Best Places21071, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21071, 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.
21071 ranks 4,831st 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 21071
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.
21071's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21071 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Household income$157,984 median, better than 97% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 21071 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,377 a month, better than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21071
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21071 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $157,984, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 21071's effective rate of 0.96%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 21071
21071 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21071.
Who works in 21071, and how
Work in 21071 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 21071
The coast is about 32 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 21071, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21071, month by month
21071 sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 21071
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 22 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 21071
Schools across 21071 average a C, better than 30% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Franklin MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Franklin HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21071 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21071 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 21071 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21071
Is 21071 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21071 ranks 4,831st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, an educated workforce, and what local pay buys, and lowest on taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21071 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $529,300. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $157,984 median income, cost of living beats 97% of zip codes.
Is 21071 safe?
21071 is safer than 20% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare 21071 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21071. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21071 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.
21071 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21071: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21071: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21071: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21071: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21071 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.