Preston, Maryland.
Typical home $333,744 (+1.0% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$919 (+110%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $3,313 +1%
- $330,431$333,744 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $48,841 +17%
- $284,903$333,744 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Preston$1,752
- Maryland$2,230
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 22 years.
Typical home values in Preston, MD rose 1.0% over the past year — in step with the nation.
Living in Preston, Caroline County, Maryland
Preston is a town of 673 people in Caroline County. Unemployment in Caroline County was 3.6% in August 2026, and the county had 2.5% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Preston is a small town in Caroline County, Maryland, home to a small community where most people know their neighbors. Residents are somewhat younger than in many small towns, and few households live below the poverty line. Winters are cold, with some snow, and summers are hot, with rain and melted snow spread through the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in the building trades, and in professional and business services. Some of the largest workplaces across Caroline County are Caroline County Public Schools, Walmart and Denton Nursing & Rehab. A fair number of people work from home, and the typical commute is a moderate drive.
Things to do. Several rivers lie a short drive away, including the Transquaking River, and Tanyard Branch is close by as well. A longer drive brings you to Martinak State Park, a protected area, and to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. The Avalon Theatre is also a longer drive away.
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- 25%of adults have a degree
- 4%below the poverty line
- 27 mintypical commute
- 16%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Caroline County had 9,016 jobs in 2025, 2.5% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 45° and lows near 29°; warmest in July, with highs near 88° and lows near 70°. About 14 inches of snow and 48 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Royal Oak Ssw weather station, 15 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Caroline County
- Caroline County Public SchoolsSchool district930FTE
- County Commissioners of Caroline County341
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters324
- Service TodayPlumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors164
- Denton Nursing & RehabSkilled nursing facilities130
- Lywood ElectricElectrical wiring contractors128
- TRI GAS & OIL457210 fuel dealers103
- Hub GroupSpecialized freight trucking, local90
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 18 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,753 people in all across the county; Preston has none of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Strong windRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- DroughtRelatively moderate
- Coastal floodingRelatively moderate
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Preston’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Caroline County.
Preston home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Preston$333,744
- Maryland$424,890
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Preston listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Preston22.84%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Preston25
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Preston7
Zip codes with a Preston address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Preston — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.