Best Places21620, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21620, 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.
21620 ranks 22,012th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21620
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.
21620's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21620 ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 73% of zip codes
Where 21620 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21620
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21620 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,214, 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 21620's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 21620
21620 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 21620.
Who works in 21620, and how
Work in 21620 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in 21620
21620 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 72% of zip codes. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 21620 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21620, month by month
21620 sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 21620
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 32 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 21620
Schools across 21620 average a C−, better than 20% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Church Hill Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Rock Hall ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Galena Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Centreville Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Sudlersville Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Kent County Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Queen Anne's County High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Kent County HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21620 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21620 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 21620 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21620
Is 21620 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21620 ranks 22,012th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on fast internet, big-city access, and an educated workforce, 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 21620 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $343,877. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $74,214 median income, cost of living beats 52% of zip codes.
Is 21620 safe?
21620 is safer than 18% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $538 per resident a year.
Compare 21620 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21620. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21620 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.
21620 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21620: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21620: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21620: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21620: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21620 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.