Work & commute · Laurel

Work & commute in Laurel, MD

Most working residents leave Laurel for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (16%), Columbia (5%) and Baltimore (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

613 of 13,383 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,770 Laurel residents head out of town to work, 613 work right here, and 10,482 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Laurel.

12,770live here, work elsewhere

613live and work here

10,482work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Laurel goes to work

Washington, DC15.6 mi away

16%2,091

Columbia7.3 mi away

5%677

Laurel (in town)right here

5%613

Baltimore19.5 mi away

4%524

Rockville15.8 mi away

3%398

Bethesda15.7 mi away

3%366

Beltsville5 mi away

2%306

North Bethesda14.5 mi away

2%256

Silver Spring10.7 mi away

2%235

North Laurel2.4 mi away

2%231

Everywhere elseother towns and states

57%7,686

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

How far

How far Laurel commutes

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

34%

57%

34%Under 10 mi

57%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Laurel is balanced between jobs and homes

0.83jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.83 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Laurel are

11,095 jobs are based in Laurel. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Laurel’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Laurel

11,095 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Laurel residents hold

13,383 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month68%

−2%

Jobs based in Laurel, 2013 → 2023: 11,324 → 11,095. 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.