Photo: Pubdog · Public domainReisterstown has higher unemployment (9.0%) than 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Reisterstown B−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 26.3 in Baltimore. Only 5% work in Reisterstown itself; outside it, Baltimore draws the most (21%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Reisterstown’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Reisterstown is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #220 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Reisterstown’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Reisterstown could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
How many people are in Reisterstown by day
On a workday 10,769 residents head out to work, 518 work right here, and 4,234 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Reisterstown on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.42 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.
Where people from Reisterstown work
Where Reisterstown clocks in
21% 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.
Inside Reisterstown’s 4,752 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Reisterstown, 2013 → 2023: 4,980 → 4,752. 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 Reisterstown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Reisterstown: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Reisterstown workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,023 commuters (the 24% 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.
Half of Reisterstown commutes less than 14 miles
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.
Reisterstown is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,901 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 71% 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 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 11.3% of Reisterstown households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Reisterstown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Reisterstown next to U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000: 1,047th of 1,576 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | North Laurel MD | 25,563 | $123K | 4.7% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Arnold MD | 24,303 | $142K | 3.1% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| 56 | Pasadena MD | 34,309 | $130K | 5.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,045 | Sapulpa OK | 23,695 | $64K | 14.2% | 3.2% | 12% | B− |
| 1,046 | Marina CA | 23,256 | $96K | 12.2% | 5.9% | 8% | B− |
| 1,047 | Reisterstown MD | 25,582 | $86K | 10.7% | 9.0% | 5% | B− |
| 1,048 | Lakeside FL | 32,105 | $82K | 8.9% | 6.7% | 6% | B− |
| 1,049 | Forest Grove OR | 27,252 | $88K | 15.4% | 4.3% | 16% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Reisterstown, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
How Reisterstown compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Owings Mills (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Reisterstown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reisterstown | – | B− | A | 30 min | $85,543 |
| Owings Mills | 6% | A− | A | 29 min | $96,243 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Reisterstown’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 Reisterstown: questions
What is the median household income in Reisterstown?
$85,543 (±$9,005) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Reisterstown?
10.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Reisterstown?
30 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Reisterstown work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (21%, 15 mi), Owings Mills (6%, 3 mi), Towson (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Reisterstown walkable?
Reisterstown is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Reisterstown without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Reisterstown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Reisterstown
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.