Best Places21401, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21401, 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.
21401 ranks 4,355th 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 21401
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.
21401's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21401 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Household income$132,176 median, better than 93% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 21401 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,268 a month, better than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21401
A household needs to earn about $162,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21401 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $132,176, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 21401's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 21401
21401 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21401.
Who works in 21401, and how
Work in 21401 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 21401
21401 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 76% of zip codes. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 21401 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21401, month by month
21401 sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 38° | 32° |
| April | 65° | 57° | 50° |
| July | 87° | 80° | 74° |
| October | 69° | 62° | 56° |
Flying in and out of 21401
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 15 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 21401
Schools across 21401 average a C+, better than 45% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- West Annapolis ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Monarch Global Academy Pcs Laurel CampusC− · 29% proficient
- Rolling Knolls ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Old Mill Middle SouthC · 35% proficient
- Wiley H. Bates MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- South River HighA · 70% proficient
- Old Mill HighB · 50% proficient
- Annapolis HighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21401 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21401 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 21401 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 21401 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of zip codes and 25% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of zip codes and health care access beats 92%.
Common questions about living in 21401
Is 21401 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21401 ranks 4,355th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, what local pay buys, and high incomes, 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 21401 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $614,657. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $132,176 median income, cost of living beats 94% of zip codes.
Is 21401 safe?
21401 is safer than 24% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $470 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 21401?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 32. That works out to about 99 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of zip codes.
Is 21401 good for families?
Schools beat 45% of zip codes, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Compare 21401 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21401. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21401 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.
21401 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21401: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21401: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21401: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21401: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21401 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.