Baltimore ranks among most affordable travel getaways under $300

Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun

Entrepreneur magazine named Baltimore second on a list of "Hot Startup Cities That Aren't San Francisco or New York," emphasizing its concentration of companies working in the education field. Left to right, Lee Jokl, Butchers Hill, CFO and Saad Alam, Federal Hill, CEO, founders of Citelighter, which offers a K-12 writing program.

Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun

Maryland was named third for green building activity in 2014 by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun

The University of Maryland's mall has been named among the top college campus quads in the country by Business Insider. The list noted the University's library and the statue of Testudo.

David Goldman / AP

Baltimore came in at No. 67 on WalletHub.com's list for best cities for recreation.

Doug Kapustin/MCT

Financial magazine Forbes released its 50 most valuable sports franchise list July 16, 2014, with the Ravens checking in at No. 19, behind eight NFL teams but ahead of the Steelers. According to Forbes, the Ravens are valued at $1.227B with the Steelers at $1.118B at No. 27.

DOUG KAPUSTIN / Baltimore Sun

Baltimore comes in at No. 17 on the list of most stressed cities in the United States, according to WalletHub.com

Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun

In October, 2014, Zoosk released the results of a study of how more than 1 million singles date by state. In the study, Maryland was named the Most Educated State. According to the study, daters in Maryland are 48 percent more likely than the national average to have a graduate degree.

Kaitlin Newman / Baltimore Sun

Travel website Atlas Obscura called Baltimore America's most eccentric city in 2016, citing such factors as Edgar Allan Poe's gravesite and the naming site of the Ouija board.

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun

TripAdvisor.com ranked the top 10 MLB ballparks according to the TripAdvisor Popularity Index in 2014. Oriole Park at Camden Yards ranked No. 2 and earned a 4.5 out of 5 rating. It was praised for its convenient location and "old-time appearance."

Algerina Perna, Baltimore Sun

Royal Farms Arena was named the top-grossing venue of its size in the U.S. for 2015 by Billboard magazine.

Kaitlin Newman, Baltimore Sun

In August, 2014, TripAdvisor announced its Travelers' Choice awards for zoos and aquariums and the National Aquarium in Baltimore was named the No. 7 aquarium in the U.S. Awards are based on reviews from TripAdvisor travelers.

Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun

Johns Hopkins Hospital has been through this before. Two years ago, it fell to No. 2 in the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings, regaining the top spot last year. It earned the No. 3 spot in 2014.

Steve Ruark / For The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood was named No. 8 on real estate site Redfin's list of "Hottest Neighborhoods of 2016."

Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun

U.S. News & World Report published its eighth annual ranking of the Best Children's Hospitals in June, 2014, and Johns Hopkins Children's Center is ranked 10th overall.

Baltimore Sun photo by Steve Ruark

Men's Journal has included the historic Senator Theatre in its 2014 rundown of the world's top movie theaters, saying the theater "maintains much of its historic charm."

Erin Kirkland, Baltimore Sun

Maryland jumped to 2nd place last year in a ranking of environmentally friendly building activity. In 2013, the U.S. Green Building Council said it approved 119 commercial or institutional projects in Maryland for certification under Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design or LEED standards.

Doug Kapustin, Baltimore Sun

College Pride released its 2014 Top 50 list of LGBT-friendly colleges and universities (organized alphabetically) and University of Maryland, College Park is included. The listing is based on a national benchmarking tool that assesses LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices.

Nanine Hartzenbusch, Baltimore Sun

Maryland ranks No. 6 in the nation for the best chance to achieve the American dream according to a study released by Estately. Parameters considered included average hours worked, ease of buying a home and unemployment rate. Minnesota was ranked No. 1.

Shan Gordon, Baltimore Sun

Apparently just the not-yet-trademarked-or-patented phrase "Hey hon," gives our city the quirks. Boost the weird with the American Visionary Arts Museum and Atomic Books and we're still not quirky enough to be no. 1.

Gabriella Demczuk, Baltimore Sun

TravelChannel.com ranked Annapolis among the top 10 best all-American vacations for 2015, calling Annapolis the "epitome of classic Americana."

Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun

Johns Hopkins University earned the 12-place position for national universities in the U.S. News and World Report annual rankings released in 2014. Hopkins fell between Dartmouth and Northwestern on the list.

Hamilton Photography, Baltimore Sun

TheKnot.com ranked Baltimore as the 19th most expensive place to get married in the U.S. in 2014, coming in at a whopping average of $34,409 per wedding. Manhattan came in as the most expensive. D.C. ranked 12th.

JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP/Getty Images

Forbes ranked Baltimore as the No. 4 city where African-Americans are doing the best economically, citing a median household income of $53,231 and a home-ownership rate of 44.6 percent.

Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun

Out of 200 cities ranked for safe driving by Allstate, Baltimore came in dead last.

Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun

Summertime smog levels in Harford and Prince George's counties are still among the worst in the country, according to the American Lung Associations 15th assessment of the nation's air quality. Harford Co. had the 13th worst ozone levels of any county in the nation, and Prince George's ranked 21st. At the same time, the lung association rated Harford as being among the 25 "cleanest" counties when it comes to particle pollution. Pictured: The Chalk Point Power Plant in Prince George's County, 2004

Gabriella Demczuk / Baltimore Sun

In December, 2014, Travel & Leisure rated Annapolis, home to the Naval Academy and St. John's College, as 14th among so recommended college towns. The towns' live music, pizza, dive bars and hamburgers were taken into consideration.

Jeffrey F. Bill, Baltimore Sun

U.S. News & World Report has named five Baltimore County high schools on its list of top public high schools in 2014. Eastern Technical and Towson high schools earned gold medals. Western School of Technology and Environmental Science (pictured), Loch Raven and Patapsco and Center for the Arts earned silver medals.

Kim Hairston, Baltimore Sun

For the eighth year in a row, Maryland is No. 1 in the nation in the percentage of graduates who have passed at least one Advanced Placement exam, according to a report released in February 2014 by the College Board.

Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun

Baltimore, Towson and Columbia combined to rank No. 18 on the national list of most educated cities, as compiled by WalletHub.com

Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun

A new survey says that Baltimore drivers are among the rudest in the nation. According to the 2014 Driver's Seat Road Rage Survey, sponsored by roadside assistance company AutoVantage, Baltimoreans are the third least courteous drivers in the country.

Jerry Jackson, Baltimore Sun

Baltimore ranked 9th on Orkin's 2014 list of 20 Rattiest Cities, based on places where Orkin performed the most rodent treatments. The top three cities were: Chicago, Los Angeles and D.C.

Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun

Kiplinger's, a personal finance magazine, says Baltimore is the 6th best city to fly solo, in a report released February 2014. Also, according to real estate site Zillow, Baltimore is a great place to be single. Baltimore came in 8th, ahead of Philly and Richmond.

Jed Kirschbaum / Baltimore Sun

24/7 Wall St. has named Cumberland as Maryland's Laziest City in its nationwide list. Maryland > Laziest city: Cumberland > Pct. of city residents reporting physical activity: 69.9% > Pct. of state residents reporting physical activity: 77.1% > Obesity rate: 29.3% > City population: 102,694

Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun

Zagat named Baltimore No. 2 on its list of 2015's best food cities, which focused on cities that "had the biggest growth spurt." Unfortunately for Ravens fans, Pittsburgh took the top spot.

Nanine Hartzenbusch, Baltimore Sun

The Natural Resources Defense Council has named beaches in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware among the cleanest in the U.S. Delaware's beaches ranked first in water quality. Maryland's beaches ranked fourth in beach water quality in the 2014 study.

Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun

According to a 2014 WalletHub study, Maryland ranks as one of the safest places for teen drivers. The 10 best states are: New York, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, Washington and Nevada.

Sun photo by Algerina Perna

The University of Maryland, College Park was included on a list of the "Top 25 LGBT-Friendly Colleges and Universities" released by national advocacy group Campus Pride in August 2013. The university, ranked ninth, was the only Maryland school to make the list.

Gene Sweeney Jr., Baltimore Sun

An analysis of traffic fatalities in the last decade found Baltimore was the nation's 28th most dangerous city for pedestrians, out of 51 metropolitan areas. The 2014 study by the National Complete Streets Coalition found 482 pedestrians were killed along roadways in the Baltimore region from 2003 to 2012.

Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun

ESPN Mike Sando polled a number of NFL sources and asked a total of 28 to grade each of the league's starting quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers), Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons), and Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys) were all ahead of Flacco who came in 12th.

Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun

Baltimore ranks No. 7 among U.S. cities in offering a healthy retirement living, according to a study by the Center for a Secure Retirement.

Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun

The American College of Sports Medicine has ranked Baltimore No. 25 on its annual Fit City Index for 2014. The Baltimore-Towson area scored 50.8 out of a possible 100. The Washington, D.C. metro area earned the top spot with a score of 77.3.

Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun

The 2014 American Fitness Index has ranked Baltimore 25th of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in terms of overall fitness.

Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun

Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol has named Maryland one of its top 10 Winningest States, coming in at No. 9 with $10.3 million in winnings.

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun

According to statistics released by the FBI in November, 2014, Baltimore had the fifth-highest murder rate in 2013 among major U.S. cities. Cities with the top murder rates were Detroit, New Orleans, Newark and St. Louis.

Robert K. Hamilton, Baltimore Sun

According to a WalletHub study, Baltimore was 2015's ninth worst city in which to be a driver. The ranking was based on such factors as average gas prices, annual traffic delays and car theft rates.

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun

Port Discovery Children's Museum has been named one of the 15 best children's museums in the U.S. by Parents Magazine.

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff

Betterdoctor.com ranked Baltimore the 12th healthiest city in America in its 2016 survey. Cities were evaluated on exercise rates, percentage of highly rated doctors and number of residents with health insurance. Minneapolis, Washington and Boston took the top three spots.

Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun

An ESPN poll of NFL front office personnel and coordinators had good things to say about Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who checks in among the top quarter of NFL head coaches. Harbaugh came in ninth in the August, 2014 poll conducted by ESPN's Mike Sando.

Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore Sun

NerdWallet.com ranked the most LGBT-friendly cities in the U.S. in May 2014. Findings were based on the following factors: Presence of gay community, LGBT-friendly laws and LGBT safety. Baltimore was ranked 13th.

Photo by Scott Serio, Patuxent Publishing

Havre de Grace has made Smithsonian Magazine's list of "The Best 20 Small Towns to Visit in 2014." The April 2014 edition of Smithsonian places Havre de Grace at No. 12 on the list, just behind Spring Green, Wisconsin and just ahead of Columbia, Pa.

Algerina Perna, Baltimore Sun

According to Money Magazine's 2014 ranking of small cities, Columbia and Ellicott City are among the top 10 best places to live.The two towns combined were recognized as the sixth best small city in the U.S. Among other Maryland cities, Rockville was ranked No. 24 and Bowie No. 28.

Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ranks among the world's best when it comes to her sartorial choices, according to Vanity Fair.

Ron Edmonds / Associated Press

WalletHub ranks Maryland at No. 50 in the U.S. in terms of the power of the residents' vote in a presidential election. Maryland ranks just behind Washington D.C., and ahead of just one state: No. 51 California. Read more.

Baltimore Sun

Real estate blog Movoto picked Columbia (pictured) 6th in its "Top 10 Most Caring Suburbs in America" list. Silver Spring was No. 1, and Frederick finished fifth. Ellicott City ranked 39th.

Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun

TomTom Traffic Index ranked Baltimore the 28th worst traffic-congested city in March 2015. The study found Baltimore-area drivers with a 30-minute commute average an extra 64 hours per year stuck in traffic. Los Angeles was No. 1.

Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun

The National Wildlife Foundation ranked Baltimore as No. 4 in the top 10 cities for wildlife in 2015. Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Atlanta were the top three.

Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun

In Fodor's 2014 list of the 15 best waterfront cities, Baltimore actually made the cut among such other notable spots as Venice, Amsterdam and New Orleans. Cities were chosen based on their unique personalities centered on waterfronts where visitors can enjoy local fare and catch scenic views.

Kim Hairston, Baltimore Sun

Johns Hopkins University (pictured) was ranked the second best college for food in America on thedailymeal.com. In addition to considering healthy food and sustainability options, the food scene of the surrounding area was considered.

Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun

Mid-Atlantic residents had the most credit card complaints per capita, with Maryland ranked overall in the U.S. as the state with the third highest number of complaints, according to a 2014 study by consumer website ValuePenguin.

Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun photo

From the early-morning runners and bicyclists to the wee-hour celebrants, visitors to Ocean City flock to the three-mile boardwalk. It's what makes Ocean City more than a beach, providing solid footing for people-watching, ocean-gazing, roller-skating, eating and playing. Visit the Life-Saving Station Museum or Ripley's Believe it or Not, check out the rides at Trimper's, and grab some grub. Free concerts and movies keep the fun going after the sun sets. Runner-up: Jolly Roger Amusement Park

Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun

Flipkey.com gives Baltimore a 4.97 rating out of 5 in its list of the top 50 vacation rental destinations.

Colby Ware, Baltimore Sun

In August, 2014, Billboard Magazine released its list of the 25 most popular music clubs in the U.S. and The Fillmore Silver Spring was ranked No. 12. It was previously ranked No. 15.

Elizabeth Malby, Baltimore Sun

It takes nearly 31 minutes on average to get to or from work in the Baltimore region, the sixth-longest commute in the country, according to the analysis of 2013 Census survey data. Only workers in New York, Washington, Southern California and San Francisco face longer average commutes.

Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun

In March 2014, GQ named the country's best airport beer bars and included DuClaw Brewing Company at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun

On Forbes' annual list of "The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams," the Ravens ranked 24th at $1.5 billion.  (Pictured: President Dick Cass, Owner Steve Bisciotti and Head Coach John Harbaugh, left to right)

Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun

According to a 2014 Gallup poll, "nowhere is the desire to move more prevalent than in Illinois and Connecticut. In both of these states, about half of residents say that if given the chance to move to a different state, they would like to do so. Maryland is a close third, at 47 percent."

Patrick Smith, Baltimore Sun

Bel Air has been recognized as one of the top small communities in the nation, according to a survey conducted by Livability.com. Bel Air was ranked 42nd on the site's list, "Top 100 Best Small Towns" for 2015.

Kim Hairston, Baltimore Sun

A June 2014 ranking of urban "walkability" in major metropolitan areas found Baltimore will likely lose ground to other cities in coming years as positive downtown growth continues to be offset by suburban development geared toward driving.

Baltimore Sun

Apparently, readers of Travel+Leisure don't find Charm City too charming. Baltimore came in at No. 8 of 30 in the magazine's annual ranking of "the world's unfriendliest cities."

Weyman Swagger, Baltimore Sun

The Carroll Hospital Center was named one of the Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America in January 2014 by Healthiest Employers, an employee health analytics company, according to a hospital news release.

Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun

According to GoBankingRates.com, Baltimore ranks no. 8 among the 10 most affordable cities for summer getaways. The ranking is based heavily on airfare with a round-trip flight to Baltimore coming in at just $272.83, according to data from CheapOair. The website notes the city is full of fun and affordable things to do. At the top of its list: Walters Art Museum (free); Oriole Park at Camden Yards (cheap); and Fort McHenry National Monument (cheap and free for most kids).

Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun

Baltimore didn't fare so well in Apartment List's ranking of the best U.S. cities for families in 2016, receiving a D grade. The study analyzed violent crime rates, housing costs, school quality, and children population rates. Allen, Texas ranked first overall, and St. Louis came in last.

Matthew Paul D'Agostino, For The Baltimore Sun

Daily Beast travel writer Brandon Presser named Baltimore to his list of 2016's hottest destinations, citing the American Visionary Art Museum, above, for setting "the tone for the city's quirky-cool vibe."

William L. Klender / Baltimore Sun

Baltimore workers spend 42.34 hours at work weekly, and 4.51 hours on the road, for a total of 47.25 hours dedicated to work weekly, according to a study by NYC's Scott M. Stringer.

Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore Sun

U.S. News and World Report ranked the Johns Hopkins University's School of Education No. 1 in the nation for graduate education programs in March 2014, above two state programs better known as teaching schools: University of Maryland, College Park at No. 26 and Towson University at No. 116.

Jerry Jackson, Baltimore Sun

A Spanish business school says Baltimore is the world's 20th "smartest" city -- smarter, by their reckoning, than Rome, Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, all of Canada and anywhere in Africa. We are only a tick less smart than Chicago, which came in 19th.

Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun

In October 2014, BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport was rated the best U.S. airport for healthful meal options by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Baltimore Sun

Livability.com released its 2014 list of the top 100 cities, naming Madison, Wis.; Rochester, Minn. and Arlington, Va. as the top three most livable cities. But some Maryland spots also made the list. Rockville is ranked No. 19, Frederick No. 32 and Towson No. 42.