Best Places21541, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21541, 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.
21541 ranks 17,577th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21541
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.
21541's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21541 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 21541 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21541
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21541 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,665, 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 21541's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 21541
21541 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 21541.
Who works in 21541, and how
Work in 21541 centers on health care & social and construction. 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 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 21541
21541 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 21541 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21541, month by month
21541 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 21541
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around 21541
Schools across 21541 average a C, better than 39% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Accident ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Broad Ford ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Friendsville ElementaryD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Southern Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Northern Garrett High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Southern Garrett High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21541 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21541 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 21541 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21541
Is 21541 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21541 ranks 17,577th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and tree cover, and lowest on taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21541 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,652. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $81,665 median income, cost of living beats 63% of zip codes.
Is 21541 safe?
21541 is safer than 15% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $493 per resident a year.
Compare 21541 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21541. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21541 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.
21541 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21541: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21541: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21541: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21541: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21541 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.