Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Jessup grades B overall, ranked 139th of 259 in Maryland. Natural-hazard risk is low. The median household earns $129K. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $508K, 5.1 years of the Baltimore metro’s $99K median household income. 4.4% of residents are 65 or older in Jessup, below both Maryland’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (18%). Only 19 of Maryland’s 329 towns score lower on the outdoors. Grassland is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Jessup beats most towns.
Grassland7,137 counted in 2010 and 10,535 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Jessup is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 7,865 in 2000, 10,535 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 7 maps from 1892 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Jessup. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw22 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw24 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw24 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw22 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaNorthwest StadiumWhite House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Northwest Stadium: Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0
Jessup is unincorporated, so Anne Arundel County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Mar 11, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Jessup.
Jessup draws workers from Baltimore and beyond and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Maryland.
14,973 jobs are based in Jessup, 4.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
For most workers, Jessup is a place to come home to: only 2% work in town. Jobs locally fell by 847 from 2013 to 2023, to 14,973. The town’s average trip to work comes in at 27 minutes. The top destinations are Washington (11%), Baltimore (10%) and Columbia (9%).
| Jessup | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $129,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 12% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 3.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its one school is below. Public schools: the Anne Arundel County Public Schools. 646 students attend Jessup’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jessup ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 646 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Jessup once, in 2003. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 36% come from inland flooding and 14% from heat waves. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 100% of U.S. communities.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Expect July afternoons of 88° and January nights of 25°, with about 19 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
56% of Jessup households live in a home they own. For Jessup, the going rate for rent is $2,187 a month.
| Jessup | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,187 a month | $1,809 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 56% | 74% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Within Maryland it is less healthy than 66% of the 261 graded towns: Maryland sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Maryland is cancer: 3.8% of its 9,383 adults have had cancer, against 7.6% statewide.
Among adults in Jessup, 40% have obesity. The town does better than the Maryland average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 17. 38% of adults in Jessup feel lonely; 17% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Jessup | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 38% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 20% | 23% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Jessup | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.8% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 3.8% | 5.8% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 19.4% | 13.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The biggest park or preserve is Baltimore-Washington Parkway, at 99 acres. Jessup has 2 parks and preserves, 101 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Baltimore-Washington Parkway | — | 99 |
| 2. Cedar Villa Heights Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
12 within 15 miles of the center of Jessup
About 7 of every 100 Jessup residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maryland.
Where Jessup’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in Maryland
Jessup ( JESS-əp) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard and Anne Arundel counties, about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 10,535.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Jessup.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jessup | #139 | B | D | — | B+ | B |
| Elkridge | #49 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Fort Meade | #135 | B | D− | — | B− | A |
| Maryland City | #155 | B− | D | — | B− | B+ |
| Savage | #61 | A | C− | — | A | A |
| Columbia | #36 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Severn | #116 | B+ | D | — | B− | A− |
Jessup, Elkridge, Fort Meade, Maryland City, Savage, Columbia and Severn report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Jessup with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Jessup grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #139 of 259 in Maryland. It grades B for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
2 notable people were born here, including DeWanda Wise and Philip M. Bannon.
.jpg){kind=link}