Best Places20861, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20861, 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.
20861 ranks 4,934th 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 20861
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.
20861's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20861 ranks high
- Household income$152,955 median, better than 96% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 20861 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
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 20861
A household needs to earn about $238,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 20861 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $152,955, 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 20861's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 20861
20861 runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20861.
Who works in 20861, and how
Work in 20861 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 20861
The coast is about 37 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20861, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20861, month by month
20861 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 20861
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 18 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 20861
Schools across 20861 average a B−, better than 61% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Dr. Charles R. Drew ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Sherwood ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
- Cloverly ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- William H. Farquhar MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Briggs Chaney MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Sherwood HighA− · 59% proficient
- James Hubert Blake HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Springbrook HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20861 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20861 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 20861 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20861
Is 20861 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20861 ranks 4,934th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on high incomes, an educated workforce, and big-city access, 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 20861 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $890,135. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $152,955 median income, cost of living beats 92% of zip codes.
Is 20861 safe?
20861 is safer than 24% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $428 per resident a year.
Compare 20861 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20861. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20861 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.
20861 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20861: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20861: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20861: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20861: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20861 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.