Best Places21856, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 21856, 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.
21856 ranks 21,645th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 21856
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.
21856's strengths and weaknesses
Where 21856 ranks high
- QuietBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 69% of zip codes
Where 21856 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 21856
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 21856 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $87,147; 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 21856's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 21856
21856 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 21856.
Who works in 21856, and how
Work in 21856 centers on manufacturing and other services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 21856
The coast is about 22 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 21856, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 21856, month by month
21856 sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 49, 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 | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of 21856
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around 21856
Schools across 21856 average a C, better than 33% of zip codes.
Top middle schools
- Salisbury MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- James M. Bennett HighB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 21856 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
21856 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 21856 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 21856
Is 21856 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 21856 ranks 21,645th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on quiet, health care access, and tree cover, and lowest on taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 21856 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $367,021. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $87,147 median income, cost of living beats 69% of zip codes.
Is 21856 safe?
21856 is safer than 48% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
Compare 21856 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 21856. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 21856 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.
21856 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 21856: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 21856: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 21856: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 21856: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
21856 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.