Best Places20817, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20817, 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.
20817 ranks 738th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20817
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.
20817's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20817 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$225,189 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of zip codes
Where 20817 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,745 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20817
A household needs to earn about $317,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20817 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $225,189, 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 20817's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 20817
20817 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20817.
Who works in 20817, and how
Work in 20817 centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 51%
- Work from home 39%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 20817
20817 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of zip codes. The coast is about 32 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 20817 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20817, month by month
20817 sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 20817
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 20817
Schools across 20817 average an A, better than 93% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Seven Locks ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Bannockburn ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Bradley Hills ElementaryA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thomas W. Pyle MiddleA · 62% proficient
- North Bethesda MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Cabin John MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Walt Whitman HighA+ · 91% proficient
- Walter Johnson HighA · 79% proficient
- Winston Churchill HighA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20817 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20817 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 20817 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 20817 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 39% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 20817
Is 20817 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20817 ranks 738th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, high incomes, and what local pay buys, 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 20817 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,196,677. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $225,189 median income, cost of living beats 99% of zip codes.
Is 20817 safe?
20817 is safer than 37% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $387 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 20817?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 25. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of zip codes.
Is 20817 good for families?
Schools beat 93% of zip codes, crime safety beats 37%, and childcare runs $1,745 a month.
Compare 20817 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20817. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20817 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.
20817 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20817: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20817: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20817: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20817: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20817 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.