21613Cambridge, Maryland

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 21613.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 27% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 36% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured62
Schools4095th of 4,422 ZIP areas measured17
GrowthTop 45% of 5,428 ZIP areas measured53
Housing affordability4831st of 6,685 ZIP areas measured64
ClimateTop 23% of 6,789 ZIP areas measured77
Physical resilience4320th of 6,709 ZIP areas measured46
Access6043rd of 6,791 ZIP areas measured69
Economic stability6212th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured29
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.1% and median household income $53,890, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published ZIP profiles.

In the public schools here, 4% 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.

At a glance

Population
17,926
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,890
Bottom 20% nationally
Density
117/sq mi
153.7 sq mi of land
Median age
43.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Cambridge
Maryland
Metro area
Cambridge, MD
Nearest major airport
BWI
56 mi · Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood Marshall
Median home value
$283,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 65% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 0.7% over the past year, to 16,096 employed residents.

Median household income of $53,890 is below 80% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$5,214$53,890Bottom 20%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,731$35,645Bottom 47%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate22.0%Top 15%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.6 minBottom 38%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher21.7%Bottom 46%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment16,096Bottom 13%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)6.4%Top 3%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.7%Top 16%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force16,784Bottom 12%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation59.0%Bottom 44%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.1%Bottom 42%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 35%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202454k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,890 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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Cambridge, MD, the city containing this ZIP code.

4% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 8% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

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

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
4.3%
Bottom 5% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
7.5%
Bottom 2% in Maryland
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cambridge-South Dorchester High SchoolDorchester County Public Schools81116.9
Mace's Lane Middle SchoolDorchester County Public Schools49012.33%8%
Maple Elementary SchoolDorchester County Public Schools48314.65%9%
Sandy Hill ElementaryDorchester County Public Schools39311.95%8%
Choptank Elementary SchoolDorchester County Public Schools31911.85%5%
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 rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Maryland’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,042 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
23.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,042
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$283,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income5.27Top 14%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate51.6%Bottom 10%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3299,413Top 18%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$86$1,042Top 48%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$15,374$283,900Top 36%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.2%Top 20%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate17.2%Top 32%of 33,0282024 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
53/ 100
Top 45% of 5,428 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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

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

Units permitted
23
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.7
Bottom 37% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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

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, 23.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index57.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall12.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10012024 calendar year
Median air quality index40.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing42°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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

46 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are coastal flooding, hurricane and drought.

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.

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Dorchester County records 3.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 9.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

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

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
17.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
11.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Dorchester County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 21613 rather than 21613 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 56 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI56 mi10,503 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD81 mi11,500 ft
Richmond IntlRIC97 mi9,003 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
54
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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
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

21613 vs Cambridge

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

21613
Cambridge
Median household income
$53,890
vs
$47,323
Per capita income
$35,645
vs
$30,543
Population density
117/sq mi
vs
1,235/sq mi
Median home value
$283,900
vs
$257,900
Median gross rent
$1,042
vs
$1,058
Homeownership rate
51.6%
vs
41.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher
21.7%
vs
20.1%
Poverty rate
22.0%
vs
26.4%
Median age
43.2
vs
39.4

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.