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. Essex is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery. In Essex, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 30.75 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. For the size of the town, public transportation in Essex is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Essex, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.The education level of Essex citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 17.03% of adults 25 and older in Essex have a college 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.
