Best Places21209, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21209, 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.
21209 ranks 7,124th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21209
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.
21209's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21209 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 91% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 21209 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 9% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,251 a month, better than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21209
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21209 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $104,982; 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 21209's effective rate of 1.15%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 21209
21209's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21209.
Who works in 21209, and how
Work in 21209 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 21209
21209 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes and more parkland per resident than 93% of zip codes. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 21209 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21209, month by month
21209 sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 39° | 33° |
| April | 68° | 59° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 71° | 63° | 56° |
Flying in and out of 21209
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 14 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 21209
Schools across 21209 average a D+, better than 9% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- West Towson ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Fort Garrison ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Summit Park ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dumbarton MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Pikesville MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Towson HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Pikesville HighC+ · 38% proficient
- The Reach! Partnership SchoolF · 4% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21209 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21209 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 21209 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 21209 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of zip codes and health care access beats 86%.
Common questions about living in 21209
Is 21209 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21209 ranks 7,124th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, big-city access, and biking, 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 21209 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $420,106. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $104,982 median income, cost of living beats 88% of zip codes.
Is 21209 safe?
21209 is safer than 43% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 21209?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 33. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of zip codes.
Is 21209 good for families?
Schools beat 9% of zip codes, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $1,251 a month.
Compare 21209 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21209. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21209 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.
21209 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21209: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21209: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21209: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21209: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21209 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.