<p>Howard County and Montgomery County have the best schools in Maryland…and the highest cost of living. </p>
<p>We live in Carroll County. Our schools rank 3 or 4 behind MontCo and HowCo, but our affordability is MUCH MUCH better. 20 miles west of Baltimore, 35 miles north of Washington, 175 miles (3 hours) from the ocean.</p>
<p>Our public universities are OK. UMCP is better than OK. And St. Mary’s College of Maryland is best of all. </p>
<p>As for private colleges, take your pick. Dozens (scores?) within 200 mile radius. </p>
<p>To be fair, we do have a couple known negatives: Not much diversity (95% white), and plenty of infrastructure growing pains as we evolve from rural to suburban.</p>