Photo: Aberdeen Proving Ground · CC BY 2.0At 5.7%, unemployment in North East is higher than in 71% of U.S. towns
Only 4% stay in North East for work; outside it, Elkton is the main destination (10%, 6 miles). The two grades for North East are B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.3 in Baltimore.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in North East
How North East earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, North East is better than 63% of U.S. towns, #185 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds North East’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, North East could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Inside North East’s 1,345 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North East, 2014 → 2024: 1,047 → 1,345. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs North East’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of North East on a workday
On a workday 1,818 residents head out to work, 66 work right here, and 1,279 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in North East on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.71 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where North East goes to work
Where North East clocks in
10% 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.
About 28 minutes each way for North East’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North East workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,999 commuters (the 18% 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.
North East’s commute, mile by mile
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
North East is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, North East is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #125 of 261 in Maryland. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% 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 2,450 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 7.7% of North East households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of North East’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, North East is 1,484th among 3,962 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Brown Station MD | 3,451 | $169K | 3.3% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,482 | Elverta CA | 4,769 | $91K | 8.0% | 6.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,483 | Mulberry OH | 3,821 | $76K | 6.6% | 5.4% | 2% | B |
| 1,484 | North East MD | 4,237 | $92K | 7.5% | 5.7% | 4% | B |
| 1,485 | Erie Township MI | 4,348 | $71K | 15.6% | 1.4% | 4% | B |
| 1,486 | Alexandria Township NJ | 4,811 | $160K | 6.0% | 9.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,962 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 North East, 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 2024, 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 North East: questions
What is the median household income in North East?
$91,603 (±$18,298) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North East?
7.5%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North East?
28 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North East work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elkton (10%, 6 mi), Baltimore (4%, 42 mi), Perryville (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is North East walkable?
North East is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North East without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North East, from the people who make the trip.
More of North East
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.