Photo: Andrew Bossi · CC BY-SA 2.5Household incomes in Ashton-Sandy Spring are higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Ashton-Sandy Spring A+; getting around on foot earns it A. 1.8% of residents live below the poverty line; Maryland has 9.4%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 9.6 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
Getting to work from Ashton-Sandy Spring, in brief
Ashton-Sandy Spring trades workers with the towns around it
Ashton-Sandy Spring has about as many jobs (2,129) as working residents (2,467), but they are mostly different people: 2,361 residents leave for work each day while 2,023 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Ashton-Sandy Spring are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Ashton-Sandy Spring
39% of Ashton-Sandy Spring workers work from home, against 19% across Maryland. Time on the road ↓
Ashton-Sandy Spring workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 31 across Maryland. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Ashton-Sandy Spring’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ashton-Sandy Spring is among the top U.S. towns, #6 of 261 in Maryland. Household income is its strongest input ($174,063, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ashton-Sandy Spring could be anywhere from A to A+.
Ashton-Sandy Spring by day and by night
On a workday 2,361 residents head out to work, 106 work right here, and 2,023 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 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.
Time on the road from Ashton-Sandy Spring: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashton-Sandy Spring workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,686 commuters (the 39% 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.
11% of working residents work in Washington
Where Ashton-Sandy Spring clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
69% of the jobs in Ashton-Sandy Spring pay over $3,333 a month
2,129 jobs are based in Ashton-Sandy Spring.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashton-Sandy Spring, 2013 → 2023: 1,851 → 2,129. 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 Ashton-Sandy Spring’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Ashton-Sandy Spring
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.
Ashton-Sandy Spring is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ashton-Sandy Spring is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #85 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Ashton-Sandy Spring 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 2,771 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 1.4% of Ashton-Sandy Spring households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Ashton-Sandy Spring’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ashton-Sandy Spring next to U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,600: 44th of 3,561 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Harding Township NJ | 3,949 | $222K | 3.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| 43 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 44 | Ashton-Sandy Spring MD | 5,630 | $174K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| 45 | Credit River MN | 5,644 | $143K | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 46 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,561 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Ashton-Sandy Spring, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
How Ashton-Sandy Spring compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Olney (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ashton-Sandy Spring workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashton-Sandy Spring | – | A+ | A | 36 min | $174,063 |
| Olney | 4% | A | A | 32 min | $171,458 |
| Spencerville | under 3% | A | C | 46 min | $189,766 |
| Burtonsville | under 3% | A− | A | 33 min | $134,276 |
| Cloverly | under 3% | A− | A− | 35 min | $152,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ashton-Sandy Spring’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 Ashton-Sandy Spring: questions
What is the median household income in Ashton-Sandy Spring?
$174,063 (±$33,857) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashton-Sandy Spring?
1.8%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashton-Sandy Spring?
36 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 39% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashton-Sandy Spring work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (11%, 17 mi), Rockville (7%, 10 mi), Bethesda (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashton-Sandy Spring walkable?
Ashton-Sandy Spring is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashton-Sandy Spring without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ashton-Sandy Spring, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ashton-Sandy Spring
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.