Photo: Scott Saghirian · CC BY 2.0Households in Elkridge earn more than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.3 in Baltimore. The poverty rate is 7.6%; Maryland has 9.4%. For jobs and income Elkridge is better than 82% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Elkridge: the figures worth knowing
How Elkridge earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Elkridge’s grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Elkridge could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
13% of working residents work in Baltimore
Where Elkridge clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
In and out of Elkridge on a workday
On a workday 10,718 residents head out to work, 457 work right here, and 13,649 people come in from elsewhere.
About 29,000 people are in Elkridge on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 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.
A place that makes things: 29% of Elkridge’s jobs are in goods
14,106 jobs are based in Elkridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elkridge, 2013 → 2023: 12,179 → 14,106. 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 Elkridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Elkridge’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elkridge workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,991 commuters (the 23% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Elkridge
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Elkridge
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.0% across Maryland.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 14,228 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 10% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 3.1% of Elkridge households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Elkridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Elkridge is 493rd of 1,576 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | North Laurel MD | 25,563 | $123K | 4.7% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Arnold MD | 24,303 | $142K | 3.1% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| 56 | Pasadena MD | 34,309 | $130K | 5.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 491 | Leesylvania VA | 21,632 | $133K | 4.4% | 6.1% | 2% | A− |
| 492 | Easton MA | 25,795 | $124K | 6.0% | 5.1% | 11% | A− |
| 493 | Elkridge MD | 26,283 | $140K | 7.6% | 5.2% | 4% | A− |
| 494 | Roselle IL | 22,756 | $111K | 4.1% | 6.8% | 5% | A− |
| 495 | North Liberty IA | 21,976 | $102K | 6.1% | 3.3% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Elkridge, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Elkridge and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Jessup (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Elkridge’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 Elkridge: questions
What is the median household income in Elkridge?
$139,913 (±$9,009) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elkridge?
7.6%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elkridge?
27 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elkridge work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (13%, 10 mi), Columbia (12%, 6 mi), Washington (6%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elkridge walkable?
Elkridge is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elkridge without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 10% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elkridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elkridge
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.