Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainAt 6.1%, unemployment in Woodlawn is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 26 minutes each way, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. The two grades for Woodlawn are B for jobs and income and A for walkability. Only 7% work in Woodlawn itself; outside it, Baltimore draws the most (25%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Woodlawn, in brief
A lot of Woodlawn works one town over
34% of working residents work in a town that borders Woodlawn: Baltimore (25%), Catonsville (4%) and Ellicott City (3%). Next door ↓
Woodlawn has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Woodlawn went from 15,407 in 2014 to 24,918 in 2024, +62%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Woodlawn pay better than its residents’ jobs
80% of the jobs based in Woodlawn pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 63% of the jobs Woodlawn residents hold. 95% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Woodlawn. The jobs ↓
Woodlawn draws workers from far and wide
The 24,918 jobs in Woodlawn are filled from a wide area. Woodlawn’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 34%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Woodlawn are quick
The average trip to work takes 26 minutes, against 31 across Maryland. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maryland worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Woodlawn’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Woodlawn is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #204 of 261 in Maryland. Job access by car holds Woodlawn’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Woodlawn could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Services make up most of the work in Woodlawn
24,918 jobs are based in Woodlawn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Woodlawn, 2014 → 2024: 15,407 → 24,918. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Woodlawn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Woodlawn goes to work
Where Woodlawn clocks in
25% 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 26 minutes to work from Woodlawn
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Woodlawn workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,776 commuters (the 16% 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 daily commute in and out of Woodlawn
On a workday 15,817 residents head out to work, 1,148 work right here, and 23,770 people come in from elsewhere.
About 48,000 people are in Woodlawn on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How many miles Woodlawn commutes
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Woodlawn is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 19,921 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 78% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 12.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 8.1% of Woodlawn households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Woodlawn’s commuters take a bus or train.
683rd of 1,101: where Woodlawn ranks among U.S. towns of 28,000 to 55,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Severna Park MD | 40,228 | $170K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Pasadena MD | 34,309 | $130K | 5.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Potomac MD | 45,902 | $237K | 3.9% | 3.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 681 | Pueblo West CO | 35,681 | $97K | 7.0% | 4.8% | 11% | B |
| 682 | Kennesaw GA | 37,970 | $83K | 10.3% | 6.1% | 4% | B |
| 683 | Woodlawn MD | 40,379 | $82K | 11.6% | 6.1% | 7% | B |
| 684 | Garner NC | 41,562 | $79K | 8.4% | 6.2% | 11% | B |
| 685 | Ewing Township NJ | 39,030 | $91K | 11.9% | 6.9% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,101 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Woodlawn, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Woodlawn and its neighbors: 34% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Woodlawn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodlawn | – | B | A | 26 min | $82,466 |
| Ellicott City | 3% | A+ | B | 28 min | $156,964 |
| Lochearn | under 2% | B | A | 30 min | $74,707 |
| Milford Mill | 2% | B− | A | 31 min | $69,711 |
| Baltimore | 25% | C+ | A+ | 29 min | $62,177 |
| Catonsville | 4% | A | A | 25 min | $114,109 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Baltimore. Darker towns draw more of Woodlawn’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 2024, 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 Woodlawn: questions
What is the median household income in Woodlawn?
$82,466 (±$6,925) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Woodlawn?
11.6%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Woodlawn?
26 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Woodlawn work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (25%, 7 mi), Columbia (5%, 9 mi), Towson (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Woodlawn walkable?
Woodlawn is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Woodlawn without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Woodlawn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Woodlawn
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.