Maryland's Best School Districts 2021: New Rankings Released

MARYLAND — Data compiler Niche has ranked Maryland's best school districts for the 2020-2021 school year.

Each Maryland school district received a letter grade in the following categories: Academics; Diversity; Teachers; College Prep; Clubs & Activities; Health & Safety; Administration; Sports; Food; and Resources & Facilities.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data, and ratings collected from Niche users. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

The top-ranked school district in Maryland is Howard County Public School. Niche gave the school system an A or an A+ in all categories except for administration (B+), resources and facilities (B), and food (C). Last year, Howard County was also No. 1.

Here are Maryland's top school districts, according to Niche.com:

1. Howard County Public Schools
2. Montgomery County Public Schools
3. Worcester County Public Schools
4. Carroll County Public Schools
5. Frederick County Public Schools
6. Calvert County Public Schools
7. Harford County Public Schools
8. Queen Anne's County Public Schools
9. Washington County Public Schools
10. St. Mary's County Public Schools
11. Caroline County Public Schools
12. Baltimore County Public Schools
13. Talbot County Public Schools
14. Anne Arundel County Public Schools
15. Charles County Public Schools
16. Cecil County Public Schools

Not ranked by Niche.com but given an overall letter grade by Niche:

• Wicomico County Public Schools, B-
• Kent County Public Schools, B-
• Allegany County Public Schools, B-
• Garrett County Public Schools, B-
• Baltimore City Public Schools, C
• Somerset County Public Schools, C-
• Prince George's County Public Schools, C-
• Dorchester County Public Schools, C-

Niche looked at more than 94,000 public schools, 4,100 private schools and nearly 11,000 school districts across the country. The rankings are meant to help parents and students find schools that best fit their needs.

"Unlike traditional school rankings, which rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance, Niche's rankings provide a real-life view of what it's like to attend a given school," the company said in a news release.