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
3.6 21222 Dundalk 59,407 $1,391 $222,177
4.2 21220 Middle River 42,824 $1,708 $329,352
4.2 21237 Rosedale 31,425 $1,763 $313,072
4.4 21219 Sparrows Point 9,565 — $381,521
5.4 21224 Baltimore 47,465 $2,162 $232,620
6.0 21206 Baltimore 48,902 $1,607 $218,291
6.4 21052 Fort Howard 409 — $344,359
6.6 21205 Baltimore 13,013 $1,857 $108,282
6.9 21236 Nottingham 39,514 $1,768 $332,462
7.0 21162 White Marsh 4,639 — $516,876
7.5 21213 Baltimore 28,058 $1,740 $118,612
7.7 21128 Perry Hall 15,501 $1,650 $438,413
7.7 21214 Baltimore 21,092 $1,450 $254,614
8.1 21231 Baltimore 14,969 $2,323 $291,837
8.5 21234 Parkville 66,334 $1,621 $300,360
8.9 21226 Curtis Bay 6,674 $1,454 $313,877
8.9 21202 Baltimore 20,683 $1,711 $184,462
9.0 21218 Baltimore 44,014 $1,454 $181,991
9.2 21239 Baltimore 27,346 $1,477 $211,950
9.7 21201 Baltimore 18,307 $1,474 $217,563
9.9 21230 Baltimore 32,977 $2,191 $265,080
10.1 21156 Upper Falls 204 — $516,520
10.5 21225 Brooklyn 34,062 $1,416 $222,776
10.6 21212 Baltimore 33,974 $1,686 $335,737
10.6 21217 Baltimore 30,792 $1,529 $91,872
10.6 21087 Kingsville 5,537 — $544,979
10.9 21211 Baltimore 14,969 $2,159 $278,340
10.9 21286 Towson 21,853 $1,777 $398,217
11.3 21085 Joppa 17,307 $1,611 $365,020
11.3 21210 Baltimore 14,134 $1,750 $480,298

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