Sell Your Commercial Property In Anne Arundel County, MD

Who rents in Anne Arundel County

Anne Arundel County counted 224,748 occupied households in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey, and owners held the large majority at 168,852 households. Renters accounted for 55,896 households, a 24.9% share, well below many urban Maryland counties. Anne Arundel County's population reached 598,166, up 4.7% from 571,275 in the 2015-2019 survey, adding 26,891 residents.

Annapolis, the county seat, runs a far higher renter share than the county overall. The city counts 6,836 renter households, 38.0% of its occupied units. Glen Burnie, the county's largest community, holds 10,452 renter households, a 35.9% share. Together Annapolis and Glen Burnie anchor most of Anne Arundel County's apartment demand outside newer suburban subdivisions.

Rents, growth and affordability

Median gross rent in Anne Arundel County rose 24.5%, from $1,663 to $2,071, between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 surveys. Median household income grew even faster, up 23.9% to $124,911, among the highest levels in the Baltimore area. Employed residents in Anne Arundel County rose 4.9%, from 292,548 to 306,806.

Supply growth lagged both figures. Units in 5+ unit buildings in Anne Arundel County grew just 3.1%, adding 1,148 units since the 2015-2019 survey, while renter households grew 3.1% as well, up by 1,699. That tight pairing helps explain the county's 5.0% rental vacancy rate.

HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson MSA is $2,006, effective October 1, 2026. That benchmark runs $65 below Anne Arundel County's own $2,071 median gross rent, a sign of strong local demand. Rent burden remains high: 47.2% of Anne Arundel County renters paid 30% or more of income on gross rent in the 2020-2024 survey.

City-by-city comparison

Annapolis and Glen Burnie, the two largest communities tracked within Anne Arundel County, post sharply different vacancy rates despite similar apartment shares. Both cities carry a higher renter share than the 24.9% county figure, since Anne Arundel County's broader base includes many owner-occupied suburban areas.

Annapolis carries the higher rent of the two at $1,860, yet both cities sit below the $2,071 county median, since Anne Arundel County's figure also reflects newer, higher-rent construction outside either city. Glen Burnie's 2.9% vacancy rate is less than half of Annapolis's 6.6%, pointing to tighter lease-up conditions near Baltimore's southern edge. Both cities post nearly identical shares of units in 5+ unit buildings, near 30%, well above the 16.1% county-wide figure.

Property taxes and assessment in Anne Arundel County

Maryland assesses real property, including apartment buildings in Anne Arundel County, on a three-year cycle under Tax-Property Section 8-104(b)(1), with any increase in assessed value phased in over the following three years rather than applied all at once. Anne Arundel County and its municipalities then set their own tax rates against that phased-in assessed value, so a seller's current bill is not what a buyer underwrites.

A sale itself can trigger a new look at value once the next three-year cycle begins. Buyers of multifamily property in Anne Arundel County typically ask for the current assessment notice alongside the tax bill, since the phase-in means next year's bill can already be set before a sale even closes. Check with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation for the parcel's specific cycle date.

What this means if you sell in Anne Arundel County

When you sell commercial property in Anne Arundel County, MD, you are selling into a smaller but tighter rental market. Renters hold just 24.9% of households countywide, yet rental vacancy sits at only 5.0%, and 47.2% of renters already pay 30% or more of income on rent. Buyers will weigh that scarcity against the county's modest 16.1% share of units in 5+ unit buildings.

Selling commercial property in Anne Arundel County also means walking buyers through the three-year assessment cycle, since Maryland phases in value increases rather than resetting them at sale. There is no statewide rent control in Maryland, and Anne Arundel County is not among the counties with local rent stabilization, which keeps rent-setting a market decision.

As a multifamily buyer in Anne Arundel County, we look at 5+ unit buildings in Annapolis, Glen Burnie and elsewhere in the county as they perform today. Send a current rent roll, a T-12 and your latest assessment notice, and we will price the building from there.