Best Places20684, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20684, 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.
20684 ranks 11,710th 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 20684
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.
20684's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20684 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Household income$121,067 median, better than 90% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 82% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 20684 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20684
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20684 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,067, 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 20684's effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 20684
20684 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 20684.
Who works in 20684, and how
Work in 20684 centers on public administration and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 20684
The coast is about 8 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20684, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20684, month by month
20684 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of 20684
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl, about 59 miles away.
The best schools in and around 20684
Schools across 20684 average a C, better than 38% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ridge ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spring Ridge MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Great Mills HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20684 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20684 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 20684 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20684
Is 20684 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20684 ranks 11,710th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and quiet, and lowest on taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20684 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,955. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $121,067 median income, cost of living beats 92% of zip codes.
Is 20684 safe?
20684 is safer than 19% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $489 per resident a year.
Compare 20684 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20684. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20684 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.
20684 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20684: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20684: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20684: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20684: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20684 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.