Best Places20685, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20685, 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.
20685 ranks 7,561st 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 20685
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.
20685's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20685 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Household income$145,622 median, better than 95% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 20685 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Short commute37.8 minutes each way, better 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 20685
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20685 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $145,622, 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 20685'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 20685
20685 runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20685.
Who works in 20685, and how
Work in 20685 centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 20685
The coast is about 6 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20685, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20685, month by month
20685 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 20685
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 40 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 20685
Schools across 20685 average a C+, better than 42% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mutual ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- St Leonard ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
- Patuxent Appeal Elementary CampusD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Calvert MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Southern MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Patuxent HighA− · 62% proficient
- Calvert HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20685 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20685 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 20685 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20685
Is 20685 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20685 ranks 7,561st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and tree cover, 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 20685 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $495,880. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $145,622 median income, cost of living beats 97% of zip codes.
Is 20685 safe?
Yes, 20685 is safer than 77% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
Compare 20685 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20685. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20685 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.
20685 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20685: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20685: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20685: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20685: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20685 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.