Photo: Andrew Bain · CC BY-SA 3.0Thurmont has lower unemployment (2.5%) than 77% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Thurmont itself; outside it, Frederick draws the most (23%, 12 miles). Jobs and income earn Thurmont B+; getting around on foot earns it B+. Household incomes here are higher than in 75% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Thurmont
How Thurmont earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Thurmont is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #159 of 261 in Maryland. Unemployment holds Thurmont’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (11.1%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thurmont could be anywhere from B− to A.
Goods jobs make up 49% of work in Thurmont
2,622 jobs are based in Thurmont.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thurmont, 2013 → 2023: 2,423 → 2,622. 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 Thurmont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Thurmont by day and by night
On a workday 3,026 residents head out to work, 244 work right here, and 2,378 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,700 people are in Thurmont on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 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.
Where Thurmont goes to work
Where Thurmont clocks in
23% 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.
Time on the road from Thurmont: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thurmont workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,941 commuters (the 15% 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.
The distance from Thurmont to work
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.
Thurmont is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thurmont is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #167 of 261 in Maryland. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.0% across Maryland.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,474 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 23% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.7% of Thurmont households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Thurmont’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,088th of 3,396: where Thurmont ranks among U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | Salem Township OH | 5,661 | $96K | 6.4% | 4.7% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,087 | Old Fig Garden CA | 5,503 | $106K | 7.9% | 5.7% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,088 | Thurmont MD | 6,337 | $98K | 11.1% | 2.5% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,089 | Marlborough CT | 6,213 | $142K | 9.7% | 5.5% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,090 | Fruitland Township MI | 5,955 | $91K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,396 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Thurmont, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
How Thurmont compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thurmont workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thurmont | – | B+ | B+ | 29 min | $98,125 |
| Graceham | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Graceham: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thurmont’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 Thurmont: questions
What is the median household income in Thurmont?
$98,125 (±$5,419) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thurmont?
11.1%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thurmont?
29 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thurmont work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Frederick (23%, 12 mi), Ballenger Creek (6%, 16 mi), Baltimore (3%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thurmont walkable?
Thurmont is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thurmont without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thurmont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thurmont
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.