Best Places20742, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20742, 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.
20742 ranks 28,815th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20742
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.
20742's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20742 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 20742 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20742
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20742 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $24,919, 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 20742's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 20742
20742 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20742.
Who works in 20742, and how
Work in 20742 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 39%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 49%
Life in 20742
The coast is about 34 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20742, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20742, month by month
20742 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 20742
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 11 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 20742
Schools across 20742 average a D, better than 5% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Paint Branch ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
- Cherokee Lane ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greenbelt MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Hyattsville MiddleD− · 16% proficient
- Buck Lodge MiddleF · 11% 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 20742 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20742 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 20742 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20742
Is 20742 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20742 ranks 28,815th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and biking, and lowest on taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20742 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $450,000. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $24,919 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 20742 safe?
20742 is safer than 12% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $572 per resident a year.
Compare 20742 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20742. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20742 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.
20742 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20742: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20742: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20742: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20742: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20742 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.