Best Places20837, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20837, 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.
20837 ranks 2,855th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20837
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.
20837's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20837 ranks high
- Household income$175,384 median, better than 98% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 20837 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
- Short commute39.4 minutes each way, better than only 4% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20837
A household needs to earn about $194,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20837 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $175,384; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 20837's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 20837
20837 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20837.
Who works in 20837, and how
Work in 20837 centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 63%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 20837
20837 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 20837 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20837, month by month
20837 sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 20837
Washington Dulles International sits about 14 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 20837
Schools across 20837 average an A−, better than 84% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Poolesville ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- John H. Poole MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Poolesville HighA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20837 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20837 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 20837 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20837
Is 20837 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20837 ranks 2,855th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on high incomes, what local pay buys, and population health, 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 20837 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $741,901. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $175,384 median income, cost of living beats 96% of zip codes.
Is 20837 safe?
Yes, 20837 is safer than 60% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
Compare 20837 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20837. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20837 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.
20837 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20837: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20837: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20837: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20837: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20837 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.