Best Places21251, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21251, 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.
21251 ranks 23,245th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 21251
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.
21251's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21251 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 21251 ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21251
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21251 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,250, 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 21251's effective rate of 1.50%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 21251
21251 runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21251.
Who works in 21251, and how
Work in 21251 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 21251
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 21251, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21251, month by month
21251 sees roughly 95 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 21251
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 13 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 21251
Schools across 21251 average an F, better than 1% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins PartnershipF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vanguard Collegiate MiddleF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- The Reach! Partnership SchoolF · 4% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21251 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21251 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 21251 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21251
Is 21251 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21251 ranks 23,245th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, biking, and big-city access, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21251 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,400. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $76,250 median income, cost of living beats 53% of zip codes.
Is 21251 safe?
21251 is safer than 19% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $446 per resident a year.
Compare 21251 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21251. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21251 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.
21251 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21251: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21251: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21251: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21251: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21251 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.