Mac McCord, RE/MAX Realty Center here. Today, we're talking about the cost of living in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

All right. Here's the rundown on Gaithersburg, Maryland. It's located just about 25 miles, just outside of Washington, DC. There are about 67,000 people who live in Gaithersburg. Based on the section of Gaithersburg that you live in, the area feel can be different neighborhood to neighborhood.

niche.com has got a lot of good things to say about Gaithersburg as well. According to them, it is the most diverse place to live in the state of Maryland, it is the most diverse suburb in the state of Maryland, and it is the 13th best place for young professionals to live. If you're looking for a great place based on what niche.com has to say, you might want to check it out.

So first up is real estate. 51% of residents in Gaithersburg do own their homes. Median home values is about $392,000, which is quite a bit above the national average. Median rents are at over $1,700, which puts you just about $700 over the national average as well. So long story short, it's not cheap to live here when it comes to housing and real estate.

This is one of the major things that brings a lot of people to the area; work, jobs, professions. There are a lot of employers around here, not only just in Gaithersburg, but in the surrounding areas as well. You'll have different things like NIST, which is a huge employer right in Gaithersburg.

It also has AstraZeneca, Leidos (which used to be Lockheed Martin), Sodexo, and Adventist HealthCare, and Kaiser Permanente. Let me not forget them. There are other employers out there in the area who do employ a lot of other people as well, but these just seem to be some of the bigger and more popular in the area.

Median household income is just below $90,000 where the national average being in the mid 60s. And then the median individual income is at $41,000, which is about $10,000 above the national average. So, we got the national averages beat when it comes to making money here in Gaithersburg.

Transportation. Transportation is key in the DMV because let's face it, you got to get from point A to point B around here. There is traffic. There are things that are not desirable about the area, the amount of traffic being one of them.

Fortunately, in Gaithersburg you are right off of 270, and that is pretty much a main hub that takes you right from the beltway all the way out to I-70 out in Frederick. 355 is good because it runs parallel to I-270. The only issue, there's lights and stuff. But other than that, it gets you from point A to point B just like 270.

Then the other major roadway, the new kid on the block, the Intercounty Connector, Maryland 200, which pretty much takes you from Gaithersburg out to Laurel, which connects you to I-95. It just kind of makes it a straight shot right across. So it's really a godsend if you have to get out towards Laurel or out towards I-95.

Now, with all of these roadways and highways and byways, gas. And gas right now is sitting just above $3. I think right now it's averaging right around $3.10 as of the time of this article.

Public transit is also a popular way to get around Gaithersburg. You're going to have the Ride On bus system, which is going to be $2 per ride, or about $45 per month for a monthly pass. You're going to have the Shady Grove Metro which is the red line, which will take you between Gaithersburg and DC. You have Metrobus and MetroAccess as well. These are all public systems to help you get around Montgomery County, the state of Maryland, and just the area in general.

Taxes. Now, according to smartasset.com, the average tax rate in Montgomery County is 0.94%. With the median household being at $392,000, that's going to put you at about $3,600 per year on your taxes. Now, these are just estimates. Make sure that you contact your local assessment office to see exactly what the tax rate is on any potential property that you have an interest in, before you make a decision to purchase.

Shopping. There are a lot of different grocery stores in Gaithersburg, but I just picked these three because they're pretty popular ones in the area. We have Giant, we have Whole Foods, and we have Harris Teeter. If you're looking for a popular area that has both what you're looking for in terms of a suburban setting, or if you're looking for something that's in more of an urban setting to where you can walk to all the grocery stores, bars, restaurants, and whatever else you need, you might want to check out Gaithersburg. 🤷🏾‍♂️I'm just saying.

Click HERE for more info on the real estate market in Gaithersburg, MD.

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