{"id":4523,"date":"2023-06-24T08:11:27","date_gmt":"2023-06-24T08:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=4523"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:32:47","slug":"carroll-county-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/carroll-county-maryland\/","title":{"rendered":"Carroll County, Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Carroll County is a county in Maryland, United States, about 30 miles northwest of Baltimore. It<br \/>\nhad a population of 172,891 at the 2020 census, an estimated 176,677 by 2025, and covers 453<br \/>\nsquare miles (1,170 km2), of which 448 are land, centred near 39&deg;34&prime;N 77&deg;01&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Westminster is the county seat; its postal code is 21157. The county holds 2 cities, 6<br \/>\nincorporated towns and dozens of unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its<br \/>\nFIPS code is 24013.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Carroll County<\/h2>\n<p>Carroll County has 9 incorporated or census-recognized places with 2020 population counts, plus<br \/>\nmore than two dozen unincorporated crossroads communities with no local government of their own.<br \/>\nCDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers hamlets and rural crossroads with no<br \/>\nformal boundary.<\/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>Westminster<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>20,126<\/td>\n<td>21157<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eldersburg<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>32,582<\/td>\n<td>21784<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mount Airy<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>9,654<\/td>\n<td>21771<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Taneytown<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>7,234<\/td>\n<td>21787<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hampstead<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>6,241<\/td>\n<td>21074<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Manchester<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>5,408<\/td>\n<td>21102<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sykesville<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>4,316<\/td>\n<td>21784<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>New Windsor<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>1,441<\/td>\n<td>21776<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Union Bridge<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>936<\/td>\n<td>21791<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Finksburg<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>21048<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Marriottsville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>21104<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Woodbine<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>21797<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gamber<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Detour<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Keymar<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Silver Run<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Uniontown<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Union Mills<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Beyond that list, Wikipedia names another eighteen unincorporated crossroads in the county<br \/>\n&mdash; Alesia, Carrollton, Carrolltowne, Frizzelburg, Gaither, Greenmount, Harney, Henryton,<br \/>\nJasontown, Lineboro, Linwood, Mayberry, Middleburg, Millers, Patapsco, Pleasant Valley, Uniontown<br \/>\nand Woodstock among them &mdash; with no population or ZIP data of their own; mail there routes<br \/>\nthrough a nearby incorporated town&#8217;s code instead. Three places straddle county lines: Mount<br \/>\nAiry sits mostly in Carroll but extends into Frederick County, Sykesville sits mostly in Carroll<br \/>\nbut crosses into Howard County, and Marriottsville is split three ways between Carroll, Howard and<br \/>\nBaltimore counties.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>21157 &mdash; Westminster (also serves 21158, a Westminster PO box ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>21784 &mdash; Eldersburg and Sykesville<\/li>\n<li>21771 &mdash; Mount Airy<\/li>\n<li>21787 &mdash; Taneytown<\/li>\n<li>21074 &mdash; Hampstead<\/li>\n<li>21102 &mdash; Manchester (also 21088)<\/li>\n<li>21776 &mdash; New Windsor<\/li>\n<li>21791 &mdash; Union Bridge<\/li>\n<li>21048 &mdash; Finksburg<\/li>\n<li>21104 &mdash; Marriottsville<\/li>\n<li>21797 &mdash; Woodbine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gamber, Detour, Keymar, Silver Run, Uniontown, Union Mills and the smaller crossroads named<br \/>\nabove have no ZIP code of their own; the U.S. Postal Service delivers mail there under a<br \/>\nneighboring incorporated town&#8217;s code, mostly Westminster&#8217;s 21157 or 21158.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Carroll County sits in Maryland&#8217;s Piedmont Plateau, a belt of rolling hills between the<br \/>\nBlue Ridge and the Chesapeake Bay lowlands. Of its 453 total square miles, 448 are land and 5.1<br \/>\nare water, about 1.1 percent &mdash; the county has no large natural lake, and its main surface<br \/>\nwater is the Patapsco River, which forms part of its southern boundary with Howard County, and<br \/>\nLiberty Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to Baltimore and sits partly within the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s southeastern corner.<\/p>\n<p>York County and Adams County, both in Pennsylvania, border Carroll to the north. Baltimore<br \/>\nCounty lies to the east, Howard County to the south, Montgomery County touches the southwest<br \/>\ncorner, and Frederick County lies to the west. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/york-county-pennsylvania\/\">York County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/adams-county-pennsylvania\/\">Adams County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/baltimore-county\/\">Baltimore County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/howard-county-maryland\/\">Howard County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/montgomery-county-maryland\/\">Montgomery County<\/a> all have<br \/>\ntheir own pages on this site; Frederick County, Maryland does not yet have one.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Carroll County had a population of 172,891 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 176,677 residents. Eldersburg and Westminster are by far the two largest communities,<br \/>\ntogether holding roughly a third of the county&#8217;s population. Population density works out to<br \/>\nabout 386 people per square mile of land, moderate for a Baltimore-area suburban county and far<br \/>\nbelow neighboring Baltimore and Howard counties. Maryland&#8217;s statewide median household<br \/>\nincome was $98,678 (2023 ACS), the highest of any U.S. state; Carroll ranks among Maryland&#8217;s<br \/>\nhigher-income suburban counties, though its own current median has not been independently<br \/>\nverified for this page.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Carroll County Public Schools is the county&#8217;s largest employer, with 3,334 workers across<br \/>\nits district, the ninth-largest in Maryland. Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster is another<br \/>\nmajor employer, along with McDaniel College, a private liberal-arts college also in Westminster,<br \/>\nand a large Penguin Random House book-distribution center. JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, the menswear<br \/>\nretailer, has its corporate roots in the county. Farming remains a visible part of county life away<br \/>\nfrom the Eldersburg and Mount Airy suburbs, with dairy and grain operations concentrated in the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s northern and western townships. The Maryland Wine Festival has been held each autumn<br \/>\nat the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster since 1985, drawing visitors from across the<br \/>\nBaltimore-Washington area.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Maryland&#8217;s General Assembly formed Carroll County on 19 January 1837, carving it out of<br \/>\nBaltimore and Frederick counties. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last<br \/>\nsurviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, who died in 1832. Westminster was designated<br \/>\nthe county seat.<\/p>\n<p>On 29 June 1863, Union cavalry troopers clashed with J.E.B. Stuart&#8217;s Confederate cavalry<br \/>\non Westminster&#8217;s Main Street in an engagement now known as Corbit&#8217;s Charge. The<br \/>\nskirmish delayed Stuart&#8217;s column by several hours as it rode north toward Pennsylvania,<br \/>\na delay some historians credit with keeping Stuart&#8217;s cavalry away from the opening day of<br \/>\nthe Battle of Gettysburg two days later.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstate 70, running with US Route 40, clips the county&#8217;s southern edge near Mount Airy.<br \/>\nMaryland Route 140 is the main east&#8211;west corridor through Westminster, and MD 26, MD 27, MD<br \/>\n30, MD 31, MD 32 and MD 97 carry most of the county&#8217;s other through traffic. No passenger<br \/>\nrail line or intercity bus route serves the county; local opposition has kept it off the regional<br \/>\ntransit map for decades.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baltimore &mdash; about 30 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Frederick &mdash; about 25 miles southwest<\/li>\n<li>Gettysburg, Pennsylvania &mdash; about 25 miles north<\/li>\n<li>Washington, D.C. &mdash; about 50 miles south<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Baltimore\/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), roughly 30 miles southeast<br \/>\nof Westminster, is the nearest major commercial airport. The nearest Amtrak service is the BWI<br \/>\nRail Station, which also carries MARC commuter trains toward Baltimore and Washington.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Carroll County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in Maryland&#8217;s Piedmont Plateau, about 30 miles northwest of Baltimore, bordered by<br \/>\nYork and Adams counties in Pennsylvania and by Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Frederick<br \/>\ncounties in Maryland.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Carroll County?<\/strong><br \/>\n172,891 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 176,677.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Carroll County?<\/strong><br \/>\n453 square miles total (1,170 km2), of which 448 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Carroll County?<\/strong><br \/>\nWestminster, formed with the county in 1837, is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Carroll County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo cities &mdash; Westminster and Taneytown &mdash; six incorporated towns (Mount Airy,<br \/>\nHampstead, Manchester, Sykesville, New Windsor and Union Bridge), and the unincorporated Eldersburg<br \/>\nCDP, the county&#8217;s largest community, plus more than two dozen smaller crossroads.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Carroll County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n21157 and 21158 for Westminster; 21784 for Eldersburg and Sykesville; 21771 for Mount Airy; 21787<br \/>\nfor Taneytown; 21074 for Hampstead; 21102 for Manchester; 21776 for New Windsor; and 21791 for<br \/>\nUnion Bridge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Carroll County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nCorbit&#8217;s Charge, the 1863 cavalry skirmish in Westminster that delayed J.E.B. Stuart ahead of<br \/>\nGettysburg, and the annual Maryland Wine Festival at the Carroll County Farm Museum.<\/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>Carroll County is a county in Maryland, United States, about 30 miles northwest of Baltimore. It had a population of 172,891 at the 2020 census, an estimated 176,677 by 2025, and covers 453 square miles (1,170 km2), of which 448 are land, centred near 39&deg;34&prime;N 77&deg;01&prime;W. Westminster is the county seat; its postal code is [&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 Carroll County, Maryland","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 9 incorporated towns and Eldersburg in Carroll County, Maryland - population, ZIP codes, plus Corbit's Charge history and the Wine Festival.","_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-4523","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\/4523","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=4523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9633,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4523\/revisions\/9633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}