Best Places20678, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20678, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
20678 ranks 8,591st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20678
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.
20678's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20678 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Household income$123,311 median, better than 91% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 20678 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Short commute40.4 minutes each way, better than only 4% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,253 a month, better than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20678
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20678 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $123,311, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 20678's effective rate of 0.80%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 20678
20678's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20678.
Who works in 20678, and how
Work in 20678 centers on public administration and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 20678
20678 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 89% of zip codes. The coast is about 9 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 20678 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20678, month by month
20678 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 20678
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 33 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 20678
Schools across 20678 average a C+, better than 51% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Huntingtown ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Mutual ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Calvert ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Plum Point MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Calvert MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Huntingtown High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Calvert HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20678 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20678 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 20678 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20678
Is 20678 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20678 ranks 8,591st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and big-city access, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20678 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $461,513. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $123,311 median income, cost of living beats 93% of zip codes.
Is 20678 safe?
20678 is safer than 53% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare 20678 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20678. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20678 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.
20678 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20678: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20678: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20678: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20678: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20678 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.