Work & commute · Kensington

Work & commute in Kensington, MD

Most working residents leave Kensington for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (27%), Bethesda (10%) and Rockville (7%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26 of 1,030 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,004 Kensington residents head out of town to work, 26 work right here, and 3,290 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kensington.

1,004live here, work elsewhere

26live and work here

3,290work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kensington goes to work

Washington, DC9 mi away

27%278

Bethesda3.6 mi away

10%102

Rockville5.9 mi away

7%68

North Bethesda2.6 mi away

4%45

Potomac6.5 mi away

4%37

Kensington (in town)right here

3%26

Gaithersburg10.6 mi away

2%19

Tysons, VA11 mi away

2%19

College Park7.7 mi away

2%16

Silver Spring3.3 mi away

2%16

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%404

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

How far

How far Kensington commutes

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

70%

20%

70%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kensington is a job hub

3.22jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Kensington are

3,316 jobs are based in Kensington. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kensington’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kensington

3,316 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Kensington residents hold

1,030 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)83%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month75%

+15%

Jobs based in Kensington, 2013 → 2023: 2,894 → 3,316. 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.