Best Places20889, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 20889, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
20889 ranks 1,304th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 20889
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.
20889's strengths and weaknesses
Where 20889 ranks high
- Short commute4.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$209,015 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 20889 ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- 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
Who lives in 20889
20889 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 20889.
Who works in 20889, and how
Work in 20889 centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 36%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 59%
Life in 20889
The coast is about 36 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 20889, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 20889, month by month
20889 sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of 20889
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 11 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 20889
Schools across 20889 average an A−, better than 87% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Bethesda ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westland MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Bethesda-chevy Chase HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 20889 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
20889 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 20889 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 20889
Is 20889 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 20889 ranks 1,304th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, population health, and high incomes, and lowest on crime and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 20889 safe?
20889 is safer than 0% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,487 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 20889?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 28. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of zip codes.
Compare 20889 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 20889. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 20889 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.
20889 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 20889: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 20889: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 20889: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 20889: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
20889 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.
- 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.