State report · National rank #43 of 50
Maryland
Maryland has an impressive mix of food, water, medical, military, and coastal resources. It offers farms, mountains, forests, fisheries, the Chesapeake Bay, major hospitals, and access to several federal and military facilities. The catch is location: Baltimore, Washington, dense suburbs, bridges, tunnels, and narrow transportation corridors create severe congestion and spillover risk. Limited strategic depth and coastal flooding make escaping the population centers the critical challenge.
Personal assessment
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Maryland scored three times
A state that handles shamblers can get erased by sprinters. Here is how Maryland performs under each outbreak model.
Slow zombies reward distance, terrain, food and water. Maryland has about 6,265,347 people and 2.0 million acres in farm operations, with 165,000 cattle and calves and 322 million meat chickens produced in 2025. Survival comes down to how quickly survivors can leave the main corridor and reach defensible geography.
Fast zombies remove the luxury of waiting, and 52 is the lowest fast score in the project so far. Metro exposure scores 2, chokepoint dependency scores 3 — Maryland geography creates a lot of places where everyone has to cross the same point at the same time.
Yes, we know they're not technically zombies. This asks whether a community can still function after modern supply chains stop, and Maryland recovers well to 75. The Chesapeake supplies seafood, western Maryland supplies terrain, and the Eastern Shore supplies 322 million chickens.
What helps
- Appalachian mountains in the west, Piedmont hills, Chesapeake shoreline, river valleys and dense coastal plain
- Chesapeake Bay, Potomac, Susquehanna and Patuxent systems, reservoirs, groundwater and extensive tidal waterways
- 2.0 million acres in farm operations across 12,550 farms
- 165,000 cattle and calves
- 322 million meat chickens produced in 2025 plus corn, soybeans, dairy, vegetables, seafood and grain
- 13,691 MW of net summer capacity in 2024 with nuclear, natural gas and other resources
- Fort Meade, Naval Support Activity Bethesda, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Joint Base Andrews and the Maryland National Guard
What hurts
- DC-Baltimore population exposure, one of the most heavily connected corridors in the country
- Coastal flooding, hurricanes and tropical storms, severe thunderstorms, winter storms, heat and inland flooding
- Heavy dependence on bridges, tunnels and regional systems
- The state is small enough that regional spillover arrives quickly
Personal assessment
Your state has a score. Do you?
Take the readiness assessment and get your own Zombie Survival Index score!
Get my free ZSI scoreThe reason for the score
Maryland's zombie superpowers
Appalachian mountains in the west, Piedmont hills, Chesapeake shoreline, river valleys and dense coastal plain define movement, observation, escape and settlement options. A strong refuge requires more than remoteness — it needs water plus food plus energy plus defensible geography plus usable access.
1 · Western Maryland
The Appalachian west gives Maryland a survival environment completely different from Baltimore and the coastal plain.
2 · Chesapeake resources
Fishing, crabbing and tidal-water access add real food and transport options.
3 · Medical and federal capacity
Maryland's organised-response resources are exceptional — perfect 10s in medicine, emergency management and logistics.
4 · Poultry and grain
The Eastern Shore is a major food-production zone, even though it is not ideal defensive terrain.
The catch
A suspicious number of bridges
DC-Baltimore exposure
This is one of the most heavily populated and connected corridors in the country, scoring 2 out of 10.
Bridges and tunnels
Maryland geography creates a lot of places where everyone has to cross the same point, scoring 3 on chokepoint dependency.
Strategic depth
The state is small enough that regional spillover arrives quickly from every direction.
The framework
25 survival factors, scored 1–10
Every state is measured on the same 25 factors. Weighting shifts by scenario — terrain matters more against sprinters, agriculture matters more in a long collapse.
Tactics
What works, by scenario
| Strategy | Walking Dead | World War Z | Last of Us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural farm or ranch with independent water | Excellent | Very good if reached early | Excellent |
| Small agricultural town | Very good | Good | Excellent |
| Remote site with no food system | Good early | Very good for isolation | Poor long-term |
| Major highway evacuation | Good early, bad late | Terrible late | Poor after collapse |
| Major metro shelter | Poor | Terrible | Poor |
| Distributed renewable power | Very good | Good | Excellent |
| Hunting and fishing supplement | Very good | Good | Very good |
| One-road refuge | Risky | Risky | Risky |
Geography
Where to be
Western Maryland / Garrett and Allegany counties
Mountains, forests, water and lower density are the state's clear winner.
- Appalachian terrain as a barrier
- Real distance from the corridor
- Forest cover and streams
- Small communities still functioning
Rural Frederick and Washington County highlands
Good agriculture and terrain, but closer to metro spillover.
Upper Eastern Shore farm areas away from bridges
Strong food production, weaker terrain and chokepoint exposure.
Where not to be
Baltimore-Washington corridor
Population, highways and federal activity create enormous first-wave pressure.
Bay Bridge approaches
If your plan depends on one bridge, everyone else found your plan too.
Low Chesapeake shoreline
Storm surge and flooding remain part of the equation.
Verdict
67 out of 100 · Grade D+ · Rank #43
Maryland has an impressive mix of food, water, medical, military, and coastal resources. It offers farms, mountains, forests, fisheries, the Chesapeake Bay, major hospitals, and access to several federal and military facilities. The catch is location: Baltimore, Washington, dense suburbs, bridges, tunnels, and narrow transportation corridors create severe congestion and spillover risk. Limited strategic depth and coastal flooding make escaping the population centers the critical challenge.
Walking Dead 73. World War Z 52. Last of Us 75.
Method & sources
Where the numbers come from
The Zombie Survival Index is a fictional entertainment ranking that uses real public data as its inputs. Every state is scored on the same 25 factors under three outbreak models, and the overall number blends those results. All fifty states have been assessed and normalised against the same national scoring set.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Population Estimates and QuickFacts
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025 State Agriculture Overview
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Electricity Profile
- State water-resource and environmental agencies
- State emergency-management agencies
- U.S. Department of Defense and National Guard installation sources
- State wildlife, hunting and fishing agencies
- NOAA and state climatology and hazard sources