county

Dorchester County, MD

Demographic and economic profile of Dorchester County, MD, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Dorchester County is a small rural county on Maryland's Eastern Shore with a population of 32,612 that grew just 1.1% over five years, signaling a stable but slow-growth environment. The labor force participation rate is relatively low at 58.0%, only 18.8% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings stand at $38,881, pointing to a workforce that skews toward lower-credential, lower-cost labor. Housing costs remain modest—median home value of $252,300 and median gross rent of $959/month—while a 16.3% poverty rate and 4.8% unemployment rate reflect an economy with limited wage pressure but persistent income constraints.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

32,612

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$61,839

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+1.1% since 2018

Dorchester County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone20,185 (61.6%)
  • Black or African American Alone8,133 (24.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,988 (6.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone1,245 (3.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race816 (2.5%)
  • Asian Alone381 (1.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,210
  2. 2.Other Indo-European102
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)90
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic90
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)80

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

56.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

22.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,056

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$40,644

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,780

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

16.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,311
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,694
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,660
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,568
  5. 5.Construction (Group)1,234

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,639
  2. 2.Service Occupations3,335
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations2,849
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,188
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,742

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.66×)625
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.28×)892
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.26×)1,626
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.10×)952
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.07×)741

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$252,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$959/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

65.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9991,674 (18.8%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,311 (14.8%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,145 (12.9%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999687 (7.7%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999653 (7.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999478 (5.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

86.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,881

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

26.9 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

10.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone11,463 (78.7%)
  • Carpooled1,507 (10.3%)
  • Worked At Home1,058 (7.3%)
  • Walked277 (1.9%)
  • Other126 (0.9%)
  • Taxi70 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.