AreaProfile

21229Baltimore, Maryland

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 21229.

63
Area Score
Top 47% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3249th of 4,073 published ZIP areas40
Growth3588th of 3,947 published ZIP areas24
Housing affordabilityTop 46% of 4,553 published ZIP areas78
ClimateTop 45% of 4,621 published ZIP areas71
Physical resilienceTop 9% of 4,554 published ZIP areas91
AccessTop 25% of 4,623 published ZIP areas98
Economic stability3633rd of 4,591 published ZIP areas43
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places 21229 in the bottom 20%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 885 units authorized over the past twelve months, 30% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 21229 in the top 9% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
46,679
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,047
Bottom 30% nationally
Density
7,864/sq mi
5.9 sq mi of land
Median age
37.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Baltimore
Maryland
Metro area
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
Nearest major airport
BWI
8 mi · Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood Marshall
Median home value
$201,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.5% is lower than 15% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 268,819 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,279$60,047Bottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,748$33,062Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate19.1%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute34.0 minTop 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher23.9%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment268,819Top 11%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.8%Bottom 37%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.4%Top 20%June 2026
Labor force284,483Top 11%June 2026
Labor force participation62.0%Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$76,370Top 22%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$59,070Top 19%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 48%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.5%Top 15%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202460k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,047 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers44,960$117,040
Retail Salespersons39,920$34,800
Registered Nurses30,930$99,550
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive29,780$49,220
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand28,350$43,250
Home Health and Personal Care Aides26,880$37,640

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Baltimore, MD, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,297 takes 26% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,297
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$201,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.35Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate56.9%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±66721,006Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$59$1,297Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,307$201,300Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.9%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.3%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
24/ 100
Ranks 3588 of 3,947 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

60% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 1.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
885
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.5
Bottom 31% nationally
Year over year
−30%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
60.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Baltimore, MD, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.7 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MD SCI CTR BALTIMORE, 4.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

91 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane and earthquake.

EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, winter weather, strong wind, cold wave, inland flooding, tornado, lightning, hail, ice storm, coastal flooding, landslide, wildfire, drought, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 8 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI8 mi10,503 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD47 mi11,500 ft
Harrisburg IntlMDT63 mi10,001 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
63
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

21229 vs Baltimore

How this ZIP area compares with Baltimore as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

21229
Baltimore
Median household income
$60,047
vs
$62,177
Per capita income
$33,062
vs
$40,604
Population density
7,864/sq mi
vs
7,082/sq mi
Median home value
$201,300
vs
$229,600
Median gross rent
$1,297
vs
$1,331
Homeownership rate
56.9%
vs
47.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
23.9%
vs
36.1%
Poverty rate
19.1%
vs
19.7%
Median age
37.5
vs
36.2

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.