Photo: Alainmoscoso · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Westernport have lower incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
22.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where Maryland as a whole has 9.4%. For jobs and income Westernport is better than 6% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (A−). 6% of workers have no commute at all; Maryland has 19%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Westernport
Jobs & income in Westernport: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Westernport’s grade up (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,688, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Westernport’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Westernport could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How a workday changes Westernport
On a workday 601 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 133 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Westernport on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.25 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.
14% of working residents work in Cumberland
Where Westernport clocks in
14% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
155 jobs are based in Westernport.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Westernport, 2013 → 2023: 210 → 155. 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 Westernport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 33 minutes each way for Westernport’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Westernport workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 656 commuters (the 5% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Westernport
About 28% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Westernport
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 694 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 47% 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). 7.9% of Westernport households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Westernport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400, Westernport ranks 5,416th of 6,085 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Cabin John MD | 2,179 | $250K | 0.8% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Colmar Manor MD | 1,590 | $123K | 2.3% | 4.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,414 | Montgomery VT | 1,225 | $53K | 15.6% | 16.1% | 4% | D |
| 5,415 | Rector AR | 1,789 | $48K | 20.2% | 4.1% | 15% | D |
| 5,416 | Westernport MD | 1,759 | $48K | 22.2% | 0.0% | 4% | D |
| 5,417 | Snow Hill MD | 2,237 | $48K | 18.4% | 12.4% | 13% | D |
| 5,418 | Belle MO | 1,379 | $55K | 21.8% | 4.4% | 8% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Westernport, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
The towns around Westernport
The biggest share goes to Franklin (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Westernport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westernport | – | D | A− | 33 min | $47,688 |
| Franklin | 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Franklin: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Westernport’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 Westernport: questions
What is the median household income in Westernport?
$47,688 (±$12,140) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Westernport?
22.2%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Westernport?
33 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Westernport work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cumberland (14%, 19 mi), Keyser (4%, 5 mi), Frostburg (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Westernport walkable?
Westernport is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Westernport without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Westernport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Westernport
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.