Baltimore County, MD

County Profile

850,796 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Baltimore County, MD.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 30% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 35% of 1,463 counties measured62
Schools1,179th of 1,377 counties measured21
Growth793rd of 1,453 counties measured47
Housing affordability1,041st of 1,462 counties measured68
ClimateTop 38% of 1,463 counties measured71
Physical resilienceTop 2% of 1,463 counties measured95
AccessTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured93
Economic stabilityTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured83
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $91,768, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 33% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.7 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.0 times what its owners earn.

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
850,796
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$91,768
Top 8% nationally
Density
1,422/sq mi
598.4 sq mi of land
Median age
39.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Baltimore County
Maryland
Nearest major airport
BWI
19 mi · Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood Marshall
Median home value
$349,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% — higher than in all but 47% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.3% over the past year, to 428,678 employed residents.

42% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 93% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $91,768 is higher than in 92% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$65,94766th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$71,25779th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,4462024 ACS 5-Year$91,768Top 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7382024 ACS 5-Year$49,074Top 8%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$75,259Top 13%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year30.1 minBottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year42.3%Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year69.5%13th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026428,678Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.5%Bottom 32%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 46%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026447,47995th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year82.9%Top 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.5%96th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.2%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year16.5%91st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.31.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202492k82k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $91,768 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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

33% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.7 students for every full-time teacher across 163 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
177
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.7
across 163 of them
Math proficiency
32.9%
Bottom 18% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
41.6%
Bottom 18% in Maryland
The 12 largest of 177 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Dundalk HighBaltimore County Public Schools2,08715.616%26%
Perry Hall HighBaltimore County Public Schools2,01217.138%57%
Woodlawn HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,92216.06%16%
Kenwood HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,90015.413%28%
Dulaney HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,88918.064%77%
Parkville HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,87713.924%37%
Catonsville HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,73517.547%69%
Perry Hall MiddleBaltimore County Public Schools1,58216.743%49%
Towson HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,55817.969%77%
Franklin HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,48116.839%54%
Overlea HighBaltimore County Public Schools1,47417.17%27%
Milford Mill AcademyBaltimore County Public Schools1,47117.114%28%

53.1% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 3% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 103.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area is up 32% over five years, and up 2.7% 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 $3,736 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.07% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,857, some 14% above the $1,627 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,857 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $74,300 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $91,768.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,627 a month.

A median home at $349,300 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $115,040, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
103.2

Prices here run about 3% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.2%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,857
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,627
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$349,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Baltimore County’s median household income of $91,768, 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
Cost of living indexthe Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area’s figure2023103.2Bottom 16%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.7%30th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+31.8%11th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+61.0%5th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.0Bottom 28%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year66.4%18th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1892024 ACS 5-Year350,82198th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,511Bottom 15%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,358Bottom 11%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,857Bottom 9%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$172024 ACS 5-Year$1,627Bottom 5%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,5532024 ACS 5-Year$349,30087th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$302024 ACS 5-Year$3,73691st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,7312024 ACS 5-Year$115,040Top 7%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.01%2024 ACS 5-Year1.07%70th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year32.2%Bottom 13%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3082024 ACS 5-Year1,01174th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%5th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.8%14th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,1752024 ACS 5-Year18,02096th percentileof 3,2222024 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

47/ 100
Ranks 793 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2020 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 852,425 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Baltimore County lost about 0.7% 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 $65,947, below the $71,257 of households that moved out.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,662
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 36% nationally
Year over year
+32%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
42.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024853k849k
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, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
30%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$65,947
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$71,257
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Baltimore city, MD 14,217 people · 39% of arrivals
  2. Anne Arundel County, MD 2,695 people · 7.3% of arrivals
  3. Harford County, MD 2,327 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Howard County, MD 2,216 people · 6.0% of arrivals
  5. Prince George's County, MD 1,292 people · 3.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Baltimore city, MD 11,086 people · 27% of departures
  2. Harford County, MD 3,749 people · 9.1% of departures
  3. Anne Arundel County, MD 2,612 people · 6.4% of departures
  4. Howard County, MD 2,404 people · 5.9% of departures
  5. Carroll County, MD 1,579 people · 3.8% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420252k335
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+6%).

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 45, in the Good band, and about 5 days a year pass 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 MD SCI CTR BALTIMORE, 11.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year712024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year52024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year452024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
45
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
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

95 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 43% of it. Inland flooding and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 98% of measured US counties.

HurricaneModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Cold waveModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Baltimore County records 5.8 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 12.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.9 per 100,000 residents in Baltimore County.

Homicide
5.8
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
21.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
12.3
per 100,000 residents

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.

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 Baltimore County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood Marshall at 19 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year91.4%Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle19 miTop 23%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%Top 11%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI19 mi10,503 ft
Harrisburg IntlMDT52 mi10,001 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD57 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
65
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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 areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.