Best Places21162, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21162, 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.
21162 ranks 4,261st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21162
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.
21162's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21162 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Household income$150,041 median, better than 96% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 21162 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% 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 21162
A household needs to earn about $135,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21162 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $150,041, 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 21162's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 21162
21162 runs younger 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 21162.
Who works in 21162, and how
Work in 21162 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 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 21162
The coast is about 13 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 21162, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21162, month by month
21162 sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 36° | 30° |
| April | 65° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 21162
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 20 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 21162
Schools across 21162 average a C, better than 34% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Chapel Hill ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Kingsville ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Vincent Farm ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Perry Hall MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Middle River MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Perry Hall HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21162 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21162 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 21162 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21162
Is 21162 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21162 ranks 4,261st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21162 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $498,831. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $150,041 median income, cost of living beats 98% of zip codes.
Is 21162 safe?
21162 is safer than 54% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
Compare 21162 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21162. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21162 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.
21162 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21162: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21162: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21162: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21162: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21162 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.