Catonsville Historic District, Old · Photo: Pubdog · Public domainCatonsville’s household incomes are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Catonsville are A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Below the poverty line: 6.9% of residents; Maryland has 9.4%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 8.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 26.3 in Baltimore.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Catonsville apart on work
Catonsville trades workers with the towns around it
Catonsville has about as many jobs (16,154) as working residents (17,477), but they are mostly different people: 16,120 residents leave for work each day while 14,797 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Catonsville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Catonsville and Baltimore trade workers both ways
Baltimore is the top workplace for Catonsville residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Catonsville come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Catonsville 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 ↓
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: Catonsville’s grade explained
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Catonsville could be anywhere from A− to A.
Catonsville by day and by night
On a workday 16,120 residents head out to work, 1,357 work right here, and 14,797 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 (0.92 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.
21% of working residents work in Baltimore
Where Catonsville 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Catonsville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Catonsville workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,894 commuters (the 21% 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.
In Catonsville, services account for most jobs
16,154 jobs are based in Catonsville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Catonsville, 2013 → 2023: 14,383 → 16,154. 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 Catonsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Catonsville, by distance
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.
In Catonsville, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Catonsville is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #70 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Catonsville 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 21,347 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 92% 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). 8.3% of Catonsville households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Catonsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Catonsville is 237th of 1,039 U.S. towns of 30,000 to 59,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Severna Park MD | 40,228 | $170K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Pasadena MD | 34,309 | $130K | 5.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Potomac MD | 45,902 | $237K | 3.9% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 235 | Wallingford CT | 44,406 | $105K | 5.4% | 3.9% | 21% | A |
| 236 | Temescal Valley CA | 30,069 | $122K | 4.5% | 4.3% | 3% | A |
| 237 | Catonsville MD | 43,368 | $114K | 6.9% | 4.0% | 8% | A |
| 238 | Grove City OH | 45,180 | $93K | 6.4% | 3.0% | 11% | A |
| 239 | Bountiful UT | 44,988 | $105K | 6.9% | 3.1% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,039 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Catonsville, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
The towns next door employ 28% of Catonsville
The biggest share goes to Baltimore (21%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Catonsville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catonsville | – | A | A | 25 min | $114,109 |
| Ellicott City | 4% | A+ | B | 28 min | $156,964 |
| Ilchester | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 28 min | $152,103 |
| Arbutus | under 2% | B+ | A | 25 min | $99,090 |
| Woodlawn | 3% | B | A | 26 min | $82,466 |
| Baltimore | 21% | C+ | A+ | 29 min | $62,177 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Catonsville’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 Catonsville: questions
What is the median household income in Catonsville?
$114,109 (±$6,036) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Catonsville?
6.9%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Catonsville?
25 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Catonsville work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (21%, 8 mi), Columbia (6%, 8 mi), Ellicott City (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Catonsville walkable?
Catonsville is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Catonsville without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Catonsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Catonsville
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.