Best Places20740, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20740, 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.
20740 ranks 19,242nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20740
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.
20740's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20740 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 20740 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20740
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20740 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,362, 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 20740's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 20740
20740 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20740.
Who works in 20740, and how
Work in 20740 centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in 20740
20740 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 88% of zip codes. The coast is about 32 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 20740 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20740, month by month
20740 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of 20740
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 12 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 20740
Schools across 20740 average a D+, better than 12% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- University Park ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Berwyn Heights ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
- Vansville ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greenbelt MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Martin Luther King Jr. MiddleD · 20% proficient
- Hyattsville MiddleD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- High Point HighC · 32% proficient
- Parkdale HighC · 31% proficient
- Northwestern HighD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20740 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20740 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 20740 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 20740 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 18% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 20740
Is 20740 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20740 ranks 19,242nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, biking, and population health, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20740 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,995. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $87,362 median income, cost of living beats 31% of zip codes.
Is 20740 safe?
20740 is safer than 11% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $586 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 20740?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 28. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of zip codes.
Is 20740 good for families?
Schools beat 12% of zip codes, crime safety beats 11%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Compare 20740 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20740. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20740 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.
20740 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20740: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20740: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20740: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20740: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20740 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.