Photo: Benson Lossing · Public domainAt 9.6%, unemployment in Bladensburg is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 10% of workers; Maryland has 19%. The two grades for Bladensburg are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 69% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bladensburg, in a few figures
Many Bladensburg workers cross into Washington, D.C.
41% of Bladensburg workers work outside Maryland, most of them in Washington, D.C., the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Bladensburg’s working residents have a job less than 6 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 37 minutes, longer than the Maryland average of 31. Time on the road ↓
31% of Bladensburg works in Washington
1,021 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Washington, DC, 5.5 miles away. That’s 16 times as many as work in Bladensburg itself. The commute map ↓
Most Bladensburg residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Most jobs in Bladensburg pay over $40,000 a year
72% of the jobs based in Bladensburg pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Bladensburg’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bladensburg is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #249 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Bladensburg’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bladensburg could be anywhere from C− to B+.
31% of working residents work in Washington
Where Bladensburg clocks in
31% of workers
3% 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.
The trip to work from Bladensburg: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bladensburg workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,374 commuters (the 10% 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.
How many miles Bladensburg commutes
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Making and building: 31% of jobs based in Bladensburg
2,056 jobs are based in Bladensburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bladensburg, 2014 → 2024: 2,323 → 2,056. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bladensburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Bladensburg
On a workday 3,198 residents head out to work, 68 work right here, and 1,988 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Bladensburg on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.63 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Bladensburg is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,737 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, 65% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 14.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 18.2% of Bladensburg households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 15% of Bladensburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,120th of 2,780: where Bladensburg ranks among U.S. towns of 6,800 to 13,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Scaggsville MD | 10,564 | $207K | 2.9% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Chevy Chase MD | 9,445 | $212K | 4.3% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Annapolis Neck MD | 12,032 | $174K | 3.3% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,118 | Madera Acres CA | 9,846 | $78K | 16.2% | 8.0% | 4% | C |
| 2,119 | Vashon WA | 9,934 | $121K | 11.1% | 7.7% | 36% | C |
| 2,120 | Bladensburg MD | 9,671 | $63K | 21.7% | 9.6% | 2% | C |
| 2,121 | Pine Castle FL | 10,371 | $50K | 20.3% | 5.7% | 1% | C |
| 2,122 | Sugarmill Woods FL | 10,782 | $71K | 10.8% | 5.6% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,780 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Bladensburg, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
The towns around Bladensburg
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bladensburg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bladensburg | – | C | A+ | 37 min | $63,179 |
| East Riverdale | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 33 min | $81,831 |
| Edmonston | under 2% | A− | A+ | 31 min | $78,333 |
| Cottage City | under 2% | B+ | A | 35 min | $80,795 |
| Cheverly | under 2% | A− | A | 30 min | $123,535 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bladensburg’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 2024, 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 Bladensburg: questions
What is the median household income in Bladensburg?
$63,179 (±$8,811) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bladensburg?
21.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bladensburg?
37 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bladensburg work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (31%, 6 mi), Baltimore (3%, 30 mi), Bethesda (2%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bladensburg walkable?
Bladensburg is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bladensburg without a car?
15% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 65% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bladensburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bladensburg
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.