Best Places21520, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21520, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
21520 ranks 24,879th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21520
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.
21520's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21520 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Short commute22.2 minutes each way, better than 74% of zip codes
Where 21520 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
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21520
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21520 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,373, 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 21520's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 21520
21520 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 21520.
Who works in 21520, and how
Work in 21520 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 21520
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 21520.
What the weather is like in 21520, month by month
21520 sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 57° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 76° | 68° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 21520
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around 21520
Schools across 21520 average a C+, better than 40% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Accident ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Grantsville ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
- Friendsville ElementaryD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Northern Garrett High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21520 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21520 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 21520 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21520
Is 21520 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21520 ranks 24,879th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and tree cover, 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 21520 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,874. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $63,373 median income, cost of living beats 29% of zip codes.
Is 21520 safe?
21520 is safer than 16% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $496 per resident a year.
Compare 21520 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21520. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21520 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.
21520 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21520: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21520: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21520: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21520: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21520 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.