One of the nice things about Essex is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
One downside of living in Essex is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Essex, the average commute to work is 30.75 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.
Although the majority of commuting trips in the town are by private automobile, Essex is somewhat unusual for a town of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Essex area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.
The percentage of adults in Essex who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 17.03% of the adults in Essex have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Essex in 2022 was $34,520, which is lower middle income relative to Maryland, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $138,080 for a family of four. However, Essex contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Essex is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Essex home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Essex residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Essex include German, Irish, English, Polish, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Essex is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.
