Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station · Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0Silver Spring has higher household incomes than 77% of U.S. towns
10.6% of residents are in poverty, where Maryland as a whole has 9.4%. For jobs and income Silver Spring is better than 70% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is among the most walkable U.S. towns (A+). Home is the office for 27% of workers, where Maryland as a whole has 19%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Silver Spring, in brief
Silver Spring trades workers with the towns around it
Silver Spring has about as many jobs (28,224) as working residents (32,727), but they are mostly different people: 30,793 residents leave for work each day while 26,290 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Silver Spring are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Silver Spring workers cross into Washington, D.C.
30% of Silver Spring workers work outside Maryland, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Washington (31%) and Arlington (2%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Silver Spring draws workers from far and wide
The 28,224 jobs in Silver Spring are filled from a wide area. Silver Spring’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 23%; the other 70% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Silver Spring’s working residents have a job less than 7 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 34 minutes, longer than the Maryland average of 31. Time on the road ↓
Most Silver Spring residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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.
What’s behind Silver Spring’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Silver Spring’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Silver Spring could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who works in Silver Spring, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 30,793 residents head out to work, 1,934 work right here, and 26,290 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
31% of working residents work in Washington
Where Silver Spring clocks in
31% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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 34 minutes each way, longer than most of Maryland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Silver Spring workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 33,973 commuters (the 27% 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.
Silver Spring’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Silver Spring
28,224 jobs are based in Silver Spring.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Silver Spring, 2013 → 2023: 30,275 → 28,224. 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 Silver Spring’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Silver Spring is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Silver Spring is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #9 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Silver Spring 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 46,742 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 75% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 92.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 16.5% of Silver Spring households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 19% of Silver Spring’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 559 U.S. towns of 57,000 to 110,000, Silver Spring comes 245th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 4 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Ellicott City MD | 75,257 | $157K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Bowie MD | 58,383 | $142K | 3.8% | 4.7% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 243 | Camarillo CA | 68,652 | $113K | 8.5% | 5.5% | 17% | B+ |
| 244 | Redlands CA | 74,128 | $105K | 9.1% | 5.5% | 19% | B+ |
| 245 | Silver Spring MD | 81,462 | $100K | 10.6% | 5.4% | 6% | B+ |
| 246 | Warwick RI | 84,187 | $89K | 7.6% | 5.1% | 23% | B+ |
| 247 | Palm Harbor FL | 61,512 | $79K | 10.3% | 3.3% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 559 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Silver Spring, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
31% of Silver Spring works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Silver Spring workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Spring | – | B+ | A+ | 34 min | $99,860 |
| Chevy Chase | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 28 min | $211,765 |
| Takoma Park | under 2% | A− | A+ | 34 min | $108,136 |
| Four Corners | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 35 min | $203,125 |
| South Kensington | under 2% | A | A+ | 29 min | $210,953 |
| Langley Park | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 39 min | $85,321 |
| Hillandale | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 33 min | $164,871 |
| Forest Glen | under 2% | A− | A+ | 32 min | $127,820 |
| Adelphi | under 2% | B− | A+ | 37 min | $82,137 |
| Kemp Mill | under 2% | B+ | A | 31 min | $146,354 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Washington. Darker towns draw more of Silver Spring’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 Silver Spring: questions
What is the median household income in Silver Spring?
$99,860 (±$7,677) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Silver Spring?
10.6%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Silver Spring?
34 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Silver Spring work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (31%, 7 mi), Bethesda (6%, 5 mi), Rockville (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Silver Spring walkable?
Silver Spring is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 24% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Silver Spring without a car?
19% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 75% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Silver Spring, from the people who make the trip.
More of Silver Spring
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.