Best Places20794, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20794, 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.
20794 ranks 9,303rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20794
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.
20794's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20794 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Household income$130,928 median, better than 93% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 20794 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,533 a month, better than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20794
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20794 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $130,928, 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 20794's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 20794
20794 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20794.
Who works in 20794, and how
Work in 20794 centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 20794
20794 has more parkland per resident than 96% of zip codes. The coast is about 20 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 20794 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20794, month by month
20794 sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 20794
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.3 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 20794
Schools across 20794 average a C, better than 32% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Rockburn ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Monarch Global Academy Pcs Laurel CampusC− · 29% proficient
- Deep Run ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Patuxent Valley MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Thomas ViaductC− · 29% proficient
- Macarthur MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Hammond HighB · 49% proficient
- Meade HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20794 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20794 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 20794 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20794
Is 20794 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20794 ranks 9,303rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20794 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $423,271. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $130,928 median income, cost of living beats 92% of zip codes.
Is 20794 safe?
20794 is safer than 22% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $493 per resident a year.
Compare 20794 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20794. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20794 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.
20794 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20794: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20794: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20794: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20794: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20794 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.