Best Places21226, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21226, 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.
21226 ranks 16,660th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21226
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.
21226's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21226 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 21226 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 8% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21226
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21226 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $97,146; 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 21226's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 21226
21226 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21226.
Who works in 21226, and how
Work in 21226 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 21226
21226 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of zip codes. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 21226 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21226, month by month
21226 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 21226
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 6 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 21226
Schools across 21226 average a D+, better than 8% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Monarch Global Academy Pcs Laurel CampusC− · 29% proficient
- Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins PartnershipF · 8% proficient
- Curtis Bay ElementaryF · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- Severna Park MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Lindale MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
- Brooklyn Park MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Severna Park HighA+ · 81% proficient
- North County HighB · 47% proficient
- Northeast HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21226 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21226 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 21226 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21226
Is 21226 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21226 ranks 16,660th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, cell coverage, and transit, and lowest on taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21226 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $391,346. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $97,146 median income, cost of living beats 86% of zip codes.
Is 21226 safe?
21226 is safer than 19% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $780 per resident a year.
Compare 21226 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21226. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21226 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.
21226 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21226: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21226: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21226: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21226: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21226 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.