City · Frederick County, Maryland

Brunswick, Maryland

Brunswick is a city in Frederick County, Maryland, part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area. It has 8,450 residents. Brunswick, Maryland has a quality-of-life score of 82 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,826 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Maryland it ranks #113 of 334 cities and towns. It ranks best on child poverty rate (low), natural hazard risk (low) and drug overdose deaths (low). It ranks worst on average commute time (high), drought exposure (high) and job growth (low).

82Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,826 of 15,651 cities and towns
Maryland: #113 of 334 in MD
Population: 8,450 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 2,580.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2410900

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety72#4,404/15,637
Economy80#3,075/15,631
Housing76#3,558/14,977
Health88#1,848/15,609
Healthcare54#7,177/15,650
Environment76#3,724/15,453
Education76#3,740/15,649
Infrastructure47#8,368/15,650
Community76#3,801/15,651
Leisure & amenities35#10,200/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Brunswick, Maryland ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Frederick County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Child poverty rate · low2.8%
97/100Maryland 11.2%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Natural hazard risk · low3.4
95/100Maryland 4.72025Federal Emergency Management AgencyFrederick County value
Drug overdose deaths · low7.2 /100k
93/100Maryland 21.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataFrederick County value
Premature death · low5,242 /100k
91/100Maryland 7,730 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFrederick County value
Public transit commuters · high3.2%
89/100Maryland 4.2%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301
Voter turnout · high76.0%
89/100Maryland 68.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionFrederick County value

Weaknesses

Average commute time · high39.4 min
2/100Maryland 31.0 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Drought exposure · high94%
4/100Maryland 64%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAFrederick County value
Job growth · low-3.3%
6/100Maryland -1.7%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataFrederick County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high230 min
8/100Maryland 246 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesFrederick County value
Restaurants and bars · low6.3 /10k
24/100Maryland 7.2 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFrederick County value
Comfortable days · low24.1%
29/100Maryland 24.9%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationFrederick County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
6,258 (2015-2019) → 8,450 (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.6% (2015-2019) → 28.5% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$81,250 (2015-2019) → $118,025 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
29.5% (2015-2019) → 23.7% (2020-2024)
−5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
7.1% (2015-2019) → 2.8% (2020-2024)
−4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
0.9% (2015-2019) → 4.9% (2020-2024)
+4.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Brunswick, Maryland improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Rent / income−5.8 points29.5% → 23.7%
Household income+45%$81,250 → $118,025

Declined1

Transit use−3.7 points6.8% → 3.2%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Brunswick, Maryland between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	42.7 min2015-2019	39.4 min2020-2024	−3.3 min	Within the margin of error	81%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.2%2015-2019	35.8%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Broadband subscriptions	89.1%2015-2019	90.2%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Effective property tax rate	1.22%2015-2019	1.17%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	24%
High school diploma or higher	93.0%2015-2019	92.5%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	65%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4002015-2019	0.4162020-2024	+0.016	Within the margin of error	37%
Median household income	$81,2502015-2019	$118,0252020-2024	+45%	Improved	80%
Poverty rate	8.5%2015-2019	6.2%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Public transit commuters	6.8%2015-2019	3.2%2020-2024	−3.7 points	Declined	9%
Rent as share of income	29.5%2015-2019	23.7%2020-2024	−5.8 points	Improved	85%
Rent-burdened households	47.6%2015-2019	28.5%2020-2024	−19 points	Within the margin of error	93%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Brunswick, Maryland five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Brunswick, Maryland in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Brunswick, Maryland itself moved +3.3 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

8,450 residents (±48)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,309 households (±201)

Brunswick, Maryland
Maryland share

Under $25k10%†333
$25k–50k9.3%†307
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,309 households (±201)

Brunswick, Maryland
Maryland share

Own86%2,850
Rent14%†459

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+7.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,575 workers (±371)

Brunswick, Maryland
Maryland share

Drive alone65%2,966
Carpool7.7%†352
Public transit3.2%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Frederick County, the county holding most of Brunswick's residents.

Frederick County has 6,591 employer establishments, 224 for every 10,000 residents (0.90× the US rate of 248; 0.97× Maryland's), with 95,077 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,829. The Census Bureau also counts 27,075 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,591; 27,075 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 224; US 248 · Maryland 230
Paid employees: 95,077
Average annual pay: $59,829; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Frederick County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	601	20.5	1.32×More than typical	6,709	$71,159	1,856
Ambulatory health care services	551	18.8	0.90×About typical	6,899	$62,610	1,369
Restaurants and other eating places	459	15.6	0.85×About typical	9,267	$23,022	134
Construction of buildings	265	9	1.19×About typical	1,778	$76,480	663
Lessors of real estate	250	8.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	742	$62,710	2,557
Services to buildings and dwellings	232	7.9	1.17×About typical	1,992	$42,237	1,320
Computer systems design and related services	230	7.8	1.81×More than typical	2,866	$104,362	481
Limited-service restaurants	216	7.4	0.92×About typical	4,264	$19,844	54
Building equipment contractors	214	7.3	1.21×About typical	2,720	$71,730	401
Full-service restaurants	192	6.5	0.85×About typical	4,175	$26,942	56
Management, scientific and technical consulting	175	6	0.89×About typical	1,237	$97,505	1,333
Offices of other health practitioners	166	5.7	0.93×About typical	1,157	$51,006	707

Rank places for an industry Open Frederick County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 293,742 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $292.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Brunswick, Maryland: $34.58 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $292.2K; −65% vs FY2025
Per resident: $34.58; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 3.6%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

GD RESOURCES, LLC$278.9K95%
PROCON CONSULTING LLC$10.6K3.6%
DOTAN CONSERVATION AND CREATION LLC$2,7400.9%
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING GROUP INC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

13.2KFY2017
4.1KFY2018
547.8KFY2019
245.4KFY2020
-457.2KFY2021
105.2KFY2022
570.6KFY2023
554.5KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$162.2K55%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$63.5K22%
Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$35.3K12%
Architectural and structural metals manufacturing · 3323$17.9K6.1%
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$10.6K3.6%
Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions · 7121

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Brunswick, Maryland

NPDES OIL & GREASE ANALYSIS TO 2$162.9K
GD RESOURCES, LLC· Frederick County, MD· Professional services· Mar 31, 2026 – Mar 31, 2026· 140R1726F0010
MI DETROIT RIVER IWR INTERPRETIVE EXHIBIT AND PANELS$63.8K
GD RESOURCES, LLC· Frederick County, MD· Other equipment & supplies· Jul 28, 2026 – Sep 23, 2026· 140FS226P0239
TEE PROBE$35.5K
GD RESOURCES, LLC· Frederick County, MD· Health & medical· Jun 25, 2026 – Jun 25, 2026· 36C24826P0959
PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF AN OVERHEAD DOOR FOR THE VA BLACK HILLS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM - HOT SPRINGS VA MEDICAL CENTER FIRE DEPARTMENT EO 14398

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Brunswick, Maryland, so they do not add up across cities.

Brunswick, Maryland's figures are part of those of Frederick County, MD ($1B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Brunswick is mostly in Frederick County.

See federal money in Frederick County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Brunswick, Maryland is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

April McClain DelaneyD-MD-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 96%Missed 2.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Frederick County88100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV86

Other cities and towns in Frederick County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2410900

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends