Photo: Matthew Binebrink · CC BY-SA 4.0Baltimore has higher unemployment (6.5%) than 78% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Baltimore C+; getting around on foot earns it A+. About two in five stay in Baltimore for work; outside it, Towson is the main destination (4%, 6 miles). Measured by household income, Baltimore is behind 70% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Baltimore: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Baltimore is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #246 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Baltimore’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Baltimore could be anywhere from C to C+.
A workday in Baltimore: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 126,964 residents head out to work, 98,870 work right here, and 216,230 people come in from elsewhere.
About 659,000 people are in Baltimore on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 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.
Where Baltimore goes to work
Where Baltimore clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Baltimore
315,100 jobs are based in Baltimore.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Baltimore, 2013 → 2023: 311,544 → 315,100. 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 Baltimore’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Baltimore, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Baltimore workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 222,441 commuters (the 18% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Baltimore
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.
Baltimore is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Baltimore is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #11 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Baltimore 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 270,602 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 81% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 26.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 26.7% of Baltimore households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 13% of Baltimore’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
27th of 34: where Baltimore ranks among U.S. towns of 399,000 to 769,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Denver CO | 740,613 | $95K | 11.2% | 4.9% | 45% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Bakersfield CA | 422,165 | $81K | 16.3% | 7.0% | 47% | C+ |
| 26 | Wichita KS | 400,987 | $65K | 15.9% | 5.6% | 67% | C+ |
| 27 | Baltimore MD | 569,997 | $62K | 19.7% | 6.5% | 44% | C+ |
| 28 | Tulsa OK | 416,209 | $60K | 18.7% | 6.1% | 61% | C |
| 29 | El Paso TX | 683,012 | $60K | 18.4% | 6.0% | 79% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
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 Baltimore, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Next door to Baltimore
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Baltimore workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | – | C+ | A+ | 29 min | $62,177 |
| Rosedale | under 2% | B | A | 29 min | $85,711 |
| Pikesville | 1% | A− | A | 25 min | $98,465 |
| Dundalk | under 2% | C+ | A | 25 min | $64,520 |
| Towson | 4% | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $101,320 |
| Woodlawn | 2% | B | A | 26 min | $82,466 |
| Brooklyn Park | under 2% | B+ | A | 28 min | $87,989 |
| Arbutus | under 2% | B+ | A | 25 min | $99,090 |
| Parkville | under 2% | B+ | A− | 27 min | $79,178 |
| Pasadena | under 2% | A+ | B− | 32 min | $129,727 |
| Lochearn | under 2% | B | A | 30 min | $74,707 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Towson. Darker towns draw more of Baltimore’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 Baltimore: questions
What is the median household income in Baltimore?
$62,177 (±$1,378) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Baltimore?
19.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Baltimore?
29 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Baltimore work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Towson (4%, 6 mi), Columbia (2%, 15 mi), Cockeysville (2%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Baltimore walkable?
Baltimore is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Baltimore without a car?
13% of commuters take transit and 27% of households have no car. 81% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Baltimore, from the people who make the trip.
More of Baltimore
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.