Best Places21244, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21244, 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.
21244 ranks 21,163rd 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 21244
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.
21244's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21244 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 21244 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21244
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21244 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,820, 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 21244's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 21244
21244 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21244.
Who works in 21244, and how
Work in 21244 centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 21244
The coast is about 21 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 21244, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21244, month by month
21244 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 21244
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 12 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 21244
Schools across 21244 average a D−, better than 4% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Hollifield Station ElementaryB− · 41% proficient
- Chadwick ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
- Hebbville ElementaryD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Patapsco MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Southwest AcademyD · 23% proficient
- Northwest Academy Of Health SciencesD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Hebron HighA · 74% proficient
- Woodlawn HighD− · 15% proficient
- Randallstown HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21244 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21244 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 21244 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 21244 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 21244
Is 21244 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21244 ranks 21,163rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and cell coverage, and lowest on taxes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21244 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,957. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $84,820 median income, cost of living beats 65% of zip codes.
Is 21244 safe?
21244 is safer than 21% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $484 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 21244?
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 21244 good for families?
Schools beat 4% of zip codes, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $1,377 a month.
Compare 21244 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21244. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21244 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.
21244 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21244: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21244: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21244: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21244: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21244 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.