Anne Arundel County has the lower property tax bill and lower median sale prices. Howard County has a newer housing stock and a flat local income tax rate. They share a long border near Laurel, Jessup and Elkridge, so a lot of buyers end up looking at both, and the right pick usually comes down to commute, budget and the kind of house you want.
Below is the side by side we walk buyers through, with every number sourced and dated. For the full area overviews, see our Howard County page and our Anne Arundel County page.
At a glance
| Howard County | Anne Arundel County | |
|---|---|---|
| County property tax, per $100 of assessed value (FY2027) | $1.044 plus $0.206 fire and rescue tax | $0.968 (unincorporated) |
| State property tax, per $100 | $0.112 | $0.112 |
| Homestead credit cap (yearly limit on taxable assessment growth for owner-occupants) | 5% | 2% |
| Local income tax (2026) | 3.20% | 2.70% / 2.94% / 3.20% graduated |
| County transfer tax | 1.25% | 1.0% (plus 0.5% surcharge on sales of $1 million or more) |
| Median sale price, September 2026 (Bright MLS) | $615,000 (250 sales) | $503,000 (581 sales) |
| Median sale price, owner-occupied homes, July 2025 - June 2026 (SDAT) | $640,500 (2,948 sales) | $509,990 (6,197 sales) |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 33.7% | 26.2% |
| Homes built before 1980 | 25.5% | 44.9% |
| Land area | 251 square miles | 415 square miles |
| Average one-way commute, all workers | 28.5 minutes | 28.9 minutes |
Sources for the table: tax rates and homestead caps from the SDAT 2026-2027 tax rate table (as of October 2026); Howard’s fire and rescue rate from the Howard County budget FAQ (FY2026 figure; DLS shows Howard’s combined $1.25 rate unchanged for FY2027); income and transfer taxes from the Department of Legislative Services county tax rate tables (as of October 2026); September 2026 medians from Maryland REALTORS’ September 2026 housing statistics (Bright MLS data, current as of October 12, 2026); fiscal-year medians from SDAT’s fiscal 2026 median residential sales report, published October 1, 2026; housing age from the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey 1-year table B25034; land area and commute times from Census QuickFacts (2020 land area; 2020-2024 ACS commute).
Two notes on the money rows. Annapolis is its own city inside Anne Arundel, so homes there pay a city rate of $0.738 and a reduced county rate of $0.577 per $100, plus the state rate, per the same SDAT table. And the SDAT medians cover improved, owner-occupied sales across a full fiscal year, so they move slower than the monthly MLS numbers you see in the news.
What the tax difference looks like on a real bill
Take a home assessed at $500,000 with no credits:
- Howard County: $1.044 + $0.206 + $0.112 = $1.362 per $100. That’s $6,810 a year, or about $568 a month.
- Anne Arundel, outside Annapolis: $0.968 + $0.112 = $1.08 per $100. That’s $5,400 a year, or $450 a month.
That’s a gap of roughly $118 a month on the same assessment. On the other side of the ledger, Anne Arundel’s 2% homestead cap limits how fast an owner-occupant’s taxable assessment can climb each year, compared with 5% in Howard. If you’re buying, the homestead credit resets with the new owner, so look at the full assessed value, not the seller’s current bill. Our property tax guide explains how the cap and the credit work.
This is general information, not tax advice. Your own bill depends on your assessment and credits, so check with a CPA or the county finance office for your situation.
Commute anchors
Both counties sit between Baltimore and Washington. BWI (Linthicum, 21240) and Fort Meade (20755) are both Anne Arundel ZIP codes in the Census Bureau’s ZIP-to-county file. Drive times swing too much with time of day for us to quote one number, so here is what the published sources say.
The Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 estimate puts the average one-way commute at 28.5 minutes in Howard and 28.9 minutes in Anne Arundel (QuickFacts, as of October 2026). That’s close to a tie.
The train is where the counties differ. Anne Arundel has the MARC Penn Line, which runs weekdays and weekends. Howard’s stations are on the Camden Line, which runs weekdays only. From the MTA MARC timetables for Monday, October 26, 2026:
| Trip | Scheduled time | One-way fare |
|---|---|---|
| Odenton (Anne Arundel) to Washington Union Station | most trips about 30 to 35 minutes | $7 |
| Odenton to Baltimore Penn Station | about 35 minutes | $7 |
| BWI Rail Station (Anne Arundel) to Union Station | about 37 minutes | $8 |
| Dorsey (Elkridge, Howard) to Union Station | about 47 minutes | $8 |
| Savage (Howard) to Union Station | about 41 minutes | $7 |
Fares come from the MTA’s Penn Line and Camden Line fare charts, in effect since June 27, 2021. The Camden Line timetable listed 10 trains each way on that weekday and none on weekends. For the station-by-station version, read our post on living near a MARC station.
Housing types and what they cost
The two counties build differently, and it shows in the stock.
Howard County is younger. A third of its homes were built in 2000 or later, and only about a quarter predate 1980 (ACS 2024, table B25034). The single biggest decade is the 1980s, at 21.4% of homes, followed by the 1990s at 19.4%. About half of Howard’s housing is single-family detached (50.1%) and 23.0% is townhouses or other attached single-family homes, with most of the rest in apartment and condo buildings (ACS 2024 table B25024).
Anne Arundel has more of everything older and more detached houses: 58.6% single-family detached and 22.0% attached. Nearly 45% of its homes were built before 1980, including about 21% from the 1950s and 1960s. That age matters for buyers. A 1950s rancher or Cape Cod can come with original wiring, cast iron drains or an oil tank, which is why we push for a full inspection on older homes.
On price, SDAT’s fiscal 2026 report puts the median owner-occupied sale at $640,500 in Howard and $509,990 in Anne Arundel for July 2025 through June 2026 (published October 1, 2026). The spring quarter ran higher in both: $650,000 in Howard and $520,000 in Anne Arundel for April through June 2026. Anne Arundel also had more than twice as many sales, 6,197 against 2,948, so there is simply more inventory to choose from. The monthly numbers point the same way: in September 2026 the median sale was $615,000 in Howard and $503,000 in Anne Arundel, and homes went under contract in a median 12 and 15 days, per Maryland REALTORS.
To see what is on the market today, browse Howard County homes for sale or Anne Arundel County homes for sale. The Seven Oaks community in Odenton has its own search if you want to be near Fort Meade and the MARC.
Parks and outdoors
The biggest difference is water. Anne Arundel has more than 500 miles of shoreline on the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers, according to Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ county profile (as of October 2026). Howard County has no Bay frontage.
A few named places in each:
- Anne Arundel: Sandy Point State Park, a state park on the northwestern shore of the Bay in Annapolis, with swimming beaches that have lifeguards in summer. Quiet Waters Park, a county park in Annapolis.
- Howard: Centennial Park near Ellicott City, run by Howard County Recreation and Parks.
- Both: Patapsco Valley State Park runs along 32 miles of the Patapsco River and covers 16,043 acres, with sections touching Howard, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel (DNR, as of October 2026).
The county recreation departments list the rest: Howard County Recreation and Parks and Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks.
Rental licensing differences
If you might rent the home out later, or you’re buying it as a rental, the rules differ:
- Howard County requires a rental housing license from the Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits before you rent any dwelling unit, including a house or condo, and the license renews every two years (Howard County landlord-tenant guide; Maryland OneStop listing, as of October 2026).
- Anne Arundel County requires short-term rentals to register with the county, with a $100 fee for a two-year registration. Short-term rentals inside the City of Annapolis go through the city instead (Anne Arundel short-term rental registration form).
- Statewide in both: owners of rental homes built before 1978 must register them with the Maryland Department of the Environment under the lead poisoning prevention program.
Licensing rules change often, so we keep the county by county details in one place: see Maryland rental licenses by county. If you’re weighing a purchase as an investment, our investor page explains how we run the numbers.
Where the two counties meet
The county line and the post office don’t agree. Census Bureau ZIP-to-county records (2020 ZCTA relationship file) show:
- Hanover (21076) and Jessup (20794) each fall partly in Howard and partly in Anne Arundel.
- Laurel is split by ZIP: 20723 is in Howard County and 20724 is in Anne Arundel. The City of Laurel itself is in Prince George’s County, which is why it appears with the Prince George’s towns on the SDAT tax table.
- Elkridge (21075) is in Howard.
So “Laurel, MD 20724” and “Laurel, MD 20723” can be a few minutes apart and pay different county tax rates. Always check the county on the property record before you compare tax bills.
Schools
Each county has one public school district. In Howard it’s the Howard County Public School System; look up the assigned schools for any address with the HCPSS school locator. In Anne Arundel it’s Anne Arundel County Public Schools; use the AACPS school boundaries and locator page. Boundaries change, so check the specific address before you write an offer.
Bottom line
On the numbers alone, Anne Arundel costs less to buy into and less to own each year, and it has the Bay and a seven-day train line. Howard has newer homes on average and a simpler income tax.
If you want to compare specific houses on both sides of the line, tell us what you’re looking for and we’ll send listings with the tax rate and commute for each.
Sources
- Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, 2026-2027 Tax Rates and Homestead Credit Caps - checked October 26, 2026
- Maryland REALTORS, Housing Statistics, September 2026 (Bright MLS data) - checked October 26, 2026
- Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, Fiscal 2026 Median Residential Sales by Quarter (dated October 1, 2026) - checked October 26, 2026
- Department of Legislative Services, County tax rate tables, FY2022-FY2027 - checked October 26, 2026
- Howard County, Frequently asked budget questions - checked October 26, 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Howard and Anne Arundel counties - checked October 26, 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year tables B25034 and B25024 - checked October 26, 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 ZCTA to county relationship file - checked October 26, 2026
- Maryland Transit Administration, MARC Penn Line timetable and Camden Line timetable - checked October 26, 2026
- Maryland Transit Administration, Penn Line and Camden Line fare charts - checked October 26, 2026
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Patapsco Valley State Park and Sandy Point State Park - checked October 26, 2026
- Anne Arundel County Public Schools, About Anne Arundel County - checked October 26, 2026
- Howard County, Landlord-tenant guide; Maryland OneStop, Howard County rental housing license - checked October 26, 2026
- Anne Arundel County, Short-term rental registration - checked October 26, 2026
- Maryland Department of the Environment, Lead rental owners - checked October 26, 2026