Essex is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 40,505 people and 11 associated neighborhoods, Essex is the 22nd largest community in Maryland.Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Essex is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Essex is a town of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Essex who work in office and administrative support (13.28%), sales jobs (9.71%), and management occupations (8.88%). Also of interest is that Essex has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. 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, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.75 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead. 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.
