Work & commute · Silver Spring

Work & commute in Silver Spring, MD

Most working residents leave Silver Spring for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (31%), Bethesda (6%) and Rockville (4%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,934 of 32,727 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

34 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

27%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 30,793 Silver Spring residents head out of town to work, 1,934 work right here, and 26,290 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Silver Spring.

30,793live here, work elsewhere

1,934live and work here

26,290work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Silver Spring goes to work

Washington, DC6.8 mi away

31%10,298

Bethesda5.4 mi away

6%2,072

Silver Spring (in town)right here

6%1,934

Rockville9.2 mi away

4%1,468

North Bethesda5.8 mi away

3%937

Baltimore30.1 mi away

3%841

Arlington, VA9.6 mi away

2%766

Potomac9.3 mi away

2%709

College Park4.5 mi away

2%705

Gaithersburg13.8 mi away

2%508

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%12,489

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

How far

How far Silver Spring commutes

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

68%

20%

68%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Silver Spring is balanced between jobs and homes

0.86jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Silver Spring are

28,224 jobs are based in Silver Spring. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Silver Spring’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Silver Spring

28,224 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month72%

Jobs Silver Spring residents hold

32,727 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)83%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month71%

−7%

Jobs based in Silver Spring, 2013 → 2023: 30,275 → 28,224. 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.