Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Capitol Heights has some of the highest unemployment in the country: 16.7%
The two grades for Capitol Heights are B for jobs and income and A for walkability. 8% of workers have no commute at all, where Maryland as a whole has 19%. Hardly any work in Capitol Heights; the top destination outside it is Washington (40%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Capitol Heights and work: the main findings
Many Capitol Heights workers cross into Washington, D.C.
46% of Capitol Heights workers work outside Maryland, most of them in Washington, D.C., the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
40% of Capitol Heights works in Washington
683 working residents, 40%, have their main job in Washington, DC, 6.2 miles away. That’s far more as work in Capitol Heights itself. The commute map ↓
Capitol Heights is a place people come home to
There are 296 jobs based in Capitol Heights, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Capitol Heights has about 2,600 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Capitol Heights residents work close to home
63% 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 Capitol Heights gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Capitol Heights is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #189 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Capitol Heights’ grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Capitol Heights could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The towns that employ Capitol Heights’ residents
Where Capitol Heights clocks in
40% of workers
3% 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 daily flow of workers through Capitol Heights
On a workday 1,695 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 293 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Capitol Heights on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.17 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 2023, primary jobs.
Capitol Heights’ commute, mile by mile
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.
Capitol Heights makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods
296 jobs are based in Capitol Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Capitol Heights, 2013 → 2023: 199 → 296. 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 Capitol Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes to work from Capitol Heights
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Capitol Heights workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,664 commuters (the 8% 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.
Capitol Heights is more walkable than 94% 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 1,800 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 59% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 52% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 54.2 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). 11.7% of Capitol Heights households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Capitol Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,500, Capitol Heights ranks 1,731st of 4,283 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Brown Station MD | 3,451 | $169K | 3.3% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,729 | Hidden Meadows CA | 3,524 | $123K | 8.0% | 15.8% | 2% | B |
| 1,730 | South Gate Ridge FL | 5,310 | $70K | 7.5% | 4.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,731 | Capitol Heights MD | 4,044 | $97K | 8.9% | 16.7% | <1% | B |
| 1,732 | Pecatonica Township IL | 4,115 | $81K | 4.6% | 5.7% | 10% | B |
| 1,733 | York Township OH | 4,136 | $75K | 12.6% | 2.0% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,283 | 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 Capitol Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Capitol Heights and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Capitol Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitol Heights | – | B | A | 32 min | $97,155 |
| Walker Mill | under 2% | B | A | 39 min | $88,333 |
| Coral Hills | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 35 min | $68,603 |
| Maryland Park | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Maryland Park: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Capitol Heights’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 Capitol Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Capitol Heights?
$97,155 (±$8,012) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Capitol Heights?
8.9%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Capitol Heights?
32 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Capitol Heights work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (40%, 6 mi), Arlington (4%, 10 mi), Baltimore (3%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Capitol Heights walkable?
Capitol Heights is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Capitol Heights without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 52% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Capitol Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Capitol Heights
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.