Photo: Hawkeye58 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Dundalk works elsewhere
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.3 in Baltimore. Employers in Dundalk report 13,358 jobs for 26,990 working residents. Dundalk grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Dundalk, in brief
A lot of Dundalk works one town over
33% of working residents work in a town that borders Dundalk: Baltimore (29%), Edgemere (3%) and Rosedale (1%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Dundalk 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.
Jobs & income in Dundalk: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dundalk is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #245 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Dundalk’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.9%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dundalk could be anywhere from C to B−.
About 25 minutes to work from Dundalk
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dundalk workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 25,603 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.
Dundalk quiets down on a workday
On a workday 24,974 residents head out to work, 2,016 work right here, and 11,342 people come in from elsewhere.
About 52,000 people are in Dundalk on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
29% of working residents work in Baltimore
Where Dundalk clocks in
29% of workers
4% 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 kinds of work in Dundalk
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dundalk, 2013 → 2023: 13,823 → 13,358. 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 Dundalk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Dundalk, 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 Dundalk, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dundalk is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #82 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Dundalk 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 28,474 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, 34% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 12.4% of Dundalk households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Dundalk’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Dundalk is 540th of 669 U.S. towns of 46,000 to 89,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Ellicott City MD | 75,257 | $157K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | North Bethesda MD | 49,677 | $129K | 5.2% | 3.6% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 538 | Kiryas Joel NY | 47,147 | $50K | 37.6% | 2.2% | 41% | C+ |
| 539 | Palm Tree NY | 47,147 | $50K | 37.6% | 2.2% | 41% | C+ |
| 540 | Dundalk MD | 65,969 | $65K | 17.4% | 6.9% | 7% | C+ |
| 541 | North Highlands CA | 47,957 | $65K | 19.6% | 6.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 542 | Bloom Township IL | 83,631 | $74K | 17.8% | 11.0% | 11% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 669 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Dundalk, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Next door is work for 33% of Dundalk
The biggest share goes to Baltimore (29%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Dundalk’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 Dundalk: questions
What is the median household income in Dundalk?
$64,520 (±$2,914) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dundalk?
17.4%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dundalk?
25 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dundalk work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (29%, 6 mi), Towson (4%, 11 mi), Edgemere (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dundalk walkable?
Dundalk is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dundalk without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 34% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dundalk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dundalk
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.