Work & commute · South Laurel

Work & commute in South Laurel, MD

Most working residents leave South Laurel for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (17%), Columbia (5%) and Baltimore (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

256 of 13,206 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

33 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,950 South Laurel residents head out of town to work, 256 work right here, and 4,081 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Laurel.

12,950live here, work elsewhere

256live and work here

4,081work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Laurel goes to work

Washington, DC14.2 mi away

17%2,243

Columbia9.7 mi away

5%605

Baltimore20.8 mi away

4%583

Beltsville4.3 mi away

3%368

Rockville16.7 mi away

3%366

Bethesda15.5 mi away

3%344

Laurel2.5 mi away

2%327

South Laurel (in town)right here

2%256

North Bethesda14.8 mi away

2%246

Silver Spring10.2 mi away

2%223

Everywhere elseother towns and states

58%7,645

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

How far

How far South 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?

South Laurel is a commuter town

0.33jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in South Laurel are

4,337 jobs are based in South Laurel. Here is what they are, next to the jobs South Laurel’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in South Laurel

4,337 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs South Laurel residents hold

13,206 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+22%

Jobs based in South Laurel, 2013 → 2023: 3,560 → 4,337. 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.