Like all states, Maryland has certain places that are going on hard times. These Maryland places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Maryland.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 42 cities in Maryland with more than 5,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
Here are the ten poorest places in Maryland for 2023:
What’s the poorest city in Maryland? According to the facts, Hagerstown is the poorest place in Maryland for 2023.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more Maryland reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Maryland
- Cheapest Places To Live In Maryland
- Most Dangerous Cities In Maryland
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Poorest Cities In Maryland For 2023
1. Hagerstown
/10
Population: 43,015
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 3)
Median Income: $42,965 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.5% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 10,956
More on Hagerstown: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Hagerstown, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Maryland thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 43,015 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Maryland and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Frostburg
/10
Population: 7,282
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $44,327 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 26.9% (highest)
People In Poverty: 1,956
More on Frostburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The second poorest city in Maryland is Frostburg.
The city ranks as having the highest incidence of poverty and 4th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 7th highest in the Old Line State.
3. Cambridge
/10
Population: 13,026
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $40,094 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 23.3% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,031
More on Cambridge: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Placing as the third poorest city, Cambridge’s median income ranks as the lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 23.27620251164995% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Old Line State.
4. Salisbury
/10
Population: 32,583
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $48,310 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 24.8% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 8,065
More on Salisbury: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Salisbury ranks as the fourth poorest place in Maryland.
The town ranks as having the 6th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Cumberland
/10
Population: 19,028
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $43,699 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.9% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,786
More on Cumberland: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The fifth poorest city in Maryland is Cumberland.
The city ranks as having the 3rd lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 8th highest in Maryland.
Still not the best news for Cumberland.
6. Baltimore
/10
Population: 592,211
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Income: $54,124 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 20.3% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 120,275
More on Baltimore: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Baltimore ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Old Line State.
It ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty and the 10th highest unemployment rate.
7. Cheste
/10
Population: 5,557
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $44,665 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.3% (9th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,071
More on Cheste: Data
Cheste places as the seventh poorest city in Maryland.
The city of over 5,557 ranks as having the 9th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Elkton
/10
Population: 15,724
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $57,682 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 21.2% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,326
More on Elkton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Elkton ranks as the eighth poorest city in Maryland.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 14th highest in the state.
9. College Park
/10
Population: 34,961
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 1)
Median Income: $69,736 (16th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.3% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 8,850
More on College Park: Data | Cost Of Living
College Park couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Maryland; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 16th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, College Park ranks as having the 3rd most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Maryland.
10. Fruitland
/10
Population: 5,455
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $56,150 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.3% (13th highest)
People In Poverty: 837
More on Fruitland: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Maryland is Fruitland.
The city of 5,455 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Old Line State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Maryland for 2023
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 42 places with more than 5,000 people in Maryland, we ranked each place from 1 to 42 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Hagerstown, crowned the “Poorest Place In Maryland For 2023”.
This report has been updated for 2023, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Maryland.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Maryland For 2023
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Maryland, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Maryland.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Maryland, according to data:
-
Richest: Poolesville
2nd Richest: Bowie
3rd Richest: Mount Airy
For more Maryland reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Maryland
- Safest Places In Maryland
- Worst Places To Live In Maryland
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Maryland
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Maryland
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hagerstown | 43,015 | 25.5% | $42,965 | 10,956 |
| 2 | Frostburg | 7,282 | 26.9% | $44,327 | 1,956 |
| 3 | Cambridge | 13,026 | 23.3% | $40,094 | 3,031 |
| 4 | Salisbury | 32,583 | 24.8% | $48,310 | 8,065 |
| 5 | Cumberland | 19,028 | 19.9% | $43,699 | 3,786 |
| 6 | Baltimore | 592,211 | 20.3% | $54,124 | 120,275 |
| 7 | Cheste | 5,557 | 19.3% | $44,665 | 1,071 |
| 8 | Elkton | 15,724 | 21.2% | $57,682 | 3,326 |
| 9 | College Park | 34,961 | 25.3% | $69,736 | 8,850 |
| 10 | Fruitland | 5,455 | 15.3% | $56,150 | 837 |
| 11 | Bel Air | 10,663 | 17.2% | $64,036 | 1,828 |
| 12 | Aberdeen | 16,176 | 15.8% | $70,885 | 2,557 |
| 13 | District Heights | 5,927 | 14.1% | $69,099 | 833 |
| 14 | Westminster | 19,783 | 12.2% | $65,816 | 2,421 |
| 15 | Greenbelt | 24,602 | 16.0% | $75,832 | 3,928 |
| 16 | Bladensburg | 9,591 | 8.7% | $54,208 | 835 |
| 17 | Ocean City | 6,869 | 8.8% | $58,563 | 603 |
| 18 | Easton | 16,912 | 9.8% | $72,771 | 1,657 |
| 19 | Mount Rainier | 8,290 | 7.9% | $59,268 | 654 |
| 20 | Frederick | 76,376 | 10.1% | $82,563 | 7,729 |
| 21 | Taneytown | 7,183 | 9.2% | $75,167 | 657 |
| 22 | Riverdale Park | 7,321 | 11.8% | $87,819 | 861 |
| 23 | Havre de Grace | 14,625 | 10.2% | $86,576 | 1,493 |
| 24 | Hyattsville | 20,790 | 9.2% | $84,763 | 1,913 |
| 25 | Laurel | 29,438 | 9.8% | $85,615 | 2,872 |
| 26 | Gaithersburg | 68,827 | 10.9% | $98,089 | 7,497 |
| 27 | New Carrollton | 13,574 | 7.0% | $73,629 | 952 |
| 28 | Thurmont | 6,247 | 7.0% | $82,098 | 439 |
| 29 | Annapolis | 40,581 | 9.2% | $92,026 | 3,732 |
| 30 | Hampstead | 6,273 | 6.5% | $80,385 | 406 |
| 31 | Takoma Park | 17,610 | 7.9% | $86,644 | 1,389 |
| 32 | Brunswick | 7,578 | 8.6% | $96,659 | 653 |
| 33 | Cheverly | 6,191 | 8.4% | $106,732 | 522 |
| 34 | Glenarden | 6,341 | 6.0% | $91,467 | 383 |
| 35 | Manchester | 5,350 | 4.8% | $97,000 | 255 |
| 36 | Rockville | 67,095 | 7.0% | $116,031 | 4,686 |
| 37 | La Plata | 10,054 | 3.0% | $108,043 | 303 |
| 38 | Chesapeake Beach | 6,303 | 4.3% | $120,194 | 274 |
| 39 | Walkersville | 6,134 | 1.8% | $114,340 | 113 |
| 40 | Mount Airy | 9,621 | 4.6% | $136,250 | 444 |
| 41 | Bowie | 58,113 | 3.3% | $127,029 | 1,913 |
| 42 | Poolesville | 5,666 | 0.5% | $201,607 | 27 |
