Work & commute · Kettering

Work & commute in Kettering, MD

Most working residents leave Kettering for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (31%), Baltimore (3%) and Lake Arbor (3%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

47 of 6,363 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

41 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,316 Kettering residents head out of town to work, 47 work right here, and 1,514 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kettering.

6,316live here, work elsewhere

47live and work here

1,514work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kettering goes to work

Washington, DC12.2 mi away

31%1,951

Baltimore30 mi away

3%218

Lake Arbor2.6 mi away

3%190

Arlington, VA16.7 mi away

2%157

Bethesda18.9 mi away

2%137

Columbia21.8 mi away

2%111

Bowie5.3 mi away

2%108

Rockville23.8 mi away

2%99

East Riverdale8.1 mi away

1%95

Beltsville12.5 mi away

1%86

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%3,211

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

How far

How far Kettering commutes

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

22%

63%

12%

22%Under 10 mi

63%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kettering is a commuter town

0.25jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Kettering are

1,561 jobs are based in Kettering. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kettering’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kettering

1,561 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities44%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Kettering residents hold

6,363 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month72%

−9%

Jobs based in Kettering, 2013 → 2023: 1,712 → 1,561. 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.