Best Places21155, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21155, 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.
21155 ranks 5,500th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21155
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.
21155's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21155 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Household income$119,508 median, better than 90% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 21155 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,361 a month, better than only 11% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21155
A household needs to earn about $133,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21155 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $119,508; 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 21155's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 21155
21155 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21155.
Who works in 21155, and how
Work in 21155 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 21155
The coast is about 42 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 21155, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21155, month by month
21155 sees roughly 79 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 21155
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 28 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 21155
Schools across 21155 average a B−, better than 61% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Fifth District ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Spring Garden ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Sandymount ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hereford MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Shiloh MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Franklin MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Westminster HighA · 70% proficient
- Manchester Valley HighA · 68% proficient
- Hereford HighB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21155 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21155 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 21155 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21155
Is 21155 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21155 ranks 5,500th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, what local pay buys, and big-city access, 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 21155 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $523,482. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $119,508 median income, cost of living beats 92% of zip codes.
Is 21155 safe?
Yes, 21155 is safer than 81% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare 21155 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21155. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21155 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.
21155 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21155: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21155: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21155: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21155: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21155 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.