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Place dossier plate
SheetMD-ELKTON-MD · Elkton, MD 15,867 pop · income 30th pct · 21 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 Elkton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Elkton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Coos Bay · lowest
55,292
Coos Bay · lowest
55,292 median HH income
46.7% of the leader · rank #1
Togiak · near
56,563
Togiak · near
56,563 median HH income
47.7% of the leader · rank #2
White Mountain · near
56,563
White Mountain · near
56,563 median HH income
47.7% of the leader · rank #3
Cisne · near
56,563
Cisne · near
56,563 median HH income
47.7% of the leader · rank #4
Garwin · near
56,563
Garwin · near
56,563 median HH income
47.7% of the leader · rank #5
Elkton · this city
56,565
Elkton · this city
56,565 median HH income
47.7% of the leader · rank #6
Mays Chapel · highest
118,462
Mays Chapel · highest
118,462 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 Elkton 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: 15,867.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Elkton - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Elkton lands in the 30th percentile for household income and the 2nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
30th
percentile, household income
60th
percentile, home value
84th
percentile, median rent
2nd
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: Elkton, MD
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 15,867 residents in Elkton, a small town within Maryland. Elkton households earn a median of $56,565 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.3%. Typical homes in Elkton are valued around $271,700, and the median resident age is 37.4 years. Educational attainment runs 18.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 50.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 330 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 2900% from five years earlier. Elkton's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 6312.0 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Maryland carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 105.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,657 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $255 across Maryland, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Elkton'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 population change to reported crime to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to schools and households to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Elkton, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
Is Elkton growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +866 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 330 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Elkton?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 6312.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 177% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
PlainCities matches 21 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Elkton?
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.
Within Maryland, the closest population matches are Brooklyn Park (15,799 residents, $84,276 income); Hillcrest Heights (15,670 residents, $77,696 income); Summerfield (15,635 residents, $92,042 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Coos Bay, OR (15,867 residents); Horsham, PA (15,866 residents); Palmer Ranch, FL (15,873 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Elkton?
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.
The NCES join finds 10 public schools within the city match. 18.8% 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.
Poverty estimate
12.3%
Bachelor's degree+
18.8%
Matched public schools
10
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Elkton?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
4.8×
Home value
$271,700
Household income
$56,565
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Elkton?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 77.6%. 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.
Drive alone
77.6%
Work from home
8.6%
Public transit
0.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 6,556 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 12.3% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maryland average
F
City profile score · Elkton, MD
23/100
5 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.
Poverty rate F
12.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$56,565
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.
Violent crime F
1,080 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Elkton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 31/100 (F) · 12.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.8%
Household income: 30/100 (F) · $56,565
Cost of living: 21/100 (F) · 105.0 index
Violent crime: 0/100 (F) · 1,080 /100k
Where Elkton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Elkton'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 - Elkton highlighted among 23 peers.Read the chart values
Elkton, MD (this city): home $271,700, crime 6,312/100k
Coos Bay, OR : home $272,100, crime 5,088/100k
Live Oak, TX : home $227,800, crime 3,914/100k
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 Elkton compare to other US cities?
Where Elkton sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income30% higher than other cities
Home value60% pricier than other cities
Median rent84% pricier than other cities
Safety2% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Maryland alone, Elkton ranks #66 of 70 Maryland cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Elkton 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 Elkton near the bottom of Maryland's cities
Among the 479 Maryland cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Elkton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Elkton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#398 of 445
11th percentile in Maryland
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 479
0th percentile in Maryland
Median Home Value
#322 of 450
28th percentile in Maryland
Poverty Rate
#79 of 479
84th percentile in Maryland
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#378 of 479
21st 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
30th percentile nationally for median household income · 2nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Elkton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Elkton'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 Elkton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$271,70040th percentilemore affordable than 40% 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
Elkton's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,562 of 15,516
More affordable than 19% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,516 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 4.8×, Elkton sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,562 of 15,516 and #2,516 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$56,565Elkton, MD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Elkton, 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 Elkton, MD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
15,867
Median Income
$56,565
Median Home Value
$271,700
Median Age
37.4
Poverty Rate
12.3%
Labor force participation
50.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
6312.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
1080.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
5231.9
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
10
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Elkton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
15,804 residents
2021
15,834 residents
2022
15,898 residents
2023
15,977 residents
2024
16,011 residents
2025
16,670 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
330
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
330
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
20.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
11
11
0
$1.5M
2020
31
31
0
$4.3M
2021
32
32
0
$3.5M
2022
13
13
0
$1.8M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
330
0
330
$47.4M
Permit volume increased 2900% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.6%
Carpool
8.3%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
8.6%
Other
2.4%
Based on 6,556 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 Elkton. 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 Elkton 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 Elkton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Elkton 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 BPS 2024, 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.