Baltimore metropolitan area

Greater Baltimore
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
	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
• Metropolitan Statistical Area	$241.4 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EST)

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.

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]

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.	%±
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]

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

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

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.

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