Census-designated place · Frederick County, Maryland

Urbana, Maryland

Urbana is a census-designated place in Frederick County, Maryland, part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area. It has 14,260 residents. Urbana, Maryland has a quality-of-life score of 95 out of 100 (very high), ranking #853 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Maryland it ranks #33 of 334 cities and towns. It ranks best on child poverty rate (low), adult smoking (low) and poverty rate (low). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), average commute time (high) and job growth (low).

95Very high

Quality-of-life score: #853 of 15,651 cities and towns
Maryland: #33 of 334 in MD
Population: 14,260 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 1,834.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2479900

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
Economy96#598/15,631
Housing91#1,394/14,977
Health97#500/15,609
Healthcare59#6,353/15,650
Environment76#3,724/15,453
Education92#1,225/15,649
Infrastructure83#2,640/15,650
Community84#2,521/15,651
Leisure & amenities35#10,200/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Urbana, 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 · low1.0%
100/100Maryland 11.2%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Adult smoking · low6.4%
99/100Maryland 12.3%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Poverty rate · low1.1%
99/100Maryland 9.2%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Median household income · high$182,500
98/100Maryland $102,835United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.336
97/100Maryland 0.456United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Frequent mental distress · low13.4%
97/100Maryland 17.0%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

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
Average commute time · high32.5 min
5/100Maryland 31.0 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
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
12,587 (2015-2019) → 14,260 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
51.4% (2015-2019) → 25.2% (2020-2024)
−26 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
32.4% (2015-2019) → 23.4% (2020-2024)
−9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Average commute timeImproving
41.1 min (2015-2019) → 32.5 min (2020-2024)
−21%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$155,000 (2015-2019) → $182,500 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Public transit commutersWorsening
2.9% (2015-2019) → 0.4% (2020-2024)
−2.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

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, Urbana, Maryland improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 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

Commute−8.6 min41.1 min → 32.5 min
Rent burden−26 points51.4% → 25.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Urbana, Maryland between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	41.1 min2015-2019	32.5 min2020-2024	−8.6 min	Improved	97%
Bachelor's degree or higher	67.6%2015-2019	66.0%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Broadband subscriptions	99.5%2015-2019	98.4%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Effective property tax rate	1.25%2015-2019	1.05%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	57%
High school diploma or higher	96.4%2015-2019	96.6%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	3.5×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	73%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3152015-2019	0.3362020-2024	+0.021	Within the margin of error	33%
Median household income	$155,0002015-2019	$182,5002020-2024	+18%	Within the margin of error	29%
Rent as share of income	32.4%2015-2019	23.4%2020-2024	−9 points	Within the margin of error	92%
Rent-burdened households	51.4%2015-2019	25.2%2020-2024	−26 points	Improved	97%
Unemployment rate	3.0%2015-2019	3.7%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	2.5%2015-2019	2.7%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	43%

“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 Urbana, Maryland five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Urbana, 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, Urbana, Maryland itself moved +12.5 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

14,260 residents (±1,128)

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

4,404 households (±305)

Urbana, Maryland
Maryland share

Under $25k1.4%†63
$25k–50k2.5%†111
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

4,404 households (±305)

Urbana, Maryland
Maryland share

Own80%3,536
Rent20%868

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

7,191 workers (±590)

Urbana, Maryland
Maryland share

Drive alone62%4,424
Carpool4.3%†310
Public transit0.4%†27

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 Urbana'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 $7.5M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Urbana, Maryland: $526 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $7.5M; +3.5% vs FY2025
Per resident: $526; US $1,994
Sole-source: 29%; US 30%
Single offer: 2.7%; 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

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office$2.9M38%
Office of the Secretary$1.8M24%
Department of the Army$1.4M19%
Department of the Air Force$198.1K2.6%
Department of the Navy$183.2K2.4%
Food and Drug Administration$155.1K2.1%
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration$134.1K1.8%
Department of Education$132.8K1.8%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

6.5MFY2017
7MFY2018
4.8MFY2019
10.3MFY2020
9.2MFY2021
10.6MFY2022
9MFY2023
9.5M

Top industries (NAICS)

Computer systems design and related services · 5415$3.6M48%
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing · 3341$2.9M38%
Satellite telecommunications · 5174$649.4K8.7%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$493.6K6.6%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$178K2.4%

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

Urbana, Maryland's figures are part of those of Frederick County, MD ($1B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.7% of that total.

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

Urbana, 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/2479900

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends