Best Places21787, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21787, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
21787 ranks 14,877th 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 21787
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.
21787's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21787 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 81% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 74% of zip codes
Where 21787 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
- Short commute34.8 minutes each way, better than only 11% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,254 a month, better than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21787
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21787 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $90,722; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 21787'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 21787
21787 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21787.
Who works in 21787, and how
Work in 21787 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 21787
21787 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 81% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 21787 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21787, month by month
21787 sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 70° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 21787
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around 21787
Schools across 21787 average a C+, better than 44% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Alloway Creek El SchA− · 56% proficient
- Runnymede ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Elmer A. Wolfe ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westminster East MiddleC · 34% proficient
- Thurmont MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Northwest MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Winters Mill HighA · 70% proficient
- Catoctin HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Francis Scott Key HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21787 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21787 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 21787 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21787
Is 21787 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21787 ranks 14,877th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, few empty homes, and low disaster risk, 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 21787 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $362,326. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $90,722 median income, cost of living beats 71% of zip codes.
Is 21787 safe?
21787 is safer than 44% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
Compare 21787 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21787. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21787 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.
21787 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21787: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21787: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21787: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21787: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21787 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.