Best Places20621, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20621, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
20621 ranks 22,130th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20621
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
20621's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20621 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Household income$94,966 median, better than 76% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 73% of zip codes
Where 20621 ranks low
- Short commute49.7 minutes each way, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20621
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20621 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $94,966, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 20621's effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 20621
20621 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20621.
Who works in 20621, and how
Work in 20621 centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 20621
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20621, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20621, month by month
20621 sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 70° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of 20621
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 38 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 20621
Schools across 20621 average a C+, better than 44% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Benjamin Banneker ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Dynard ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Margaret Brent MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Chopticon HighB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20621 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20621 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 20621 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20621
Is 20621 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20621 ranks 22,130th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, big-city access, and quiet, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20621 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $431,486. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $94,966 median income, cost of living beats 73% of zip codes.
Is 20621 safe?
20621 is safer than 38% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $357 per resident a year.
Compare 20621 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20621. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20621 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
20621 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20621: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20621: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20621: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20621: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20621 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.