Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Poolesville earn more than in almost any other U.S. town
The poverty rate is 2.8%, where Maryland as a whole has 9.4%. Measured by household income, Poolesville is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Poolesville grades A for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Poolesville
Home offices are common in Poolesville
36% of Poolesville workers work from home, against 19% across Maryland. Time on the road ↓
Poolesville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 31 across Maryland. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Poolesville is a place people come home to
There are 779 jobs based in Poolesville, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Poolesville has about 3,900 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 Poolesville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Poolesville is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #53 of 261 in Maryland. Household income is its strongest input ($205,919, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, 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, Poolesville could be anywhere from A− to A+.
About 38 minutes to work from Poolesville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Poolesville workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,017 commuters (the 36% 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 many people are in Poolesville by day
On a workday 2,696 residents head out to work, 161 work right here, and 618 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Poolesville on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
10% of working residents work in Rockville
Where Poolesville clocks in
10% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Poolesville is a services town
779 jobs are based in Poolesville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Poolesville, 2013 → 2023: 635 → 779. 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 Poolesville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Poolesville to work
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.
Most trips from Poolesville start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Poolesville is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #158 of 261 in Maryland. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% 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 3,160 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 70% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 0.8% of Poolesville households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Poolesville’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Poolesville ranks: 254th of 3,336 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,000
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 252 | East Fallowfield Township PA | 7,917 | $117K | 5.0% | 1.4% | 2% | A |
| 253 | Taylor Creek OH | 4,253 | $99K | 3.7% | 2.2% | 2% | A |
| 254 | Poolesville MD | 5,942 | $206K | 2.8% | 4.0% | 6% | A |
| 255 | Grosse Pointe MI | 5,490 | $159K | 2.8% | 4.3% | 5% | A |
| 256 | Briarcliff Manor NY | 7,481 | $230K | 7.1% | 3.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,336 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Poolesville, 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 Poolesville: questions
What is the median household income in Poolesville?
$205,919 (±$41,292) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Poolesville?
2.8%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Poolesville?
38 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Poolesville work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockville (10%, 14 mi), Gaithersburg (8%, 12 mi), Washington (7%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Poolesville walkable?
Poolesville is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Poolesville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Poolesville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Poolesville
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.