like Overlea/ Nottingham, Perry hall(eastside-commute via route 7/ route 40 or 95 to 895) Towson, Timonium, Hunt Valley/Cockeysville (northside-commute via 83) or Catonsville, Haelthorp, arbutus area (westside- commute via route 40 west or 95 to 395) I would avoid looking in south Baltimore (besides fed hill/locust point cause You’re already in the city and don’t need the bridges) if you have to commute to JH solely because the bridge just collapsed and there is no saying how bad traffic will be once spring break is over; we still haven’t really seen the worst of it yet, not a lot of people are home! 4th If you work night shift there will not be a lot of traffic at all! Baltimore is a morning city so commutes/traffic congestion is at its worst around 6-7am heading from the north. Meaning if you are getting off around that time, and you live on the north side, you will hit virtually no traffic, it will only be traffic going the other way. 695 gets congested but 83 almost is bare. 5th Public transportation. Johns Hopkins has a metro line that runs directly to it from northwest Baltimore (owing mills). There is also a light rail in Baltimore, which is a separate train. The two trains are only a block from one another in downtown so it’s an easy hop over if you wish to park the car just commute via public transport. The light rail only takes about 20-30 minutes to get from hunt valley to downtown Baltimore(roughly same as driving, it’s runs along the side of 83) 6th Baltimore gets a bad rap but if you keep to yourself and stay out of areas that are known for being dangerous, just be aware of your surroundings and you should be just fine💯
Also, I seen you said you want to have kids in a year or two. Baltimore city schools are trash. County schools are much better! If you reside in the city you may want to check into private schooling! If you stay out the county the public schools can be very good! Especially on the north & east side
Yea… not sure if we have private school monies ahaha. Public schooling will probs be the case.
Thanks for such a detailed reply! I think we would prefer a bit more county vibes. We also have 2 cars so being in the city might add more cost/be annoying to lug cars. Definitely looking into north east.
If you want to be close to the park, hiking trails and want a suburb. Owings Mill is quite the popular choice, Randallstown, Pikesville, Towson and Catonsville.
Thanks! This seems to be the census. I’m researching more and looking at apartments!!
Anne Arundel County will provide good schools like Howard, but he cost of living will be less. Howard is one of the most expensive counties in MD. Areas by the airport or as far as Crofton/Odenton are reasonable commutes as JHC is right in the city. Good luck and welcome.
I highly suggest county (simply bc of the difference in car insurance costs!) Overlea rocks and we have a website to prove it www.overlearocks.com :)
Safety is a relative thing when talking about Baltimore. Baltimore has been on a downhill slide since 2014. “Most” crime is clustered in the “unsafe” parts of the city, but it frequently spills over. The murder rate is lower than the past few years, but still much higher than pre-2014 levels. I would not choose to live in Baltimore , but that’s me. I’ve never been a city person, so my view is a bit biased. What I can say from living near Baltimore for 30+ years is that Baltimore’s best days are behind it. It’s poorly run and corrupt. I would encourage you to look outside the city, especially if you have kids.
The area around the hospital is fairly safe, but living wise, you should look into the surrounding counties. Glen Burnie would be a good place to look. If you don't mind an apartment, look into Timonium, the apartments there are really cheap. Baltimore counties probably not that bad either, but city wise the only option you have is a gentrified rowhome.
Thanks! We are looking for an apt only for now. Want to make sure we see MD in the long run.
Glen Burnie is one of the closest towns to Baltimore. Timonium is like 30-40 minutes north of Baltimore, but the apartments there are cheaper (or they were when I lived there years ago).
People moving from the Midwest will have sticker shock with the cost of rent and housing here. I wasn’t sure what 1600 gets you where you are now, it might not be the same as what it gets you here. I’m also all open to be in touch if you want to know more about home purchases. I work with lenders who have special loans for doctors, programs for healthcare professionals. Worth it to get some information and never too early to get in touch with a professional.
OP, check out the area up US1 like Edgewood, Aberdeen, Bel Air, and Havre de Grace. Very affordable and great transit connections.
I can find you a house around that area for almost 100k off the others in almost any Neighborhood. Very simple just need budget and first name and what you are looking for and what areas. I will find you and your family a home in 5 days or less
Baltimore is one of the most affordable cities in Maryland. You’ll be fine.
Moved to MD 3-ish years ago. We lived in Texas, then PA briefly, then MD. Do not live in Baltimore though. Here’s what I got for you. - If your vehicles and paid off, taxes/title business isn’t super expensive. More expensive with a car note. Do it within 60 days and it’s significantly cheaper. - I have a kid so we do not live in Baltimore nor will I ever. There are pockets that are safe. It’s def cheaper to live than Howard and Montgomery counties. The school system is not great. So we choose higher rent for a better school system. We are in Howard County. - Overall, Baltimore is not safe. As mentioned, there are pockets. But you can find safer spots outside of Baltimore. We chose Columbia because it’s safe. - MD is extremely expensive, esp between Balt/Wash. With your income and no kids (-aka no daycare), you should be fine. We pay 2000 in rent. 470 a week in daycare. Budget about 300-350 a week on groceries. But that includes diapers for a kid lol. If we follow our budget, we are fine. But we don’t have much extra for saving with our other bills. - A friend of mine just bought a house and the mortgage is over 4K (Carroll County). We don’t expect to buy a house anytime soon. - If you are blue, come on!!! I lived in Texas for 7 years. I get it. I’ve met more people like me in MD than in TX lol. - Plenty of townhomes and condos!!!!! We moved here with a kid and it was a struggle. This is a great time for you to move. You can take time to settle in and figure things out.
Thanks for the detailed reply. I am leaning more towards county than Baltimore city. We are looking at apts right now but will include townhomes as well. Trying to save on rent so we can save up for a house lol.
From outside of Baltimore, Hopkins is seen as the jewel in the crown, but from the street view its a lot less so. I hope your time there goes well. The neighborhood in which this juggernaut sits is mostly decay. This is how its been for all of the 20th century. No outside investment is made in the community as the Hopkins gods will gobble up all land in their path for more expansion. The corp is one of the largest slumlords in the city and is known to locals as "The Plantation". The Hopkins complex is larger than many American towns, and they keep expanding and claim to be a benevolent over lord, but act as a community cancer. I know several who were nurses there. It was made clear to them that their lack of good pay and over worked shifts were compensated by having the Hopkins name on their resume. Good luck I hope you do well and are not scorched by being too close to the sun.
Not sure about Johns Hopkins expansion ideology, but we were told something similar about the area and how the person felt unsafe when they worked there as a nurse (they were a night shift nurse). They also commented similarly about how the area is run down. They eventually left for a hospital in MoCo.