Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Smithsburg has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for Smithsburg are B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 427 jobs are based in Smithsburg for 1,331 working residents. 11% of workers work from home, next to 19% for Maryland as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Smithsburg apart
Why Smithsburg gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Smithsburg is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #208 of 261 in Maryland. Household income holds Smithsburg’s grade up ($100,673, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Smithsburg could be anywhere from C to A.
About 36 minutes each way for Smithsburg’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smithsburg workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,352 commuters (the 11% 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 Smithsburg by day
On a workday 1,308 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 404 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Smithsburg on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
13% of working residents work in Hagerstown
Where Smithsburg clocks in
13% of workers
11% 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.
Making and building: 29% of jobs based in Smithsburg
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smithsburg, 2013 → 2023: 330 → 427. 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 Smithsburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Smithsburg
About 23% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Smithsburg, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Smithsburg is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #176 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Smithsburg 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 1,513 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.2% of Smithsburg households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Smithsburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Smithsburg is 1,926th of 4,698 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Brown Station MD | 3,451 | $169K | 3.3% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Naval Academy MD | 3,006 | $122K | 1.5% | 4.4% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Herald Harbor MD | 2,430 | $148K | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,924 | Meeker CO | 2,417 | $67K | 5.2% | 0.2% | 46% | B |
| 1,925 | Osage IA | 3,552 | $69K | 6.9% | 1.8% | 48% | B |
| 1,926 | Smithsburg MD | 3,212 | $101K | 15.7% | 4.1% | 2% | B |
| 1,927 | Sumrall MS | 2,299 | $70K | 4.4% | 6.9% | 5% | B |
| 1,928 | Hebron OH | 2,405 | $67K | 8.9% | 4.4% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Smithsburg, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Around Smithsburg: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Cavetown (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Smithsburg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithsburg | – | B | B+ | 36 min | $100,673 |
| Cavetown | 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Cavetown: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Smithsburg’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 Smithsburg: questions
What is the median household income in Smithsburg?
$100,673 (±$27,336) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smithsburg?
15.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smithsburg?
36 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smithsburg work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hagerstown (13%, 8 mi), Frederick (11%, 17 mi), Robinwood (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Smithsburg walkable?
Smithsburg is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Smithsburg without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Smithsburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smithsburg
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.