Work & commute · Bowie

Work & commute in Bowie, MD

Most working residents leave Bowie for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (22%), Baltimore (3%) and Parole (2%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,241 of 26,804 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

35 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 25,563 Bowie residents head out of town to work, 1,241 work right here, and 14,026 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bowie.

25,563live here, work elsewhere

1,241live and work here

14,026work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bowie goes to work

Washington, DC15.3 mi away

22%5,767

Bowie (in town)right here

5%1,241

Baltimore24.8 mi away

3%932

Parole10.3 mi away

2%607

Columbia18.2 mi away

2%601

Bethesda20.5 mi away

2%564

Lake Arbor5.9 mi away

2%545

Arlington, VA20.2 mi away

2%501

College Park11 mi away

2%493

Beltsville11.4 mi away

1%400

Everywhere elseother towns and states

57%15,153

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Bowie commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

24%

61%

13%

24%Under 10 mi

61%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bowie is a commuter town

0.57jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.57 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Bowie are

15,267 jobs are based in Bowie. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bowie’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bowie

15,267 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Bowie residents hold

26,804 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month73%

−5%

Jobs based in Bowie, 2013 → 2023: 16,127 → 15,267. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.