county

Howard County, MD

Demographic and economic profile of Howard County, MD, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Howard County anchors itself in a highly educated, high-income workforce: 64.5% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, median household income reaches $149,763, and median worker earnings stand at $75,131—figures that reflect proximity to the Baltimore-Washington corridor's federal and technology sectors. The labor force of roughly 237,000 participates at a 69.8% rate with a 3.6% unemployment rate, and a foreign-born share of 22.8% adds international talent to the pool. The county's 339,668 residents grew 5.9% over five years, though a median home value of $576,700 and median gross rent of $2,038/month signal elevated occupancy costs for employers recruiting relocating workers.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

339,668

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$149,763

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

39.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+5.9% since 2018

Howard County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone157,552 (46.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone67,150 (20.0%)
  • Asian Alone64,745 (19.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races17,354 (5.2%)
  • Some Other Race Alone14,565 (4.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race13,737 (4.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Other Indo-European17,672
  2. 2.Spanish17,516
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)10,685
  4. 4.Korean10,119
  5. 5.Other Asian and Pacific Island9,514

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

24.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

61.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

14.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

22.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

15,149

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$88,286

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$65,860

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance45,043
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services38,215
  3. 3.Public Administration (Group)18,988
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)12,202
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services11,807

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations117,035
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations23,595
  3. 3.Service Occupations18,512
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations9,540
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations6,959

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Public Administration (LQ 2.42×)19,936
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 1.72×)37,081
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.10×)45,005
  4. 4.Information (LQ 1.07×)3,512
  5. 5.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 0.96×)11,217

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$576,700

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$2,038/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,99929,582 (34.2%)
  • $750,000 to $999,99916,393 (18.9%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99914,006 (16.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,99910,072 (11.6%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,9997,067 (8.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9992,463 (2.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

64.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

95.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

69.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$75,131

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

28.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone113,876 (64.9%)
  • Worked At Home45,574 (26.0%)
  • Carpooled9,423 (5.4%)
  • Public Transit2,703 (1.5%)
  • Other1,678 (1.0%)
  • Walked1,554 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Howard County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.