What is the population of Essex CDP?

Essex CDP has 40,670 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #25 of 536 in Maryland.

What is the median household income in Essex CDP?

Median household income in Essex CDP is $67,082 a year, 14.6% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Essex CDP?

Median gross rent is $1,307 a month and the median home value is $253,500, so rent absorbs about 23.4% of median household income.

Is Essex CDP affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 3.8× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Essex CDP is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 23.4% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

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Maryland · Census place 26600

Essex, MD population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Essex, Maryland (Essex, MD — Census place “Essex CDP”) is 40,670 residents, ranking #25 of 536 places in Maryland. Median household income is $67,082, the median home is worth $253,500 and median gross rent runs $1,307 a month. Looking for the Essex Maryland ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Essex, MD: 21221.

Population: 40,670Essex CDP residents
Median household income: $67,082Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $253,500Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $1,307Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 40.9 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 57.6%Owner-occupied households

Essex ZIP codes (Maryland)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Essex.

The Essex MD ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

21221

What the numbers mean in Essex CDP

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Essex CDP median would spend about 23.4% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 3.8× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 12.7% of residents and 57.6% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Essex CDP, MD in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Essex CDP is a small city in Maryland, with 40,670 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #25 of 536 ranked by population — larger than 95% of them. The median age here is 40.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Essex CDP earn a median of $67,082 a year, 14.6% below the national figure of $78,538 and 38% below the $109,026 median for the 332 Maryland cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 12.7% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Essex CDP is valued at $253,500, 16.4% below the national figure and 36% below the $397,200 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,307 a month, 7% below the national figure, or roughly $15,684 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 23.4% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.8×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 57.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Compare with nearby places

Places of similar size in Maryland.

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Essex CDP?: Essex CDP has 40,670 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #25 of 536 in Maryland.
What is the median household income in Essex CDP?: Median household income in Essex CDP is $67,082 a year, 14.6% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Essex CDP?: Median gross rent is $1,307 a month and the median home value is $253,500, so rent absorbs about 23.4% of median household income.
Is Essex CDP affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 3.8× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Essex CDP is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 23.4% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Essex CDP data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.