Work & commute · Gaithersburg

Work & commute in Gaithersburg, MD

Most working residents leave Gaithersburg for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Rockville (11%), Washington (10%) and Bethesda (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

3,373 of 28,602 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 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 25,229 Gaithersburg residents head out of town to work, 3,373 work right here, and 41,734 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Gaithersburg.

25,229live here, work elsewhere

3,373live and work here

41,734work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Gaithersburg goes to work

Gaithersburg (in town)right here

12%3,373

Rockville5 mi away

11%3,172

Washington, DC19.4 mi away

10%2,839

Bethesda11.9 mi away

6%1,779

North Bethesda8.7 mi away

5%1,301

Germantown4.1 mi away

3%876

Potomac9.3 mi away

3%876

Baltimore33 mi away

2%606

Silver Spring13.8 mi away

2%500

Columbia18.4 mi away

2%493

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%12,787

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

How far

How far Gaithersburg commutes

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

47%

40%

10%

47%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Gaithersburg is a job hub

1.58jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Gaithersburg are

45,107 jobs are based in Gaithersburg. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gaithersburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Gaithersburg

45,107 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month73%

Jobs Gaithersburg residents hold

28,602 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+14%

Jobs based in Gaithersburg, 2013 → 2023: 39,588 → 45,107. 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.