Zip lookup · MD

21221
Essex, Maryland.

Essex, Baltimore County, MD · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro · population 43,487

What it costs per month · 21221 $1,523/mo

to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$740 (+94%) since Jan 2020.

What the home itself did
1 year
Up $221 +0%
$289,937$290,157 since Sep 2025
5 years
Up $33,672 +13%
$256,486$290,157 since Sep 2021

Monthly payment to buy the typical home

Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.

$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 21221 $1,523 United States $1,922
$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2010 2018 2026
  • 21221$1,523
  • United States$1,922

At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 28 years.

Typical home values in zip 21221 rose 0.1% over the past year — slower than the nation's +1.2%.

Asking rents in zip 21221 rose 2.7% over the past year — in step with the nation.

Owning the typical home in zip 21221 runs $407/mo more than renting one. The gap peaked at $557 in Oct 2023.

That is $2,092 a month against $1,685 rent: a $1,523 mortgage payment, plus $259 property tax and $311 insurance & upkeep.

Owning vs renting — zip 21221

The owning line is the typical home's monthly payment at that month's rate, plus property tax and insurance & upkeep; the renting line is the typical asking rent; the grey line is the mortgage payment on its own. Same homes, same months, both ways of paying for a roof.

$1,250 $1,500 $1,750 $2,000 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Owning all in $2,092 Renting $1,685 Mortgage only $1,523
$1,250 $1,500 $1,750 $2,000 2022 2024 2026
  • Owning all in$2,092
  • Renting$1,685
  • Mortgage only$1,523

Property tax · $259/mo 1.07% of value a year — the ACS 2020-2024 median bill over the median home value for Baltimore County, MD

Insurance & upkeep · $311/mo insurance, maintenance and repairs together, from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey — the national figure for mortgaged homeowners, scaled to this market's home value. BLS publishes the three bundled and they cannot be split.

Both are priced off the same month's home value, so they rise with the market. Neither is a quote — a specific home's bill depends on its assessment, its age and its insurer.

Zillow also publishes an index for the city itself: Essex, MD — measured over the city limits, which is a different area from this zip.

Asking rent $1,685 as of Sep 2026
+2.7%year on year
Typical home value $290,157 as of Sep 2026
+0.1%year on year

Asking rent — 21221

Against the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro and the national benchmark.

$1,500 $1,600 $1,700 $1,800 $1,900 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 21221 $1,685 Baltimore $1,937 United States $1,932
$1,500 $1,600 $1,700 $1,800 $1,900 2022 2024 2026
  • 21221$1,685
  • Baltimore$1,937
  • United States$1,932

Typical home value — 21221

Mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.

$200,000 $300,000 $400,000 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 21221 $290,157 Baltimore $396,959 United States $366,157
$200,000 $300,000 $400,000 2018 2022 2026
  • 21221$290,157
  • Baltimore$396,959
  • United States$366,157

Within 20 miles

Showing 30 of 74 zips in range — sorting picks from all 74.

10 mi 20 mi 50 mi
Miles Zip City Population Rent Home value
19.8 21620 Chestertown 13,810 — $389,073
19.6 21001 Aberdeen 27,168 $1,921 $344,379
19.3 21043 Ellicott City 48,525 $2,481 $626,717
19.2 21405 Annapolis 495 — $1,561,934
19.1 21015 Bel Air 30,013 $2,163 $479,102
19.0 21409 Annapolis 20,289 $3,157 $592,593
18.5 21244 Windsor Mill 38,208 $1,510 $321,947
18.1 21030 Cockeysville 25,827 $1,884 $466,577
18.0 21678 Worton 1,658 — $373,929
17.9 21075 Elkridge 37,363 $2,379 $481,968
17.5 21144 Severn 37,118 $2,234 $515,300
17.5 21012 Arnold 22,570 $2,878 $591,946
17.4 21076 Hanover 24,268 $2,632 $531,302
17.3 21014 Bel Air 38,707 $2,049 $445,033
17.2 21108 Millersville 18,643 $2,217 $611,693
16.8 21077 Harmans 63 — $453,599
16.5 21153 Stevenson 456 — $1,099,138
16.5 21017 Belcamp 6,648 $1,887 $284,976
16.5 21228 Catonsville 50,492 $1,750 $424,864
16.4 21661 Rock Hall 2,613 — $364,868
16.4 21208 Pikesville 37,276 $2,157 $372,458
16.2 21146 Severna Park 28,591 $3,374 $743,311
16.1 21047 Fallston 13,852 — $563,050
16.1 21131 Phoenix 7,141 — $752,316
15.2 21013 Baldwin 5,610 — $658,149
15.1 21207 Gwynn Oak 47,099 $1,439 $287,860
15.0 21056 Gibson Island 291 — $3,109,792
14.7 21093 Lutherville Timonium 39,100 $1,963 $502,253
14.4 21009 Abingdon 33,679 $1,893 $370,272
13.8 21061 Glen Burnie 57,230 $1,713 $375,161

Coordinates and population from SimpleMaps US Zips (Basic). Rent and home values from Zillow Research.