Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Severn’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 5.7% of residents, where Maryland as a whole has 9.4%. Jobs and income earn Severn A; getting around on foot earns it A−. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 26.3 in Baltimore.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Severn, in brief
How Severn earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Severn is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #82 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Severn’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Severn could be anywhere from A− to A+.
11% of working residents work in Baltimore
Where Severn clocks in
11% of workers
8% 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.
Who commutes out of Severn, and who commutes in
On a workday 23,254 residents head out to work, 1,129 work right here, and 16,149 people come in from elsewhere.
About 51,000 people are in Severn on a workday afternoon, 12% 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 2023, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Severn
17,278 jobs are based in Severn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Severn, 2013 → 2023: 15,252 → 17,278. 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 Severn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Severn spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Severn workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,255 commuters (the 17% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Severn
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.
Severn is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Severn is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #143 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Severn near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 31,664 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 24% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 3.6% of Severn households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Severn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 749 U.S. towns of 41,000 to 79,000, Severn comes 135th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Ellicott City MD | 75,257 | $157K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Potomac MD | 45,902 | $237K | 3.9% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 133 | Royal Oak MI | 57,583 | $101K | 6.2% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| 134 | Horizon West FL | 67,416 | $127K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| 135 | Severn MD | 58,402 | $134K | 5.7% | 4.6% | 5% | A |
| 136 | Lake Ridge VA | 46,049 | $127K | 5.8% | 4.0% | 4% | A |
| 137 | East Brunswick Township NJ | 50,678 | $143K | 5.8% | 4.7% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 749 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Severn, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
How Severn compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Glen Burnie (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Severn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severn | – | A | A− | 28 min | $134,423 |
| Gambrills | under 2% | A+ | C | 26 min | $148,594 |
| Odenton | 2% | A+ | A− | 29 min | $128,441 |
| Fort Meade | under 2% | A | A− | 16 min | $103,261 |
| Glen Burnie | 3% | B+ | A− | 27 min | $88,280 |
| Jessup | 2% | A− | B+ | 27 min | $128,851 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Severn’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 Severn: questions
What is the median household income in Severn?
$134,423 (±$8,244) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Severn?
5.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Severn?
28 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Severn work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (11%, 12 mi), Washington (8%, 24 mi), Columbia (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Severn walkable?
Severn is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Severn without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Severn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Severn
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.