Old Lock Pump House, Chesapeake and Delaware Canal · Photo: Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0Work and commuting in Chesapeake City
Only 4% stay in Chesapeake City for work; outside it, Elkton is the main destination (10%, 5 miles). The trip to work takes 25 minutes on average (Maryland 31, U.S. 26). Employers in Chesapeake City report 486 jobs; 312 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Chesapeake City, in a few figures
The better-paid jobs are outside Chesapeake City
66% of Chesapeake City residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 29% of the jobs based in Chesapeake City pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Chesapeake City pay little
36% of the jobs based in Chesapeake City pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 54% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Chesapeake City has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Chesapeake City went from 313 in 2014 to 486 in 2024, +55%. 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; with 312 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Chesapeake City
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chesapeake City, 2014 → 2024: 313 → 486. 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 Chesapeake City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Chesapeake City on a workday
On a workday 299 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 473 people come in from elsewhere.
About 920 people are in Chesapeake City on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Who travels to work in Chesapeake City, and from where
Where Chesapeake City clocks in
10% of workers
4% 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.
From Chesapeake City, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chesapeake City workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 310 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.
How many miles Chesapeake City commutes
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
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 Chesapeake City: questions
What is the median household income in Chesapeake City?
$84,583 (±$24,368) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chesapeake City?
12.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chesapeake City?
25 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chesapeake City work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elkton (10%, 5 mi), Wilmington (4%, 20 mi), Baltimore (4%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Chesapeake City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chesapeake City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chesapeake City
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.