Best Places20838, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20838, 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.
20838 ranks 6,944th 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 20838
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.
20838's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20838 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Household income$166,250 median, better than 98% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 20838 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Short commute43.8 minutes each way, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,745 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20838
A household needs to earn about $209,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20838 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $166,250, 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 20838's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 20838
20838 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20838.
Who works in 20838, and how
Work in 20838 centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in 20838
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 20838.
What the weather is like in 20838, month by month
20838 sees roughly 61 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 20838
Washington Dulles International sits about 20 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 20838
Schools across 20838 average a B+, better than 77% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Monocacy ElementaryB− · 40% 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 20838 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20838 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 20838 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20838
Is 20838 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20838 ranks 6,944th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20838 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $800,000. The overall cost of living runs about 26% above the national average. Set against a $166,250 median income, cost of living beats 94% of zip codes.
Is 20838 safe?
20838 is safer than 30% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $387 per resident a year.
Compare 20838 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20838. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20838 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.
20838 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20838: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20838: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20838: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20838: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20838 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.