Living in Montgomery County: towns, schools and homes

Living in Montgomery County

Montgomery County was formed in 1776 out of Frederick County. The Maryland Manual describes its edges as Frederick County to the northwest, the Patuxent River to the northeast, and the Potomac River and the District of Columbia to the south. Across the Potomac are Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia. Carroll and Howard counties touch the north and northeast, and Prince George's County lies to the southeast. Rockville is the county seat. The county has had a charter government since 1948 and an elected county executive since 1970, with an 11-member County Council.

Most of the county is unincorporated. Bethesda, Silver Spring, Germantown, Wheaton, Olney, Clarksburg, Damascus and Montgomery Village have no city government, so the county handles zoning, permits and police there. The county also has 19 incorporated municipalities, from the cities of Rockville, Gaithersburg and Takoma Park to small towns and villages such as Kensington, Poolesville, Garrett Park, Glen Echo, Somerset and the several Chevy Chase municipalities. Brookeville, incorporated in 1808, is the oldest. A municipality can levy its own property tax on top of the county's.

I-270 is the spine. It runs from the Capital Beltway near Bethesda through Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown and Clarksburg toward Frederick, with the Metro Red Line and MARC trains following the same general path. To the north, west and east, about a third of the county's land sits in the Agricultural Reserve, set aside by the County Council in 1980. Deborah Green, a REALTOR with LPT Realty licensed in Maryland since 2002, works with buyers, sellers, investors and people relocating across the county.

Homes and property types in Montgomery County

The oldest housing sits in the historic town centers. Kensington began in the early 1890s as a planned Victorian community, and its core was listed on the National Register as the Kensington Historic District in 1980. Takoma Park, founded in 1883, grew as one of the first planned Victorian commuter suburbs; much of old Takoma is on the National Register as the Takoma Park Historic District. Poolesville, incorporated in 1867, has its own National Register district. Rockville grew fast after World War II, when it annexed the Twinbrook subdivision in 1949.

Planned communities shaped the middle of the county. Montgomery Village began in 1962 on the old Walker Farm near Gaithersburg, with the Montgomery Village Foundation, incorporated in 1966, providing services and covenants. Germantown follows a 1974 master plan built around a downtown and six villages: Gunners Lake, Kingsview, Churchill, Middlebrook, Clopper's Mill and Neelsville. Kentlands in Gaithersburg, begun in 1988 on the former Kent property and designed by the firm behind Seaside, Florida, mixes town houses, detached homes and live-work buildings on Main Street.

New construction follows the county's plans. Clarksburg's 1994 master plan laid out a new town at the north end of I-270, and it has added most of the county's recent subdivisions, though the County Council limited building near Ten Mile Creek in 2014 to protect a drinking water source. Dense apartment and condo buildings keep rising around Metro stations such as Bethesda and Silver Spring, and Montgomery Village's former golf course is being redeveloped with single-family homes and town houses.

Age and location set the inspection list. Victorian and early 1900s houses near Kensington, Takoma Park and the Chevy Chase towns may have older wiring, plumbing and foundations. Ranches and colonials from the 1950s and 1960s often need a look at the roof, windows, HVAC and basement drainage. A house in Damascus, Poolesville's surroundings or the Agricultural Reserve may run on a private well and septic system. Montgomery Planning designates historic sites and districts, so ask whether a house is designated before you plan exterior work.

Towns and communities in Montgomery County

The places below are a mix of incorporated cities and towns, which have their own elected government, and unincorporated communities, which the county governs directly. Mailing addresses often cross those lines. A Rockville or Gaithersburg address can sit outside city limits. Check the municipal boundary for any address before you compare taxes, water service or permits.

Rockville

Incorporated city, county seat, chartered in 1860. Metro at Rockville and Twinbrook, MARC at Rockville, a redeveloped Town Center, and its own water and sewer for most of the city.

Gaithersburg

Incorporated as a town in 1878 and a city in 1968. Includes Kentlands and Quince Orchard, with MARC stops at Old Town Gaithersburg and Metropolitan Grove.

Takoma Park

Incorporated city on the D.C. line along Eastern Avenue, wholly in Montgomery County since 1997. Victorian-era houses, a National Register district and rent stabilization since 1981.

Kensington

Incorporated town since 1894 with a historic district, Antique Row, and an 1891 railroad station that is now a MARC stop.

Poolesville

Incorporated town since 1867, surrounded by the Agricultural Reserve, governed by five commissioners. The town draws its water from its own wells.

Bethesda

Unincorporated. Downtown high-rises around the Bethesda Metro station, Bethesda Row and the Woodmont Triangle, with older detached homes beyond. NIH and Walter Reed sit just north.

Silver Spring

Unincorporated, on the D.C. line. Downtown apartments and condos near the Metro, MARC and Paul Sarbanes Transit Center, and detached-home neighborhoods to the north and east.

Germantown

Unincorporated, built under a 1974 master plan of six villages. Town houses, single-family homes and garden apartments along I-270, with a MARC station on the Brunswick Line.

Clarksburg

Unincorporated, at the north end of I-270, where most building has happened since 2000 under the 1994 master plan. Home to Little Bennett Regional Park and Clarksburg Premium Outlets.

Olney

Unincorporated, centered where Georgia Avenue (MD 97) meets MD 108. Farmland until the 1960s, now mostly subdivisions, with Olney Theatre, founded in 1938.

Damascus

Unincorporated, at the crossing of MD 27, MD 108 and MD 124 in the upper county, with farms around it. Incorporated as a town from 1890 to 1914.

Schools and boundaries

Montgomery County Public Schools is the one public school system for the whole county, inside and outside the incorporated towns. The cities and towns do not run their own schools. Each address is assigned to an elementary, middle and high school, and MCPS keeps a School Assignment Tool on its website for checking an address.

Boundaries are changing. On March 26, 2026, the Board of Education approved new high school and middle school boundaries tied to reopening Charles W. Woodward High School, expanding Northwood High School, moving Thomas S. Wootton High School to the Crown Farm site and expanding Damascus High School. The board also adopted a regional approach to secondary programs that splits the county into six regions. These changes take effect in fall 2027. Confirm the assignment for the exact address before you count on a school.

Montgomery Blair High School

Serves part of Silver Spring and hosts the countywide Science, Mathematics and Computer Science magnet, which opened in 1985.

Richard Montgomery High School

In Rockville, home to the countywide International Baccalaureate program established in 1987, with admission by application.

Poolesville High School

A whole-school magnet with four houses: Global Ecology, Humanities, Science Math and Computer Science, and the Independent Studies Program for students who live in its area.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman and Walter Johnson

The three high schools that serve Bethesda. Walter Johnson's area is affected by the reopening of Woodward High School.

Charles W. Woodward High School

Reopening as its own high school under the March 2026 decision, with boundaries drawn from schools around North Bethesda and Rockville.

Northwest, Clarksburg and Seneca Valley

The high schools that serve Germantown and Clarksburg along upper I-270.

Gaithersburg, Quince Orchard and Watkins Mill

The high schools that serve the City of Gaithersburg and nearby areas.

Albert Einstein High School

On Newport Mill Road in Kensington; the public high school that serves the Town of Kensington.

Sherwood, Magruder and James Hubert Blake

Olney's elementary and middle schools feed into these three high schools, depending on the address.

What it costs to own here beyond the price

Every owner pays Montgomery County property tax, and an owner inside one of the 19 municipalities may also pay that city's or town's tax on the same bill. SDAT sets the assessed value. If the house is your principal residence, apply to SDAT for the Homestead Property Tax Credit, which limits how much the taxable assessment can rise each year under a cap the county sets by resolution. The county's own Income Tax Offset Credit, shown on bills as the County Property Tax Credit, also requires a Homestead application on file. The county's tax credit page says the Homestead credit does not apply in the first year after a purchase.

Lower-income owners can apply to SDAT for the state Homeowners' Property Tax Credit, and that application also qualifies them for the Montgomery County Supplement, which applies to the county share of the bill. At closing, a Maryland purchase carries a state transfer tax, a county transfer tax and a county recordation tax. A first-time Maryland buyer pays none of the buyer's share of the state transfer tax; the seller still pays its share. Ask the settlement company whether any county exemption for a principal residence applies to your purchase.

Water depends on the address. WSSC Water serves most of the county. The City of Rockville runs water and sewer for most of the city, with WSSC serving the rest, and the Town of Poolesville draws its water from town wells. Rural homes use private wells and septic systems. The county water and sewer plan gives each property a water category and a sewer category, W-1 to W-5 and S-1 to S-5, which shows whether public service is planned. Pepco serves most addresses, with Potomac Edison and BGE in parts of the county.

Many planned communities carry covenants and fees, from the Montgomery Village Foundation to the homeowners associations in Kentlands, Germantown and Clarksburg; read the documents before you sign. Ask whether the tax bill includes any front foot benefit or other water and sewer charge. If you plan to rent the house short term, the county requires a license from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs and generally requires that the home be your primary residence as listed by SDAT. For any lot near a creek or the Potomac, check the FEMA flood map.

Buying your first home in Montgomery County

Montgomery County has its own down payment program, run through the state. The Montgomery Homeownership Program is offered through the Maryland Mortgage Program to MMP borrowers buying in the county. It reopened on July 21, 2026, and takes reservations until its funds are committed, so ask a participating lender whether it is still open when you are ready to buy.

The state's first-time buyer rule matters at settlement here too. If no buyer on the deed has ever owned a principal residence in Maryland, the buyer's share of the state transfer tax is waived, as long as the home will be your principal residence and title goes to individuals instead of a trust or company. Deborah runs free seminars for first-time buyers and can walk you through these programs and the steps before an offer.

MMP 1st Time Advantage

Run by the Maryland Mortgage Program with participating lenders; a 30-year fixed-rate loan for eligible first-time buyers, within the program's income limits.

MMP Flex loans

Maryland Mortgage Program 30-year fixed-rate loans that include extra funds for down payment and closing costs, through participating lenders.

Montgomery Homeownership Program

A zero-interest deferred second loan through MMP for down payment or closing costs, repaid when the home is sold, refinanced or transferred, or the first mortgage is paid off.

State first-time buyer transfer tax rule

Under Maryland law, a buyer who has never owned a Maryland principal residence pays none of the buyer's share of the state transfer tax; the seller still pays its share.

Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit program

Run by the county Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which handles buyer eligibility, seminars and certificates for MPDU homes offered for sale.

Parks, trails and things to do

Montgomery Parks runs more than 400 parks on close to 38,000 acres, and the state and the National Park Service add more along Seneca Creek and the Potomac. The C&O Canal towpath runs the length of the county's southern edge, with the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center in Potomac, where the park collects entrance fees and offers replica canal boat rides near the falls.

Black Hill Regional Park

More than 2,000 acres in Boyds on Little Seneca Lake, with canoe, kayak and rowboat rentals, a water trail and over 20 miles of trails.

Seneca Creek State Park

A 6,300-acre state park on Clopper Road in Gaithersburg that follows Seneca Creek for about 14 miles, with 90-acre Clopper Lake and Black Rock Mill from 1815.

Little Bennett Regional Park

About 3,700 acres on Frederick Road in Clarksburg, with a campground and more than 25 miles of natural surface trails.

Brookside Gardens

A 50-acre public display garden inside Wheaton Regional Park on Glenallan Avenue, known for Garden of Lights in winter.

C&O Canal and Great Falls

National Park Service land along the Potomac in Potomac, with the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center, canal boat rides and the Billy Goat Trail.

Capital Crescent Trail

A rail-trail on the former Georgetown Branch of the B&O, paved from Bethesda to Georgetown; the Bethesda to Silver Spring section is closed for Purple Line work.

Montgomery County Agricultural Fair

Held each August at the fairgrounds in Gaithersburg; the 2026 fair was the 77th, with a shuttle from the Montgomery College Rockville and Germantown campuses.

Getting around: DC, Baltimore and BWI

I-270 carries traffic from the Capital Beltway (I-495) near Bethesda north through Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown and Clarksburg to I-70 in Frederick. I-370 connects I-270 to the Shady Grove Metro station, and MD 200, the Intercounty Connector, is an electronic toll road from I-370 near Gaithersburg east to I-95 and US 1 in Laurel, the usual road toward BWI Marshall and Baltimore. US 29, MD 97 (Georgia Avenue) and MD 355 run north from the D.C. line.

The Metro Red Line has two branches in the county. The western branch stops at Shady Grove, Rockville, Twinbrook, North Bethesda (called White Flint until 2022), Grosvenor-Strathmore, Medical Center and Bethesda before Friendship Heights at the D.C. line. The eastern branch stops at Silver Spring, Forest Glen, Wheaton and Glenmont. MARC's Brunswick Line runs to Union Station with stops at Dickerson, Barnesville, Boyds, Germantown, Metropolitan Grove, Gaithersburg, Washington Grove, Rockville, Garrett Park, Kensington and Silver Spring.

County buses fill in the gaps. Ride On covers the county, and Flash runs on US 29 from the Silver Spring Transit Center to Briggs Chaney, with an express to Burtonsville and Downtown Columbia. The Purple Line light rail will link Bethesda and Silver Spring to College Park and New Carrollton; the state's contract target is December 30, 2027, and officials call the date dynamic. Large federal campuses sit inside the county: NIH and Walter Reed in Bethesda, and NIST in Gaithersburg.