Salmon-Stohlman House · Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0Somerset’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. 1.9% of residents are in poverty (Maryland 9.4%). Jobs and income earn Somerset A+; getting around on foot earns it A+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Somerset
Most Somerset residents work close to home
70% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
A lot of Somerset works from home
43% of Somerset workers work from home, against 19% across Maryland. Time on the road ↓
38% of Somerset works in Washington
151 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Washington, DC, 6.1 miles away. That’s far more as work in Somerset itself. The commute map ↓
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; with 402 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Somerset’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Somerset is among the top U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Somerset’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.3%) is left out: Somerset’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
The Census reports Somerset’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Somerset stays A+.
How many miles Somerset commutes
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.
Somerset’s commute takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Somerset workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 308 commuters (the 43% 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.
38% of working residents work in Washington
Where Somerset clocks in
38% of workers
14% of workers
3% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Somerset
On a workday 401 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 105 people come in from elsewhere.
About 860 people are in Somerset on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.26 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.
Services make up most of the work in Somerset
106 jobs are based in Somerset.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Somerset, 2013 → 2023: 244 → 106. 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 Somerset’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Somerset is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Somerset is among the most walkable U.S. towns. Both inputs place Somerset 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 537 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, <1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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 Somerset households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 19% of Somerset’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Somerset is 1st of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Colmar Manor MD | 1,590 | $123K | 2.3% | 4.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Galesville MD | 1,062 | $205K | 2.7% | 6.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Queen Anne MD | 1,443 | $103K | 4.0% | 19.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Somerset, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
The towns next door employ 15% of Somerset
The biggest share goes to Bethesda (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Somerset workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | – | A+ | A+ | 33 min | $250,000+ |
| Bethesda | 14% | A+ | A+ | 28 min | $192,237 |
| Friendship Heights Village | 1% | A | A+ | 31 min | $119,384 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Somerset’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Somerset: questions
What is the median household income in Somerset?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Somerset?
1.9%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Somerset?
33 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 43% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Somerset work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (38%, 6 mi), Bethesda (14%, 2 mi), Rockville (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Somerset walkable?
Somerset is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 43% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Somerset without a car?
19% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. <1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Somerset, from the people who make the trip.
More of Somerset
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.