{"id":4514,"date":"2023-06-24T08:01:37","date_gmt":"2023-06-24T08:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=4514"},"modified":"2026-08-07T10:25:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T10:25:06","slug":"baltimore-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/baltimore-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Baltimore County, Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Baltimore County is a county in Maryland, United States, wrapping around Baltimore City on three<br \/>\nsides. It had a population of 854,535 at the 2020 census, an estimated 847,650 by 2025, and covers<br \/>\n681.98 square miles (1,766.3 km2) centred near 39\u00b024\u2032N 76\u00b036\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Towson is the county seat; its postal code is 21204. Unlike most Maryland counties, Baltimore<br \/>\nCounty has no incorporated cities or towns of its own &mdash; every community on this page is an<br \/>\nunincorporated census-designated place (CDP) or informal neighborhood governed directly by the<br \/>\ncounty. It runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 24005.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Baltimore County<\/h2>\n<p>The Census Bureau recognizes roughly 60 named CDPs in Baltimore County, plus hundreds of smaller<br \/>\ninformal neighborhoods with no census boundary of their own. The table below lists the 32 largest<br \/>\nCDPs by 2020 population, from Dundalk at the top to Kingsville. CDP stands for census designated<br \/>\nplace &mdash; a statistical community with no local government, mayor, or town council.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Dundalk<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>67,796<\/td>\n<td>21222<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Towson<\/td>\n<td>CDP &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>59,553<\/td>\n<td>21204<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Catonsville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>44,701<\/td>\n<td>21228<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Essex<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>40,505<\/td>\n<td>21221<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Woodlawn<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>39,986<\/td>\n<td>21207<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Owings Mills<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>35,674<\/td>\n<td>21117<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pikesville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>34,168<\/td>\n<td>21208<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Randallstown<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>33,655<\/td>\n<td>21133<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Middle River<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>33,203<\/td>\n<td>21220<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Parkville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>31,812<\/td>\n<td>21234<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Milford Mill<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>30,622<\/td>\n<td>21207<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perry Hall<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>29,409<\/td>\n<td>21128<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Carney<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>29,363<\/td>\n<td>21234<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Reisterstown<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>26,822<\/td>\n<td>21136<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lochearn<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>25,511<\/td>\n<td>21207<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cockeysville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>24,184<\/td>\n<td>21030<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Arbutus<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>21,655<\/td>\n<td>21227<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rosedale<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>19,961<\/td>\n<td>21237<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rossville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>16,029<\/td>\n<td>21236<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Honeygo<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>12,927<\/td>\n<td>21128<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Overlea<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>12,832<\/td>\n<td>21206<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mays Chapel<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>12,224<\/td>\n<td>21093<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>White Marsh<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>10,287<\/td>\n<td>21162<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Timonium<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>10,458<\/td>\n<td>21093<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Garrison<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>9,487<\/td>\n<td>21117<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Edgemere<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>9,069<\/td>\n<td>21219<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lansdowne<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>9,004<\/td>\n<td>21227<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Baltimore Highlands<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>7,740<\/td>\n<td>21227<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bowleys Quarters<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>6,853<\/td>\n<td>21220<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lutherville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>6,835<\/td>\n<td>21093<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hampton<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>5,180<\/td>\n<td>21286<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kingsville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>4,358<\/td>\n<td>21087<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lutherville and Timonium share a single Census-recognized place, Lutherville-Timonium, listed<br \/>\nabove under the two historic village names most residents still use for the north and south<br \/>\nhalves; both use ZIP 21093. Milford Mill and Woodlawn are adjoining CDPs that both use ZIP 21207<br \/>\nand are often confused for one place on maps &mdash; they are distinct communities either side of<br \/>\nWindsor Mill Road.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>21222 &mdash; Dundalk<\/li>\n<li>21204 and 21286 &mdash; Towson (21286 covers Towson&#8217;s northeastern edge)<\/li>\n<li>21228 &mdash; Catonsville<\/li>\n<li>21221 &mdash; Essex<\/li>\n<li>21207 &mdash; Gwynn Oak, Woodlawn, Milford Mill and Lochearn<\/li>\n<li>21117 &mdash; Owings Mills and Garrison<\/li>\n<li>21208 &mdash; Pikesville<\/li>\n<li>21133 &mdash; Randallstown<\/li>\n<li>21220 &mdash; Middle River and Bowleys Quarters<\/li>\n<li>21234 &mdash; Parkville and Carney<\/li>\n<li>21128 &mdash; Perry Hall and Honeygo<\/li>\n<li>21136 &mdash; Reisterstown<\/li>\n<li>21030 &mdash; Cockeysville<\/li>\n<li>21227 &mdash; Halethorpe, Arbutus, Lansdowne and Baltimore Highlands<\/li>\n<li>21237 &mdash; Rosedale<\/li>\n<li>21236 &mdash; Nottingham and Rossville<\/li>\n<li>21093 &mdash; Lutherville and Timonium<\/li>\n<li>21162 &mdash; White Marsh<\/li>\n<li>21219 &mdash; Sparrows Point and Edgemere<\/li>\n<li>21087 &mdash; Kingsville<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hampton has no ZIP of its own; mail there is delivered under the neighboring Towson code, 21286.<br \/>\nThe county carries 51 ZIP codes in total once PO-box-only and single-entity codes are counted, most<br \/>\nof them covering rural communities along its northern edge such as Parkton, Monkton, Hydes and<br \/>\nUpperco.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Baltimore County forms a wide crescent around Baltimore City, running from the Pennsylvania<br \/>\nline in the north to the tidal shore of the Patapsco River and Chesapeake Bay in the south. Of its<br \/>\n681.98 square miles, 598 are land and about 83 are water &mdash; roughly 12 percent, driven by its<br \/>\nlong shoreline along the Patapsco, Back River, Middle River and Gunpowder River, all Chesapeake<br \/>\ntributaries. The northern third of the county sits in the rolling Piedmont plateau, rising to<br \/>\nlow hills near Hereford; the southern third along the Patapsco is flat coastal plain and was the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s industrial heartland.<\/p>\n<p>Harford County lies to the northeast, Carroll County to the west, Howard County and Anne Arundel<br \/>\nCounty to the southwest and south, and York County, Pennsylvania, directly to the north. Baltimore<br \/>\nCity sits entirely within the county&#8217;s southern boundary but is a separate, independent<br \/>\njurisdiction with no county government of its own. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/harford-county\/\">Harford County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/carroll-county-maryland\/\">Carroll County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/howard-county-maryland\/\">Howard County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/anne-arundel-county\/\">Anne Arundel County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/york-county-pennsylvania\/\">York County<\/a> all border Baltimore<br \/>\nCounty directly; Baltimore City does not yet have its own page on this site.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Baltimore County had a population of 854,535 at the 2020 census, Maryland&#8217;s third-highest county<br \/>\ncount, and the latest estimate puts the county at 847,650 residents, a slight decrease. Dundalk and<br \/>\nTowson are by far the two largest communities, together holding roughly 15 percent of the county&#8217;s<br \/>\npopulation. Median household income runs $91,768, somewhat below Maryland&#8217;s statewide figure of<br \/>\n$98,678. Population density works out to about 1,430 people per square mile of land, among the<br \/>\ndensest counties in Maryland outside Baltimore City itself, reflecting the county&#8217;s position<br \/>\nimmediately around the city.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 69,911 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by educational services at 48,688 and retail trade at 43,271. Four universities anchor<br \/>\nthat education employment: Towson University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (in<br \/>\nCatonsville), Goucher College (Towson) and Stevenson University (Owings Mills). The former<br \/>\nBethlehem Steel plant at Sparrows Point, once the largest steel mill in the world with about 30,000<br \/>\nworkers at its mid-1950s peak, closed as a steelmaker in 2012; the 3,100-acre site is now Tradepoint<br \/>\nAtlantic, a logistics and manufacturing hub leasing space to Amazon, Under Armour and Volkswagen.<br \/>\nOwings Mills and Hunt Valley host large office and retail corridors, and the county fairgrounds in<br \/>\nCockeysville hosts the Maryland State Fair each August &amp; September, the county&#8217;s biggest annual<br \/>\nevent.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Maryland&#8217;s colonial assembly formed Baltimore County on 30 June 1659, one of the province&#8217;s<br \/>\noriginal counties, named for Cecil Calvert, the second Baron Baltimore, whose title in turn came<br \/>\nfrom the Irish town of Baltimore in County Cork. The county seat moved from Joppa to Baltimore Town<br \/>\nin 1768. When the growing city of Baltimore was carved out as its own independent jurisdiction on<br \/>\n4 July 1851, the county lost its historic seat and voters chose Towson as the new county seat on<br \/>\n13 February 1854.<\/p>\n<p>On 12 September 1814, American militia met a British invasion force at the Battle of North Point,<br \/>\nin the county&#8217;s Patapsco Neck peninsula. British Major General Robert Ross was killed early in the<br \/>\nfighting, and the delay the battle imposed on the British advance gave Fort McHenry&#8217;s defenders time<br \/>\nto prepare for the bombardment that inspired Francis Scott Key to write &ldquo;The Star-Spangled<br \/>\nBanner&rdquo; two days later. The date is still marked as Defenders Day in Maryland.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstate 695, the Baltimore Beltway, rings the city and passes through the county&#8217;s southern<br \/>\nhalf; I-95, I-83, I-795 and I-895 all cross the county, and I-70 clips its western corner near<br \/>\nWoodlawn.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baltimore &mdash; adjoining, entirely surrounded by the county on three sides<\/li>\n<li>Towson &mdash; the county seat itself, about 8 miles north of downtown Baltimore<\/li>\n<li>Annapolis &mdash; about 25 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Bel Air &mdash; about 20 miles northeast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Baltimore\/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, about 15 miles south of Towson in<br \/>\nneighboring Anne Arundel County, is the nearest major commercial airport; Martin State Airport in<br \/>\nMiddle River handles general aviation and Maryland Air National Guard operations. MARC commuter<br \/>\ntrains stop within the county at Halethorpe and St. Denis on the Penn\/Camden lines, connecting to<br \/>\ndowntown Baltimore and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Baltimore County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt wraps around Baltimore City on three sides in central Maryland, bordered by Harford, Carroll,<br \/>\nHoward and Anne Arundel counties and York County, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Baltimore County?<\/strong><br \/>\n854,535 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 847,650.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Baltimore County?<\/strong><br \/>\n681.98 square miles (1,766.3 km2), of which 598 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Baltimore County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTowson, chosen in 1854 after the city of Baltimore split off as its own jurisdiction, is the county<br \/>\nseat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Does Baltimore County have any incorporated towns?<\/strong><br \/>\nNo. Every community in the county, including Towson and Dundalk, is an unincorporated<br \/>\ncensus-designated place with no town council or mayor of its own; the county government runs all<br \/>\nlocal services directly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Baltimore County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n51 in total, led by 21222 (Dundalk), 21204\/21286 (Towson), 21228 (Catonsville) and 21221 (Essex).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Baltimore County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe former Bethlehem Steel mill at Sparrows Point, once the world&#8217;s largest steel plant, and the<br \/>\n1814 Battle of North Point, which helped save Baltimore from British capture during the War of<br \/>\n1812.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/maryland\/\">Towns and villages in Maryland<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Baltimore County is a county in Maryland, United States, wrapping around Baltimore City on three sides. It had a population of 854,535 at the 2020 census, an estimated 847,650 by 2025, and covers 681.98 square miles (1,766.3 km2) centred near 39\u00b024\u2032N 76\u00b036\u2032W. Towson is the county seat; its postal code is 21204. Unlike most Maryland [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Baltimore County, Maryland","_seopress_titles_desc":"32 largest communities in Baltimore County, Maryland with population and ZIP, plus Towson, Sparrows Point history and the county's 51 ZIP codes.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-4514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-maryland","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4514"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9282,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514\/revisions\/9282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}