Moving to
Kettering.

All Kettering data Compare Kettering

14,014people live here $126,938median household income▲ 57% above US $2,297median rent per month▲ 63% above US $418,500median home value▲ 26% above US

Kettering is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County, MD. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Kettering

Kettering is an unincorporated community in Maryland with household incomes running above the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, a highly educated workforce, and schools with smaller class sizes than the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Kettering deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, long average commutes, and cold winters.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes
Clean air
Highly educated workforce
Low student-teacher ratio

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Long commutes
Cold winters

How Kettering compares

Median household income

Kettering$126,938

Maryland avg$103,678

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Kettering$2,297

Maryland avg$1,705

US$1,413

Median home value

Kettering$418,500

Maryland avg$419,900

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Kettering

Based on Kettering's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$4,594

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $91,880 a year
29% of Kettering renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$83,700

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $41,850
Homes cost 3.3× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 63% above US

$2,297/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,297 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices run above average, with a median around $418,500. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $418,500 · 29% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.4% county unemployment

Unemployment in Prince George's County is 4.4%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Prince George's County (county-wide)

Safety

265 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Kettering doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Prince George's County Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs close to the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1919/100k · Policed by Prince George's County Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 57% above US

41 min average commute

Commutes run long, averaging 40.7 minutes, and that's just the average, meaning a lot of people are doing significantly more. This isn't a city where living far from the office is a comfortable bet. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 6% take public transit; 18% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

66%

Work from home

18%

Carpool

9.1%

Public transit

6.4%

Other

0.8%

Walk

0.4%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 86°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 26°F and snow a regular occurrence. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 16% above US

42% bachelor's degree or higher

The population is well-educated, with 42% holding college degrees. That points to a strong professional base and generally a healthy local economy.

Schools

3 public schools inside the boundary

There are 3 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 14:1, well below the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Fort Dupont Park (7 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Kettering's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,297/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (18% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget and people who dread long commutes.

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