Cambridge, Maryland

Area Profile

13,152 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cambridge, in Dorchester County.

46out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 11% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity3,932nd of 4,199 cities measured30
Schools3,262nd of 4,162 cities measured27
Growth2,622nd of 4,224 cities measured45
Housing affordability2,792nd of 4,218 cities measured59
ClimateTop 22% of 4,225 cities measured77
Physical resilience2,673rd of 4,226 cities measured46
Access3,686th of 4,226 cities measured72
Economic stability3,931st of 4,226 cities measured27
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places Cambridge in the bottom 6%. The unemployment rate is published for Dorchester County, MD, which contains Cambridge, rather than for Cambridge alone.

In the public schools here, 20% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.8 students for every teacher.

23 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, essentially level with the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
13,152
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$47,323
Bottom 19% nationally
Density
1,235/sq mi
10.6 sq mi of land
Median age
39.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Maryland
Micro area
Nearest major airport
DOV
52 mi · Dover AFB
Median home value
$257,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Dorchester County, MD, which contains Cambridge, is 4.8% — higher than in all but 32% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Dorchester County, MD, which contains Cambridge, fell 1.9% over the past year, to 14,937 employed residents.

Median household income of $47,323 is lower than in 81% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsDorchester County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$60,26327th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftDorchester County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$60,19424th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$7,7472024 ACS 5-Year$47,323Bottom 19%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,9742024 ACS 5-Year$30,543Bottom 39%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year26.2%Bottom 13%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.5 minTop 33%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year20.1%Bottom 49%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year73.6%38th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentDorchester County, MD’s figureJuly 202614,937Bottom 13%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Dorchester County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−1.5%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Dorchester County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−1.9%Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceDorchester County, MD’s figureJuly 202615,68213th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year76.4%Bottom 44%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Dorchester County, MD’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateDorchester County, MD’s figureJuly 20264.8%Bottom 32%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%47th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202447k40k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $47,323 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Dorchester County, MD, which contains this city.

20% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 34% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.8 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.8
across 5 of them
Math proficiency
20.4%
Bottom 14% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
33.6%
Bottom 17% in Maryland
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cambridge-South Dorchester High SchoolDorchester County Public Schools81116.927%57%
Mace's Lane Middle SchoolDorchester County Public Schools49012.36%25%
Maple Elementary SchoolDorchester County Public Schools48314.625%20%
Sandy Hill ElementaryDorchester County Public Schools39311.922%22%
Choptank Elementary SchoolDorchester County Public Schools31911.817%22%
Dorchester County Career and Technology CenterDorchester County Public Schools0———
Judith P. Hoyer Early Childhood CenterDorchester County Public Schools0———

85.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Maryland’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland is up 46% over five years, and up 5.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,617 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.01% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,144, some 8% above the $1,058 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,144 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $45,800 a year, about 97% of the median household income here of $47,323.

The typical renter household here spends 37% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,058 a month.

A median home at $257,900 costs 3.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $83,750, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
36.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,144
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,058
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$257,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Cambridge’s median household income of $47,323, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland’s figure2026 Q2+5.3%81st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland’s figure2026 Q2+46.0%66th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Maryland’s figure2026 Q2+90.3%47th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.62024 ACS 5-Year3.1Bottom 33%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year41.1%5th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3082024 ACS 5-Year6,65291st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$952Top 19%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,591Top 22%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,144Top 17%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$932024 ACS 5-Year$1,058Bottom 42%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,1952024 ACS 5-Year$257,90066th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2152024 ACS 5-Year$2,61767th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$14,0002024 ACS 5-Year$83,750Top 44%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year1.01%53rd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.9%Bottom 16%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±782024 ACS 5-Year15892nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.4%71st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year13.0%74th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2462024 ACS 5-Year1,02395th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

45/ 100
Ranks 2,622 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 13,262 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 13,262 residents in 2024, up 0.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 23 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Dorchester County, which contains Cambridge, gained about 2.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $60,263, close to the $60,194 of households that moved out.

At 1.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
23
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.7
Bottom 38% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202413k13k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+2.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
36%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$60,263
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$60,194
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Talbot County, MD 241 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. Caroline County, MD 202 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Wicomico County, MD 145 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  4. Anne Arundel County, MD 116 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  5. Sussex County, DE 92 people · 5.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Talbot County, MD 205 people · 18% of departures
  2. Caroline County, MD 145 people · 13% of departures
  3. Wicomico County, MD 138 people · 12% of departures
  4. Sussex County, DE 68 people · 5.9% of departures
  5. Queen Anne's County, MD 33 people · 2.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Dorchester County, MD. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420252322
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2022 (0%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.3 inches, including 12.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 40, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PATUXENT RIVER NAS, 25.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year572024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals12.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year402024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
40
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
57
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

46 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are coastal flooding, hurricane and inland flooding, with coastal flooding alone responsible for 37% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Coastal floodingHigh
HurricaneElevated
WildfireElevated
DroughtModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, ice storm, winter weather, cold wave, lightning, tornado, inland flooding, landslide, hail, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
489
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,675
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Cambridge's police department reported 489 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,675.

Dorchester County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.5 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 17.1 per 100,000 residents in Dorchester County.

Homicide
3.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
17.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
11.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Cambridge’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Cambridge (Dorchester County) rather than Cambridge itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Dover AFB at 52 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year85.8%Bottom 34%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle52 miBottom 12%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%Bottom 36%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dover AFBDOV52 mi9,602 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI53 mi10,503 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD79 mi11,500 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
46
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Cambridge

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Cambridge with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
2161317,926$53,890$283,90046