Best Places20686, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20686, 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.
20686 ranks 5,264th 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 20686
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.
20686's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20686 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$196,932 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 20686 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
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20686
A household needs to earn about $134,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20686 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $196,932, 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 20686's effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 20686
20686 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20686.
Who works in 20686, and how
Work in 20686 centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in 20686
The coast is about 6 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20686, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20686, month by month
20686 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 20686
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl, about 57 miles away.
The best schools in and around 20686
Schools across 20686 average a C, better than 36% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ridge ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Park Hall ElementaryD · 20% 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 20686 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20686 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 20686 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20686
Is 20686 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20686 ranks 5,264th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and few empty homes, 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 20686 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $511,400. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $196,932 median income, cost of living beats 100% of zip codes.
Is 20686 safe?
20686 is safer than 16% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $479 per resident a year.
Compare 20686 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20686. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20686 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.
20686 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20686: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20686: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20686: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20686: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20686 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.