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Place dossier plate
SheetMD-BOWIE-MD · Bowie, MD 57,771 pop · income 93rd pct · 214 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Bowie
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bowie on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Decatur · lowest
59,831
Decatur · lowest
59,831 median HH income
42.1% of the leader · rank #1
Germantown Hi… · near
141,719
Germantown Hi… · near
141,719 median HH income
99.8% of the leader · rank #2
Moskowite Cor… · near
141,736
Moskowite Cor… · near
141,736 median HH income
99.8% of the leader · rank #3
Timbercreek C… · near
141,750
Timbercreek C… · near
141,750 median HH income
99.8% of the leader · rank #4
Bowie · this city
141,831
Bowie · this city
141,831 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #5
Miller Place · near
141,938
Miller Place · near
141,938 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
Grosse Pointe · highest
141,985
Grosse Pointe · highest
141,985 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bowie on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 57,771.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Bowie - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Bowie lands in the 93rd percentile for household income and the 23rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
93rd
percentile, household income
81st
percentile, home value
84th
percentile, median rent
23rd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Bowie, MD
Bowie is a small city in Maryland, home to 57,771 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Bowie report a median income of $141,831 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Typical homes in Bowie are valued around $442,000, and the median resident age is 44.0 years. Educational attainment runs 50.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 68.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2473.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Maryland carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Maryland at 105.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,657 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Maryland's average monthly utility costs around $255 (state average). The average commute for Bowie workers runs 27.1 minutes, with 62.0% driving alone and 23.8% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 60.2 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bowie's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to reported crime to housing and income to schools and households to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bowie, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Bowie?
Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Bel Air South (57,702 residents, $120,721 income); Towson (57,683 residents, $100,481 income); Severn (58,041 residents, $130,627 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Decatur, AL (57,760 residents); Weymouth, MA (57,786 residents); Lancaster, PA (57,683 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 62.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 27.1 minutes.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +193 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.3% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 214 Census tracts to this city.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Bowie?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2473.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 8% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
2280.0
Violent rate
193.2
Total reported rate
2473.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Bowie?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$141,831
Home value
$442,000
Value / income
3.1×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The NCES join finds 13 public schools within the city match. 50.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
13
Bachelor's degree+
50.1%
Poverty estimate
3.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income A+
$141,831
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A-
50.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
193 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
105.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bowie profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 94/100 (A+) · $141,831
Bachelor's+ share: 84/100 (A-) · 50.1%
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Violent crime: 49/100 (D) · 193 /100k
Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index
Where Bowie sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Bowie's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Bowie highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Bowie, MD (this city): home $442,000, crime 2,473/100k
Decatur, AL : home $190,500, crime 2,916/100k
Weymouth, MA : home $516,200, crime 1,043/100k
Royal Oak, MI : home $305,900, crime 926/100k
Casa Grande, AZ : home $258,200, crime 1,939/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Bowie compare to other US cities?
Bowie measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income93% higher than other cities
Home value81% pricier than other cities
Median rent84% pricier than other cities
Safety23% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Maryland and the picture shifts: Bowie ranks #43 of 70 Maryland cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bowie against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Maryland only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Maryland-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bowie near the bottom of Maryland's cities
Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bowie ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bowie only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#97 of 445
78th percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#152 of 450
66th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#266 of 479
43rd percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#117 of 479
76th percentile in Maryland
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Maryland only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
93rd percentile nationally for median household income · 23rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Bowie's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Bowie's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Bowie's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$442,00019th percentilemore affordable than 19% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Bowie's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,262 of 15,516
More affordable than 53% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#133 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.1×, Bowie sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,262 of 15,516 and #133 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$141,831Bowie, MD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bowie, MD median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bowie, MD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)50.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)68.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
57,771
Median Income
$141,831
Median Home Value
$442,000
Median Age
44.0
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
68.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
50.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2473.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
193.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2280.0
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
13
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bowie's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
58,190 residents
2021
57,650 residents
2022
57,401 residents
2023
57,445 residents
2024
58,017 residents
2025
58,383 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
27.1 minutes
Drive Alone
62.0%
Carpool
8.5%
Public Transit
3.9%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
23.8%
Other
0.9%
Based on 31,697 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Maryland statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $255
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Maryland at $255 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Maryland statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bowie. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Maryland's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bowie is $1,657/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Maryland statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 60.2 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Maryland statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bowie sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bowie compares to similar-size Maryland cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.