Photo: Scott218 · CC BY-SA 4.0Ilchester has higher household incomes than 95% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 28% of workers, against 19% across Maryland. 5.1% of residents are in poverty (Maryland 9.4%). For jobs and income Ilchester is better than 96% of U.S. towns (A+); for walkability it is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Ilchester, in brief
Home offices are common in Ilchester
28% of Ilchester workers work from home, against 19% across Maryland. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Ilchester is services
85% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 4% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
The figures behind Ilchester’s Jobs & income grade
Household income is its strongest input ($152,103, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ilchester could be anywhere from A to A+.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Ilchester
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ilchester workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,244 commuters (the 28% 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 Ilchester, services account for most jobs
4,480 jobs are based in Ilchester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ilchester, 2013 → 2023: 4,002 → 4,480. 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 Ilchester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Ilchester: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 12,149 residents head out to work, 378 work right here, and 4,102 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Ilchester on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.36 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.
14% of working residents work in Columbia
Where Ilchester clocks in
14% 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.
How far it is to work from Ilchester
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.
Getting around Ilchester: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 15,559 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 19% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 2.6% of Ilchester households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Ilchester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Ilchester is 78th among 1,409 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 38,000
| # | 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 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | North Laurel MD | 25,563 | $123K | 4.7% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Arnold MD | 24,303 | $142K | 3.1% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| 47 | Pasadena MD | 34,309 | $130K | 5.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | St. Michael MN | 22,498 | $131K | 3.2% | 2.9% | 6% | A+ |
| 77 | Crofton MD | 29,549 | $151K | 2.9% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| 78 | Ilchester MD | 28,364 | $152K | 5.1% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| 79 | Melissa TX | 29,969 | $139K | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 80 | West Goshen Township PA | 24,224 | $132K | 5.4% | 2.4% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,409 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Ilchester, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
The towns next door employ 20% of Ilchester
The biggest share goes to Columbia (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ilchester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilchester | – | A+ | B+ | 28 min | $152,103 |
| Ellicott City | 4% | A+ | B | 28 min | $156,964 |
| Catonsville | under 2% | A | A | 25 min | $114,109 |
| Columbia | 14% | A | A | 28 min | $131,490 |
| Elkridge | 2% | A− | A− | 27 min | $139,913 |
| Arbutus | under 2% | B+ | A | 25 min | $99,090 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ilchester’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 Ilchester: questions
What is the median household income in Ilchester?
$152,103 (±$10,112) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ilchester?
5.1%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ilchester?
28 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ilchester work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (14%, 5 mi), Baltimore (14%, 10 mi), Washington (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ilchester walkable?
Ilchester is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ilchester without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ilchester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ilchester
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.