Photo: Scott218 · CC BY-SA 4.0Arbutus has higher household incomes than 76% of U.S. towns
14.0% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.4% across Maryland. The two grades for Arbutus are B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.3 in Baltimore.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Arbutus at work: what stands out
Arbutus and Baltimore trade workers both ways
Baltimore is the top workplace for Arbutus residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Arbutus come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Arbutus draws workers from far and wide
The 11,816 jobs in Arbutus are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 33%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Arbutus are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 31 across Maryland. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maryland worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Arbutus residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Arbutus gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Arbutus is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #158 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Arbutus’ grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arbutus could be anywhere from B to A.
21% of working residents work in Baltimore
Where Arbutus clocks in
21% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Getting to work from Arbutus takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arbutus workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,990 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Maryland: 80% drive alone, 5% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from Arbutus
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The workday shuffle in and out of Arbutus
On a workday 8,912 residents head out to work, 448 work right here, and 11,368 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Arbutus on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 11,816 jobs in Arbutus are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arbutus, 2013 → 2023: 13,140 → 11,816. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Arbutus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Arbutus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arbutus is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #72 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Arbutus near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 12,716 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 78% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.6% of Arbutus households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Arbutus’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,658 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000, Arbutus comes 741st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | North Laurel MD | 25,563 | $123K | 4.7% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Arnold MD | 24,303 | $142K | 3.1% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Damascus MD | 17,640 | $159K | 3.7% | 2.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 739 | San Carlos Park FL | 19,159 | $86K | 9.4% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| 740 | Trinity FL | 18,907 | $114K | 9.9% | 4.1% | 2% | B+ |
| 741 | Arbutus MD | 22,507 | $99K | 14.0% | 3.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 742 | Nixa MO | 26,597 | $83K | 7.1% | 3.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 743 | Clemmons NC | 22,808 | $88K | 6.5% | 4.5% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Arbutus, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
28% of Arbutus works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Baltimore (21%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arbutus workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbutus | – | B+ | A | 25 min | $99,090 |
| Catonsville | 4% | A | A | 25 min | $114,109 |
| Elkridge | 3% | A− | A− | 27 min | $139,913 |
| Lansdowne | under 3% | B− | A− | 29 min | $58,605 |
| Baltimore | 21% | C+ | A+ | 29 min | $62,177 |
| Ilchester | under 3% | A+ | B+ | 28 min | $152,103 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Arbutus’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Arbutus: questions
What is the median household income in Arbutus?
$99,090 (±$5,241) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arbutus?
14.0%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arbutus?
25 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arbutus work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (21%, 6 mi), Columbia (6%, 9 mi), Catonsville (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arbutus walkable?
Arbutus is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arbutus without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arbutus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arbutus
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.