Baltimore is a very large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 569,931 people and 206 associated neighborhoods, Baltimore is the largest community in Maryland. Baltimore has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Baltimore is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Baltimore is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Baltimore who work in office and administrative support (10.66%), management occupations (10.36%), and teaching (8.15%). Also of interest is that Baltimore has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 13.37% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. One of the nice things about Baltimore 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. In Baltimore, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 30.59 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. One of the benefits of being a big city like Baltimore is having a public transportation system, but in Baltimore the transit system is the mode of choice for lots of people getting to and from work every day. You will find many people using the bus for their daily commute, even though other transportation options exist. If you ask these commuters, many will tell you that not having to drive in the snarl of big city traffic is one of main reasons for leaving the car at home, or even not owning a car at all. With so many people taking the bus Baltimore benefits from a reduction in air pollution and traffic.The citizens of Baltimore are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 34.90% of adults in Baltimore have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Baltimore in 2022 was $37,845, which is lower middle income relative to Maryland, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $151,380 for a family of four. However, Baltimore contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Baltimore is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Baltimore home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Baltimore residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Baltimore include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Baltimore is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
