Cumberland, Maryland

Area Profile

18,804 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cumberland, in Allegany County.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 26% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity4,176th of 4,199 cities measured16
SchoolsTop 32% of 4,162 cities measured64
Growth3,691st of 4,224 cities measured28
Housing affordabilityTop 37% of 4,218 cities measured71
Climate2,379th of 4,225 cities measured69
Physical resilienceTop 19% of 4,226 cities measured83
Access3,810th of 4,226 cities measured68
Economic stability4,146th of 4,226 cities measured18
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.8% and the Opportunity signal places Cumberland in the bottom 1%. The unemployment rate is published for Allegany County, MD, which contains Cumberland, rather than for Cumberland alone.

In the public schools here, 39% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.0 students for every teacher.

6 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 14% of 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
18,804
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$48,162
Bottom 20% nationally
Density
1,856/sq mi
10.1 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Maryland
Nearest major airport
LBE
55 mi · Arnold Palmer Rgnl
Median home value
$123,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Allegany County, MD, which contains Cumberland, is 5.8% — higher than in all but 9% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Allegany County, MD, which contains Cumberland, fell 4.0% over the past year, to 21,905 employed residents.

Median household income of $48,162 is lower than in 80% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsAllegany County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$48,7926th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftAllegany County, MD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,70011th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,8222024 ACS 5-Year$48,162Bottom 20%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1392024 ACS 5-Year$31,056Bottom 40%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year25.2%Bottom 15%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.3 minTop 19%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year22.7%Top 44%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year74.1%39th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentAllegany County, MD’s figureJuly 202621,905Bottom 26%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Allegany County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−10.5%Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Allegany County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−4.0%Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceAllegany County, MD’s figureJuly 202623,25426th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year69.1%Bottom 25%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%80th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Allegany County, MD’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 38%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateAllegany County, MD’s figureJuly 20265.8%Bottom 9%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year9.5%58th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202448k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $48,162 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 Allegany County, MD, which contains this city.

39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.0 students for every full-time teacher across 13 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
39.0%
Top 41% in Maryland
Reading proficiency
50.0%
Top 40% in Maryland
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Allegany HighAllegany County Public Schools71916.037%67%
Fort Hill HighAllegany County Public Schools65515.632%57%
Washington MiddleAllegany County Public Schools57713.737%35%
Braddock MiddleAllegany County Public Schools53612.843%54%
South Penn ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools49110.424%29%
West Side ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools32111.942%47%
Center for Career & Technical EducationAllegany County Public Schools30011.512%32%
Northeast ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools27214.347%52%
Cresaptown ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools26812.257%52%
Cash Valley ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools26611.162%57%
John Humbird ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools24211.537%42%
Parkside ElementaryAllegany County Public Schools22213.157%67%

60.1% 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.

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 $1,696 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.38% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 31% above the $741 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $48,162.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $741 a month.

A median home at $123,200 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $64,448, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$741
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$123,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Cumberland’s median household income of $48,162, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.9Top 29%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year60.0%20th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3412024 ACS 5-Year10,61094th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$823Top 9%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,333Top 9%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$912024 ACS 5-Year$741Top 21%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,7312024 ACS 5-Year$123,20029th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1042024 ACS 5-Year$1,69648th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,4242024 ACS 5-Year$64,448Bottom 30%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.13%2024 ACS 5-Year1.38%72nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year30.8%Bottom 37%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±982024 ACS 5-Year12291st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%63rd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year19.6%87th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3072024 ACS 5-Year2,20598th 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

28/ 100
Ranks 3,691 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 18,643 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 6 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Allegany County, which contains Cumberland, gained about 0.8% 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 $48,792, below the $52,700 of households that moved out.

At 0.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
6
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.3
Bottom 12% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202419k19k
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 falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.8%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
65%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$48,792
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,700
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Mineral County, WV 296 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Garrett County, MD 165 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  3. Washington County, MD 103 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  4. Baltimore County, MD 76 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  5. Frederick County, MD 57 people · 2.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Mineral County, WV 285 people · 18% of departures
  2. Garrett County, MD 102 people · 6.5% of departures
  3. Washington County, MD 70 people · 4.5% of departures
  4. Bedford County, PA 64 people · 4.1% of departures
  5. Allegheny County, PA 27 people · 1.7% 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 Allegany County, MD. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420259.00.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+800%).

Weather & climate

6 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 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 39.2 inches, including 28.7 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CUMBERLAND 2, 0.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals39.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals28.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

83 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 76% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 81% of measured US cities.

LandslideModerate
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

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

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
290
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,848
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.

Cumberland's police department reported 290 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,848.

Allegany County records 14.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Drug overdose deaths run at 32.7 per 100,000 residents in Allegany County.

Homicide
14.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
32.7
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.3
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Cumberland’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 Cumberland (Allegany County) rather than Cumberland 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Arnold Palmer Rgnl at 55 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year85.5%Bottom 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle55 miBottom 10%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Bottom 31%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Arnold Palmer RgnlLBE55 mi8,222 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD85 mi11,500 ft
Pittsburgh IntlPIT97 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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52
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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
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
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
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 Cumberland

1 ZIP area

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

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
2150241,015$60,725$153,70052