What pool sizes are most popular in Maryland?

The Most Common Pool Sizes in Anne Arundel County

Residential in-ground pools in Maryland typically range from 12×24 ft to 20×40 ft. The most requested sizes in Wade’s Anne Arundel County projects are 16×32 ft and 18×36 ft — large enough for family use and casual lap swimming, while leaving meaningful yard space for the surrounding deck, landscape, and outdoor living area. That said, every Wade pool is designed to fit your specific lot — not to match a popular size.

Standard Pool Size Reference for Maryland

• 12×24 ft (288 sq ft): Compact option for smaller lots or homeowners focused on cooling off and entertaining rather than swimming laps. Common in tighter Annapolis in-fill lots and townhome communities where HOA approval is required.
• 14×28 ft (392 sq ft): Step up from the minimum. Provides a genuine shallow end and a usable deep end. Works well on lots under 10,000 sq ft.
• 16×32 ft (512 sq ft): The most common size in Wade’s Maryland project portfolio. Large enough for family use, comfortable for casual swimming, works on most standard Anne Arundel County lots.
• 18×36 ft (648 sq ft): Popular with families who want more room. Comfortably accommodates a diving area, a shallow sun shelf or tanning ledge, and an integrated spa. Requires a lot with at least 12,000–15,000 sq ft of usable space.
• 20×40 ft (800 sq ft): Resort scale. Found primarily on larger lots — waterfront properties, Eastern Shore estates, and rural Howard County parcels. Common when an outdoor kitchen and full poolscape are part of the project.
• Custom dimensions: Wade designs to any dimension the lot and permit allow. L-shaped pools, freeform designs, and pools with integrated spa bays often don’t fit standard size designations at all.

How to Think About Pool Size vs. Yard Space

The pool itself is only part of the footprint. A useful rule of thumb: budget roughly 3–4 feet of functional deck space on each long side and 4–6 feet on each end. For a 16×32 pool, that adds up to an overall project envelope of roughly 24×44 ft (1,056 sq ft) before accounting for setbacks. On a lot with 7,500 sq ft of usable rear yard, a 16×32 pool with a comfortable deck is feasible. On a lot with 5,000 sq ft, a 12×24 or 14×28 is more realistic.

What Size Pool Is Right for Your Use?

• Young children, water play, entertaining: Emphasis on shallow water and deck space. A 14×28 or 16×32 with a tanning ledge or beach entry step serves these households well. Deep end can be kept at 5 ft to maximize usable shallow area.
• Adult lap swimming: Meaningful lap swimming requires at least 25 meters (82 ft) — most residential pools don’t accommodate true lap swimming. A 20×40 allows short laps. Alternatively, a swim jet (resistance swimming system) can be installed in any pool size to allow stationary lap-style swimming.
• Entertaining and resort aesthetic: Larger pools (18×36 or 20×40) with tanning ledges, spa integration, and generous deck space read as resort environments. The pool size supports the entertaining function as much as the swimming function.
• Integrated spa as primary use: If the hot tub/spa is the primary driver and the pool is secondary, a smaller pool (14×28 or 16×32) with a full spa makes more sense than a large pool with a compact spa.

Why Size Is Always a Design Decision, Not a Product Decision

Wade does not have pool size packages. We start with your lot, your goals, and your budget, and work backward to a pool that fits all three. The most common outcome of Wade’s design process is that homeowners end up with a pool size they wouldn’t have chosen from a catalog — sometimes larger (because the lot supports it), sometimes more compact but with better proportions and more deck or landscape area. The goal is the right pool for your property, not the most popular size.