Best Places21842, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21842, 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.
21842 ranks 16,286th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21842
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.
21842's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21842 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Short commute19.5 minutes each way, better than 87% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 21842 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 7% 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 21842
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21842 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,121, 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 21842'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 21842
21842 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 21842.
Who works in 21842, and how
Work in 21842 centers on hospitality & food and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in 21842
21842 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 84% of zip codes. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 21842 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21842, month by month
21842 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 21842
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around 21842
Schools across 21842 average a B+, better than 74% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ocean City ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Berlin IntermediateB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Stephen Decatur HighA · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21842 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21842 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 21842 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21842
Is 21842 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21842 ranks 16,286th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, walkability, and biking, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21842 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $472,083. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $90,121 median income, cost of living beats 65% of zip codes.
Is 21842 safe?
21842 is safer than 13% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $655 per resident a year.
Compare 21842 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21842. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21842 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.
21842 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21842: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21842: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21842: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21842: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21842 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.