Work & commute · Fort Meade

Work & commute in Fort Meade, MD

Most working residents leave Fort Meade for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (12%), Baltimore (9%) and Columbia (5%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

64 of 2,351 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,287 Fort Meade residents head out of town to work, 64 work right here, and 5,408 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fort Meade.

2,287live here, work elsewhere

64live and work here

5,408work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fort Meade goes to work

Washington, DC20.2 mi away

12%274

Baltimore15.2 mi away

9%218

Columbia9.1 mi away

5%123

Fort Meade (in town)right here

3%64

Severn3.3 mi away

2%51

Jessup3.5 mi away

2%49

Linthicum8.3 mi away

2%48

Bethesda21.7 mi away

2%43

Parole13.1 mi away

2%39

Rockville22.2 mi away

1%33

Everywhere elseother towns and states

60%1,409

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

How far

How far Fort Meade commutes

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

27%

54%

12%

27%Under 10 mi

54%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fort Meade is a job hub

2.33jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Fort Meade are

5,472 jobs are based in Fort Meade. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Meade’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fort Meade

5,472 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities4%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less3%

$1,251–$3,333 a month10%

Over $3,333 a month87%

Jobs Fort Meade residents hold

2,351 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+23%

Jobs based in Fort Meade, 2013 → 2023: 4,447 → 5,472. 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.