City · Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick, Maryland

Frederick is a city in Frederick County, Maryland, part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area. It has 83,395 residents. Frederick, Maryland has a quality-of-life score of 73 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,207 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Maryland it ranks #139 of 334 cities and towns. It ranks best on natural hazard risk (low), drug overdose deaths (low) and premature death (low). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), job growth (low) and time spent in the emergency room (high).

73High

Quality-of-life score: #4,207 of 15,651 cities and towns
Maryland: #139 of 334 in MD
Population: 83,395 (2020-2024)
Land area: 25 mi²
Density: 3,395.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2430325

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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
Economy69#4,778/15,631
Housing34#9,837/14,977
Health87#1,970/15,609
Healthcare45#8,545/15,650
Environment76#3,724/15,453
Education75#3,971/15,649
Infrastructure57#6,763/15,650
Community75#3,889/15,651
Leisure & amenities35#10,200/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Frederick, 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

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
Voter turnout · high76.0%
89/100Maryland 68.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionFrederick County value
Firearm deaths · low5.5 /100k
87/100Maryland 9.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataFrederick County value
Life expectancy · high80.8 yrs
87/100Maryland 78.4 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFrederick County value

Weaknesses

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
Average commute time · high30.0 min
10/100Maryland 31.0 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
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
70,887 (2015-2019) → 83,395 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
13.4 /1k (2021) → 6.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−51%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$76,118 (2015-2019) → $97,069 (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
87.7% (2015-2019) → 92.7% (2020-2024)
+4.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.6× (2015-2019) → 4.1× (2020-2024)
+16%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
40.2% (2015-2019) → 43.2% (2020-2024)
+3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Frederick, Maryland improved on 3 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved3

Bachelor's++3 points40.2% → 43.2%
Household income+28%$76,118 → $97,069
Broadband+4.9 points87.7% → 92.7%

Declined2

Transit use−1.9 points3.8% → 1.9%
Price / income+0.6×3.6× → 4.1×

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Frederick, Maryland between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	32.1 min2015-2019	30.0 min2020-2024	−2.2 min	Within the margin of error	72%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.2%2015-2019	43.2%2020-2024	+3 points	Improved	52%
Broadband subscriptions	87.7%2015-2019	92.7%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Improved	31%
Child poverty rate	13.2%2015-2019	12.5%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Effective property tax rate	1.47%2015-2019	1.20%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	69%
High school diploma or higher	88.9%2015-2019	89.1%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Home price to income ratio	3.6×2015-2019	4.1×2020-2024	+0.6×	Declined	43%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3992015-2019	0.4102020-2024	+0.011	Within the margin of error	41%
Median household income	$76,1182015-2019	$97,0692020-2024	+28%	Improved	50%
Poverty rate	11.1%2015-2019	9.2%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Public transit commuters	3.8%2015-2019	1.9%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Declined	14%
Rent as share of income	30.1%2015-2019	31.2%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Rent-burdened households	50.2%2015-2019	52.5%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Unemployment rate	5.1%2015-2019	3.9%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.1%2015-2019	8.6%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	41%

“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 Frederick, Maryland five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Frederick, 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, Frederick, Maryland itself moved −2.3 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

83,395 residents (±89)

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

33,584 households (±639)

Frederick, Maryland
Maryland share

Under $25k10%3,403
$25k–50k13%4,211
$50k–75k14%4,627

Homes

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

Owners and renters

33,584 households (±639)

Frederick, Maryland
Maryland share

Own59%19,735
Rent41%13,849

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

44,912 workers (±872)

Frederick, Maryland
Maryland share

Drive alone69%31,052
Carpool6.4%2,883
Public transit1.9%†851

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 Frederick'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 $200M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Frederick, Maryland: $2,399 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $200M; −35% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2,399; US $1,994
Sole-source: 3.4%; US 30%
Single offer: 7.4%; 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

National Institutes of Health$127.6M64%
Defense Health Agency$26.4M13%
Department of Veterans Affairs$16.2M8.1%
Department of the Army$15.5M7.7%
Office of Procurement Operations$6.4M3.2%
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources$3.7M1.9%
Defense Logistics Agency$3.3M1.6%
Defense Information Systems Agency$2.4M1.2%

Top recipients

LEIDOS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INC$107.8M54%
TRIBILITY LLC$7.7M3.8%
ALLIED TECHNOLOGIES AND CONSULTING, LLC$6.2M3.1%
NATIONAL COLLEGIATE INVENTORS & INNOVATORS ALLIANCE, INC.$6.2M3.1%
KEENAN FT DETRICK ENERGY LLC$5.6M2.8%

Spending by fiscal year

329.4MFY2017
298.3MFY2018
277.6MFY2019
412.9MFY2020
379.8MFY2021
375.1MFY2022
443.7MFY2023
372.2M

Top industries (NAICS)

Scientific research and development services · 5417$127.3M64%
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$21.3M11%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$15.5M7.7%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$7.3M3.7%
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution · 2211$5.6M2.8%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Frederick, Maryland

CUSTOM PROTEIN PRODUCTION$35.7K
BIOMATIK USA, LLC· Frederick County, MD· Other equipment & supplies· Sep 20, 2021 – Jan 13, 2026· 12305B21P0217
2-WAY RADIO UHF DIGITAL, HAND HELD, 403-437MHZ, 4-5 WATTS, VARIABLE PROGRAMMABLE, TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS, TDMA DIGITAL DUAL MODE, CONVENTIONAL PRIMARY SYSTEM TYPE.$0
DIVINE IMAGING INC.· Frederick County, MD· Other equipment & supplies· Sep 17, 2021 – Jan 13, 2026· 12305B21F0201

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 Frederick, Maryland, so they do not add up across cities.

Frederick, Maryland's figures are part of those of Frederick County, MD ($1B in FY2026), never added to them: 19% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Frederick 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.

Frederick, 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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/2430325

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends