Best Places21601, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21601, 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.
21601 ranks 11,292nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on big-city access.
The best neighborhoods in 21601
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.
21601's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21601 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 79% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of zip codes
Where 21601 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
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21601
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21601 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,332, 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 21601's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 21601
21601 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 21601.
Who works in 21601, and how
Work in 21601 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 21601
21601 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 80% of zip codes. The coast is about 17 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 21601 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21601, month by month
21601 sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 68° | 58° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 71° | 62° | 54° |
Flying in and out of 21601
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 42 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 21601
Schools across 21601 average a C, better than 33% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- St. Michaels ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- White Marsh ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Chapel District ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Easton MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Easton HighB+ · 52% proficient
- St. Michaels Middle/high SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21601 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21601 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 21601 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 21601 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of zip codes and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of zip codes and health care access beats 85%.
Common questions about living in 21601
Is 21601 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21601 ranks 11,292nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, health care access, and biking, 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 21601 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $427,035. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $90,332 median income, cost of living beats 79% of zip codes.
Is 21601 safe?
21601 is safer than 51% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 21601?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 31. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of zip codes.
Is 21601 good for families?
Schools beat 33% of zip codes, crime safety beats 51%, and childcare runs $973 a month.
Compare 21601 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21601. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21601 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.
21601 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21601: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21601: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21601: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21601: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21601 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.