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Place dossier plate
SheetMD-DUNDALK-MD · Dundalk, MD 65,441 pop · income 39th pct
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 Dundalk
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dundalk on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lorain · lowest
45,799
Lorain · lowest
45,799 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #1
Sharpsburg · near
62,344
Sharpsburg · near
62,344 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #2
Patoka · near
62,344
Patoka · near
62,344 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #3
Dundalk · this city
62,349
Dundalk · this city
62,349 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #4
Burnham · near
62,350
Burnham · near
62,350 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #5
Canadohta Lake · near
62,353
Canadohta Lake · near
62,353 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #6
Bethesda · highest
191,348
Bethesda · highest
191,348 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Dundalk on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 65,441.
Dundalk ranks in the 39th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
39th
percentile, household income
43rd
percentile, home value
84th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Dundalk, MD
Dundalk is a small city in Maryland, home to 65,441 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Dundalk brings in $62,349 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 16.6%. Home values in Dundalk run a median of $199,600, and the median resident age is 37.4 years. 14.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 56.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,657 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Maryland run around $255, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 60.2 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Dundalk'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 housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Dundalk, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Dundalk?
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.
Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Rockville (67,218 residents, $122,384 income); Bethesda (67,403 residents, $191,348 income); Gaithersburg (69,225 residents, $107,496 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Castro Valley, CA (65,389 residents); Malden, MA (65,509 residents); Victoria, TX (65,514 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Dundalk?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
How far does income reach against housing in Dundalk?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Below median income · poverty 16.6% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maryland average
F
City profile score · Dundalk, MD
26/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
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 F
$62,349
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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.
Poverty rate F
16.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Dundalk profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 38/100 (F) · $62,349
Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index
Poverty rate: 20/100 (F) · 16.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 19/100 (F) · 14.7%
How does Dundalk compare to other US cities?
Where Dundalk sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income39% higher than other cities
Home value43% pricier than other cities
Median rent84% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Dundalk 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 Dundalk near the bottom of Maryland's cities
Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dundalk ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dundalk only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#378 of 445
15th percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#395 of 450
12th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#54 of 479
89th percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#405 of 479
15th 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
39th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Dundalk's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$199,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 57% 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
Dundalk's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,709 of 15,516
More affordable than 50% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#149 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.2×, Dundalk sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,709 of 15,516 and #149 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
$62,349Dundalk, MD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Dundalk, 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 Dundalk, MD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
65,441
Median Income
$62,349
Median Home Value
$199,600
Median Age
37.4
Poverty Rate
16.6%
Labor force participation
56.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.7%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.1%
Carpool
9.6%
Public Transit
4.2%
Walk
1.9%
Work from Home
7.1%
Other
2.1%
Based on 28,278 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 Dundalk. 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 Dundalk 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 Dundalk sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Dundalk 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, 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.