Maryland Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Maryland, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Maryland. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Maryland. The estimated population of Maryland is 6,148,545 people, with a median age of 38.9.

We can look at the total population in Maryland over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
6,148,545
+1.84%
+2.54%
2020
6,037,624
+0.31%
-
2019
6,018,848
+0.26%
-
2018
6,003,435
+0.12%
-
2017
5,996,079
 - -

Population of Maryland by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
49.4%
51.9%
 -4.82%
Black/African American
29.4%
29.3%
 +0.34%
Native
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Hispanic
10.6%
9.6%
 +10.42%
Asian
6.4%
6.2%
 +3.23%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.6%
2.6%
 +38.46%
Other
0.5%
0.3%
 +66.67%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Maryland by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 38.9 +0.26% 37.6 +0.8% 40.2 -0.25%
2020 38.8 +0.26% 37.3 +0.27% 40.3 +0.25%
2019 38.7 +0.26% 37.2 +0.54% 40.2 +0.25%
2018 38.6 +0.26% 37 +0.27% 40.1 +0.5%
2017 38.5 - 36.9 - 39.9 -

The median age of Maryland gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 378,039 -0.25% 362,004 +0.45% 377,029 363,631
10 to 19 389,200 +4.06% 375,416 +2.85% 404,996 386,051
20 to 29 410,845 -4.15% 402,309 -3.39% 394,081 388,820
30 to 39 389,069 +7.24% 407,894 +5.07% 417,989 428,942
40 to 49 387,625 -2.25% 413,768 -3.76% 378,695 398,325
50 to 59 416,078 -0.53% 451,913 -1.76% 413,711 443,983
60 to 69 303,474 +11.96% 350,094 +8.36% 341,356 380,226
70+ 231,947 +14.43% 326,404 +10.92% 267,289 363,421

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Maryland is $91,431.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Maryland.

  • Under 25
    $45,559.00
  • 25 to 44
    $94,783.00
  • 45 to 64
    $110,664.00
  • 65 and over
    $65,655.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Maryland, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Maryland, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Maryland is currently $120,234.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

14.99% of households in Maryland are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Maryland against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    12.26%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    14.59%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    14.68%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.62%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    19.37%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    11.48%
  • $200,000 or more
    14.99%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Maryland is $45,915.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Maryland by the total population of Maryland.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Maryland, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Maryland to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    21.21%
  • Bachelor's degree
    34.24%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    9.45%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    32.43%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.68%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Maryland that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Maryland over the age of 16 is 4,931,565.

Of those people, a total of 67.50% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Maryland is 63.30%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 314,727 37.20% 17.10%
20 to 24 years 376,043 74.70% 11.10%
25 to 29 years 406,858 85.70% 6.60%
30 to 34 years 423,041 86.30% 5.20%
35 to 44 years 805,385 86.60% 4.20%
45 to 54 years 820,246 85.70% 3.50%
55 to 59 years 432,973 79.00% 3.70%
60 to 64 years 402,402 64.10% 3.70%
65 to 74 years 569,778 32.50% 3.80%
75 years and over 380,112 8.60% 3.90%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Maryland. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 2,692,792 66.10% 4.00%
Black or African American 1,463,705 68.00% 7.80%
American Indian and Alaska Native 14,185 64.60% 7.20%
Asian 325,213 68.80% 4.30%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 2,385 75.30% 0.20%
Other 225,707 76.30% 5.80%
Two or more races 207,578 71.70% 6.10%
Hispanic or Latino 450,914 75.60% 5.50%
Not Hispanic or Latino 2,548,691 65.60% 3.90%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Maryland as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Maryland is 3,120,977, with median earnings of $53,068.00.

Women in Maryland earning approximately 78.30% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 3,120,977 $53,068.00
Male 1,590,284 $59,225.00
Female 1,530,693 $46,376.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 374,482 $92,152.00
Business and Financial 224,328 $84,035.00
Computer and Mathematical 185,730 $103,132.00
Architecture and Engineering 72,142 $99,444.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 65,341 $87,885.00
Community and Social Service 59,652 $52,717.00
Legal 55,052 $107,673.00
Educational and Library 206,030 $53,677.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 68,457 $54,737.00
Healthcare Practitioners 191,714 $70,722.00
Healthcare Support 86,100 $30,548.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 49,943 $47,277.00
Law Enforcement 38,934 $79,323.00
Food Preparation and Serving 138,289 $17,475.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 102,502 $26,585.00
Personal Care and Service 84,662 $21,032.00
Sales 256,298 $34,010.00
Office and Administrative Support 337,878 $41,861.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 6,010 $25,621.00
Construction and Extraction 149,637 $44,842.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 87,712 $53,742.00
Production 85,584 $42,170.00
Transportation and Material Moving 106,759 $40,234.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 204,145 $102,756.00 170,337 $82,612.00
Business and Financial 98,550 $92,644.00 125,778 $78,871.00
Computer and Mathematical 128,732 $105,586.00 56,998 $96,835.00
Architecture and Engineering 59,331 $103,522.00 12,811 $83,268.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 34,664 $99,040.00 30,677 $76,919.00
Community and Social Service 20,128 $52,800.00 39,524 $52,689.00
Legal 26,951 $145,996.00 28,101 $90,034.00
Educational and Library 54,284 $62,796.00 151,746 $51,369.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 34,632 $58,311.00 33,825 $52,704.00
Healthcare Practitioners 45,596 $90,801.00 146,118 $66,848.00
Healthcare Support 13,934 $32,911.00 72,166 $30,121.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 35,533 $52,002.00 14,410 $37,485.00
Law Enforcement 30,069 $80,176.00 8,865 $74,196.00
Food Preparation and Serving 63,110 $19,384.00 75,179 $16,493.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 59,207 $30,730.00 43,295 $22,048.00
Personal Care and Service 20,167 $23,709.00 64,495 $20,519.00
Sales 127,044 $47,310.00 129,254 $24,663.00
Office and Administrative Support 85,286 $45,522.00 252,592 $40,764.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 4,186 $28,438.00 1,824 $15,669.00
Construction and Extraction 145,084 $45,050.00 4,553 $36,703.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 84,124 $54,039.00 3,588 $40,822.00
Production 60,503 $49,048.00 25,081 $29,414.00
Transportation and Material Moving 89,672 $42,822.00 17,087 $30,209.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 2,294,270 households in Maryland, with an average household size of 2.62 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 1,516,689 families in Maryland with an average family size of 3.22 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 1,087,133 108,656 320,900 777,581
Average Household Size 3.31 3.33 3.35 1.26
Total Families 1,087,133 108,656 320,900 0
Average Household Size 3.27 2.93 3.15 0

Poverty

Of the 1,516,689 families in Maryland, 6.20% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Maryland:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 2,516,341 housing units in Maryland.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 2,294,270 91.17%
Vacant 222,071 8.83%

28.83% of the total 2,516,341 housing units in Maryland are rental units. This is approximately 725,476 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 1,543,719 are occupied by the owner - or 61.35% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Maryland is $1,485.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Maryland that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    25,075
  • Less than $500
    48,110
  • $500 to $999
    96,078
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    225,618
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    212,243
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    91,409
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    29,745
  • $3,000 or more
    22,273

Property Value

The median value of a property in Maryland is $338,500.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Maryland that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    42,221
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    47,171
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    80,784
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    128,946
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    344,556
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    547,808
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    298,470
  • $1,000,000 or more
    53,763

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Maryland. The chart below shows the number of properties in Maryland that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    284,636
  • 1940 to 1949
    130,857
  • 1950 to 1959
    280,605
  • 1960 to 1969
    289,944
  • 1970 to 1979
    346,822
  • 1980 to 1989
    378,966
  • 1990 to 1999
    353,294
  • 2000 to 2009
    281,842
  • 2010 to 2013
    165,931
  • 2014 or later
    3,444

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Maryland that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    198,772
  • 1 vehicle available
    742,804
  • 2 vehicles available
    836,472
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    516,222

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Maryland get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Maryland that commute to work in a particular way.

32.5 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Maryland.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    45,650
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    163,290
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    256,188
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    335,702
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    348,297
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    176,347
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    410,994
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    108,996
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    148,999
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    328,160
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    286,588
  • 90 or more minutes
    115,461

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Maryland in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Counties in Maryland

We have data for 24 counties in Maryland. Click on a county below to see more information about the demographics of that county, with links to cities and towns within that county.

Zip Codes in Maryland

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in Maryland, click on the links below.