Baltimore metropolitan area

The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It is part of the larger Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. As of 2022, the combined population of the seven counties is 2,985,871, making it the 20th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the nation.

Greater Baltimore
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area
Baltimore's Inner Harbor in August 2010
Map of Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD MSA   City of Baltimore   Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD MSA   Other Areas in the Washington–Baltimore CSA
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Principal municipalities	Baltimore Columbia Ellicott City Towson Glen Burnie Dundalk Annapolis
Area (2010)
• Metropolitan Statistical Area	550 km2 (210 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Metropolitan Statistical Area	2,844,510 (20th)
• Urban	(19th)
• Urban density	401.1/km2 (1,038.9/sq mi)
• CSA	9,973,383 (3rd)
	MSA = 2020, CSA = 2020, Urban & Densities = 2010
GDP [1]
• Metropolitan Statistical Area	$241.4 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EST)

The area has the fourth-highest median household income in the United States, at $66,970 as of 2012.^[2]

Composition

The area includes the following counties:^[3][4]

• Anne Arundel County
• Baltimore City
• Baltimore County
• Carroll County
• Harford County
• Howard County
• Queen Anne's County

County	2021 estimate	2020 Census	Change	Area	Density
Baltimore County	849,316	854,535	−0.61%	598.30 sq mi (1,549.6 km2)	1,420/sq mi (548/km2)
Anne Arundel County	590,336	588,261	+0.35%	414.90 sq mi (1,074.6 km2)	1,423/sq mi (549/km2)
Baltimore City	576,498	585,708	−1.57%	80.94 sq mi (209.6 km2)	7,123/sq mi (2,750/km2)
Howard County	334,529	332,317	+0.67%	250.74 sq mi (649.4 km2)	1,334/sq mi (515/km2)
Harford County	262,977	260,924	+0.79%	437.09 sq mi (1,132.1 km2)	602/sq mi (232/km2)
Carroll County	173,873	172,891	+0.57%	447.59 sq mi (1,159.3 km2)	388/sq mi (150/km2)
Queen Anne's County	50,798	49,874	+1.85%	371.91 sq mi (963.2 km2)	137/sq mi (53/km2)
Total	2,838,327	2,844,510	−0.22%	2,601.47 sq mi (6,737.8 km2)	1,091/sq mi (421/km2)

Historical populations

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1820	96,201		—
1830	120,870		25.6%
1840	134,379		11.2%
1850	210,646		56.8%
1860	266,553		26.5%
1870	330,741		24.1%
1880	415,649		25.7%
1890	507,348		22.1%
1900	639,332		26.0%
1910	720,387		12.7%
1920	852,051		18.3%
1930	984,606		15.6%
1940	1,083,300		10.0%
1950	1,337,373		23.5%
1960	1,820,314		36.1%
1970	2,089,092		14.8%
1980	2,199,531		5.3%
1990	2,382,172		8.3%
2000	2,552,994		7.2%
2010	2,710,489		6.2%
2020	2,844,510		4.9%
2022 (est.)	2,835,672		−0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[5] 1790–1960[6] 1900–1990[7] 1990–2000[8]

Principal communities

The metropolitan area includes the following principal communities:^{[citation needed]}

• Baltimore
• Columbia
• Towson

It also includes several other communities (not necessarily incorporated as cities or towns):

• Aberdeen
• Annapolis
• Bel Air
• Catonsville
• Dundalk
• Eldersburg
• Ellicott City
• Edgewood
• Glen Burnie
• Hanover
• Havre de Grace
• Jessup
• Joppatowne
• Owings Mills
• Westminster

In addition to its technical metropolitan area, Baltimore also receives a large number of commuters from cities such as York, Pennsylvania^[9] and the Washington metropolitan area.

History

See also: History of Baltimore

Companies in metropolitan Baltimore

Four Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered in Greater Baltimore: Grace Chemicals in Columbia and Legg Mason, T. Rowe Price, and McCormick & Company in Hunt Valley.

Other companies headquartered in Greater Baltimore include AAI Corporation and Sinclair Broadcast Group in Hunt Valley and Adams Express Company, Brown Advisory, Alex Brown, First Home Mortgage Corporation, FTI Consulting, Petroleum & Resources Corporation, Prometric, Sylvan Learning, Laureate Education, Under Armour, DAP, DeBaufre Bakeries, Wm. T. Burnett & Co, Old Mutual Financial Network, Fila USA, and Firaxis Games in Sparks.

Government and infrastructure

The capital of Maryland and the agencies of the Maryland state government are located in the Baltimore MSA, mainly in Annapolis and Baltimore City. The area is also home to the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters in Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, as well as the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in Woodlawn in Baltimore County.

Presidential election results

Year	DEM	GOP	Others
2020	61.7% 878,185	35.7% 507,676	2.7% 38,014
2016	55.8% 733,718	37.9% 497,637	6.3% 83,046
2012	57.8% 746,052	39.8% 513,164	2.4% 31,212
2008	57.4% 725,858	40.7% 513,811	1.9% 24,189
2004	52.2% 602,806	46.5% 536,565	1.3% 15,019
2000	53.9% 529,648	42.6% 418,775	3.4% 33,713
1996	52.0% 449,711	39.8% 344,488	8.2% 71,112
1992	48.8% 489,922	35.8% 359,098	15.4% 154,849
1988	48.2% 417,858	51.1% 443,183	0.7% 6,268

Sports teams in metropolitan Baltimore

Main article: Sports in Baltimore

• Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (since 1954)
• Baltimore Ravens of National Football League (since 1996)
• Baltimore Burn of Women's Spring Football League (since 2001)
• Baltimore Nighthawks of the Independent Women's Football League (since 2008)
• Charm City Roller Girls of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (since 2006)
• Coppin State Eagles
• Johns Hopkins Blue Jays competes in Division I for men's and women's lacrosse only
• Loyola Greyhounds
• Maryland Whipsnakes of Premier Lacrosse League
• Morgan State Bears

In Baltimore County:

• Baltimore Blast of the Major Arena Soccer League (since 2014)
• Towson Tigers in Towson
• UMBC Retrievers in Catonsville

In Anne Arundel County:

• Christos FC in Glen Burnie of the USL League Two
• Navy Midshipmen in Annapolis
• Annapolis Blues FC of the NPSL in Annapolis
• Maryland Black Bears of the NAHL in Odenton

See also

• Maryland portal

• Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area
• Delmarva Peninsula
• Mid-Atlantic states
• Northeast megalopolis

Notes

1. "Total Gross Domestic Product for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD (MSA)". fred.stlouisfed.org.
2. Noss, Amanda (September 2013). Household Income: 2012 (PDF) (Report). American Community Survey Briefs. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2017.
3. "Current Employment Statistics (CES) Metropolitan Area Definitions". Bureau of Labor Statistics. November 14, 2005. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008.
4. "MSA Bulletin 2003 Attachment, Revised 07/07/03" (PDF). Office of Management and Budget.
5. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
6. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
7. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
8. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
9. Berman, Dori (2006). "Commuter bus line may link York, Pa. and Hunt Valley". The Daily Record. Archived from the original on September 19, 2008.

39°16′59.86″N 76°36′27.6″W