Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Hampstead earn more than those in 75% of U.S. towns
Only 5% work in Hampstead; the top destination outside it is Baltimore (7%, 25 miles). Below the poverty line: 6.9% of residents, next to 9.4% for Maryland as a whole. Jobs and income earn Hampstead B+; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hampstead at work: what stands out
No single place dominates Hampstead’s commute
The biggest draw, Baltimore, gets only 7% of working residents, and 60% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Hampstead residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Hampstead
70% of Hampstead residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 51% of the jobs based in Hampstead pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
Where Hampstead’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hampstead is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #149 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Hampstead’s grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, 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, Hampstead could be anywhere from B− to A+.
The towns that employ Hampstead’s residents
Where Hampstead clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
Goods jobs make up 33% of work in Hampstead
2,134 jobs are based in Hampstead.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hampstead, 2013 → 2023: 1,785 → 2,134. 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 Hampstead’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Hampstead, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,782 residents head out to work, 143 work right here, and 1,991 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,500 people are in Hampstead on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
Each way, about 30 minutes from Hampstead
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hampstead workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,096 commuters (the 15% 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 far it is to work from Hampstead
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.
Driving is how Hampstead gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hampstead is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns, #222 of 261 in Maryland. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% 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 3,633 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.5% of Hampstead households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Hampstead’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Hampstead is 993rd among 3,349 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 991 | Hallsville TX | 4,895 | $85K | 5.7% | 2.8% | 2% | B+ |
| 992 | Lower Frederick Township PA | 4,917 | $116K | 10.8% | 4.4% | 3% | B+ |
| 993 | Hampstead MD | 6,281 | $98K | 6.9% | 4.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 994 | Straban Township PA | 4,968 | $88K | 7.1% | 2.3% | 8% | B+ |
| 995 | Twin Lakes WI | 6,338 | $86K | 6.0% | 4.0% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,349 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Hampstead, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
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 Hampstead: questions
What is the median household income in Hampstead?
$97,871 (±$15,334) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hampstead?
6.9%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hampstead?
30 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hampstead work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (7%, 25 mi), Westminster (6%, 8 mi), Cockeysville (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hampstead walkable?
Hampstead is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hampstead without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hampstead, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hampstead
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.