The 10 Poorest Cities In Maryland For 2023


The poorest places in Maryland are Hagerstown and Frostburg for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

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:

  1. Hagerstown
  2. Frostburg
  3. Cambridge
  4. Salisbury
  5. Cumberland
  6. Baltimore
  7. Cheste
  8. Elkton
  9. College Park
  10. Fruitland

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:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Poorest Cities In Maryland For 2023

1. Hagerstown

Hagerstown, MD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/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

Frostburg, MD

Source: Wikipedia User Lee Cannon from Bayville aka West Fenwick, DE, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/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

Cambridge, MD

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/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

Salisbury, MD

Source: Wikipedia User Eric Fischer | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/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

Cumberland, MD

Source: Wikipedia User 0915426A | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/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

Baltimore, MD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/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

Source: Public Domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/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

Elkton, MD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/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

College Park, MD

Source: Wikipedia User User:Tomf688 | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

7
/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

Fruitland, MD

Source: Wikipedia User User:Fbot | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7
/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:

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
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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