{"id":4565,"date":"2023-06-25T12:26:35","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T12:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=4565"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:30:22","slug":"talbot-county-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/talbot-county-maryland\/","title":{"rendered":"Talbot County, Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Talbot County is a county in Maryland, United States, on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake<br \/>\nBay, about 40 miles southeast of Annapolis across the bay. It had a population of 37,526 at the<br \/>\n2020 census, an estimated 38,238 by 2025, and covers 477 square miles (1,240 km2) centred near<br \/>\n38\u00b045\u2032N 76\u00b011\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Easton is the county seat; its postal code is 21601. The county holds 4 incorporated towns<br \/>\nand 2 unincorporated census-designated places, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is<br \/>\n24041.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Talbot County<\/h2>\n<p>Talbot County has 6 named places on record: 4 incorporated towns and 2 census-designated<br \/>\nplaces (CDPs) with no local government of their own. One town, Queen Anne, straddles the line<br \/>\ninto Queen Anne&#8217;s County.<\/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>Easton<\/td>\n<td>Town &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>17,101<\/td>\n<td>21601<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tilghman Island<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>807<\/td>\n<td>21671<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Trappe<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>1,177<\/td>\n<td>21673<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Saint Michaels<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>1,049<\/td>\n<td>21663<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cordova<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>551<\/td>\n<td>21625<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Oxford<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>611<\/td>\n<td>21654<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Queen Anne<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>192<\/td>\n<td>21657<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Queen Anne is the confusable pair to note here: its 192 residents live on both sides of the<br \/>\nTalbot&#8211;Queen Anne&#8217;s county line, which runs through the middle of town, so the<br \/>\nfigure above counts the whole population rather than just the Talbot County share.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>21601 &mdash; Easton (also serves 21606, an Easton PO box ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>21671 &mdash; Tilghman Island<\/li>\n<li>21673 &mdash; Trappe<\/li>\n<li>21663 &mdash; Saint Michaels<\/li>\n<li>21625 &mdash; Cordova<\/li>\n<li>21654 &mdash; Oxford<\/li>\n<li>21657 &mdash; Queen Anne<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Several smaller crossroads communities scattered across the county &mdash; among them Bozman,<br \/>\nMcDaniel, Neavitt, Royal Oak and Wittman &mdash; have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is<br \/>\ndelivered under the nearest incorporated town&#8217;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Talbot County sits at the heart of Maryland&#8217;s Eastern Shore, a low, flat peninsula cut<br \/>\ndeeply by tidal rivers and creeks draining into the Chesapeake Bay. Of its 477 square miles, only<br \/>\n269 are land; the other 208 square miles, 44 percent of the county, are water &mdash; giving<br \/>\nTalbot the third-smallest land area of any Maryland county despite one of its largest total<br \/>\nareas. The Choptank River forms most of the county&#8217;s southern boundary, and the Tred Avon<br \/>\nand Miles rivers cut deep, navigable inlets that shaped the county&#8217;s old shipping towns.<\/p>\n<p>Queen Anne&#8217;s County lies to the north, Caroline County to the east, Dorchester County to<br \/>\nthe south, and the open Chesapeake Bay to the west. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/queen-anne-county\/\">Queen Anne&#8217;s County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/caroline-county\/\">Caroline County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/dorchester-county\/\">Dorchester County<\/a> all border Talbot<br \/>\ndirectly; only the bay lies to the west.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Talbot County had a population of 37,526 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 38,238 residents. Easton is by far the largest community, holding close to half the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s population on its own; Trappe and Saint Michaels are the next two largest towns.<br \/>\nMedian household income runs $84,811 (2024), below Maryland&#8217;s statewide median household<br \/>\nincome of $98,678 (2023 ACS) by roughly $13,900. Population density works out to about 140<br \/>\npeople per square mile of land, moderate for<br \/>\nthe Eastern Shore and concentrated heavily around Easton and the river towns.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 2,506 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by retail trade at 1,867 and professional, scientific and technical services at 1,739.<br \/>\nUniversity of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton, a 112-bed hospital that opened in 1907, is<br \/>\nthe county&#8217;s largest single health care employer. Shore United Bank, Maryland&#8217;s<br \/>\nfourth-largest bank, is headquartered in Easton. Tourism and the maritime trades anchor much of<br \/>\nthe rest of the local economy: the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in Saint Michaels draws<br \/>\nvisitors to see historic vessels including the National Historic Landmark bugeye Edna E.<br \/>\nLockwood, and Tilghman Island&#8217;s watermen still run working skipjacks, among them the<br \/>\nRebecca T. Ruark, out of its harbor. Oxford runs the oldest privately operated ferry in<br \/>\ncontinuous use in the United States, the Oxford&#8211;Bellevue Ferry, across the Tred Avon River,<br \/>\na crossing in service since 1683.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Talbot County was formed around 1661 out of the original Eastern Shore settlements, making it<br \/>\none of Maryland&#8217;s oldest counties. It was named for Grace Talbot, sister of a Lord Baltimore, and wife of the Anglo-Irish<br \/>\npolitician Sir Robert Talbot. Oxford, established<br \/>\nby the Maryland General Assembly as a seaport in 1683, served as one of only two official ports<br \/>\nof entry for the entire colony before the American Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>The county was home to abolitionist Frederick Douglass, born enslaved on its Tuckahoe Creek<br \/>\nside; to Declaration of Independence signer Robert Morris Jr.; and to Tench Tilghman, aide-de-camp<br \/>\nto George Washington. Easton&#8217;s Hill neighborhood, settled by free Black residents from<br \/>\naround 1790, is documented as one of the earliest free Black communities in the United States,<br \/>\nwith roughly 410 free people of color recorded there in the 1790 census.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Route 50 is the county&#8217;s main highway, running the length of the Eastern Shore and<br \/>\ncarrying most through traffic to and from Easton; no interstate crosses the county.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Annapolis &mdash; about 40 miles northwest, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge<\/li>\n<li>Salisbury &mdash; about 35 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Cambridge &mdash; about 15 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Chestertown &mdash; about 30 miles north<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Easton Airport, a general aviation field just north of town, has no scheduled airline<br \/>\nservice. Salisbury&#8211;Ocean City&#8211;Wicomico Regional Airport and Baltimore&#8211;Washington<br \/>\nInternational Airport are the nearest commercial airports. Amtrak does not serve the Eastern<br \/>\nShore; the closest stations are across the bay in the Baltimore&#8211;Washington corridor.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Talbot County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits on Maryland&#8217;s Eastern Shore, on the Chesapeake Bay, bordered by Queen Anne&#8217;s,<br \/>\nCaroline and Dorchester counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Talbot County?<\/strong><br \/>\n37,526 at the 2020 census, with an estimated 38,238 residents by 2025.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Talbot County?<\/strong><br \/>\n477 square miles (1,240 km2) in total, of which 269 square miles are land and 208 square miles<br \/>\nare water &mdash; 44 percent of the county.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Talbot County?<\/strong><br \/>\nEaston is the county seat, and its 17,101 residents make it by far the county&#8217;s largest<br \/>\ntown.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Talbot County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFour incorporated towns &mdash; Easton, Oxford, Saint Michaels, Trappe and Queen Anne (partly)<br \/>\n&mdash; plus two census-designated places: Tilghman Island and Cordova.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Talbot County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n21601 and 21606 for Easton; 21663 for Saint Michaels; 21654 for Oxford; 21673 for Trappe; 21671<br \/>\nfor Tilghman Island; 21625 for Cordova; and 21657 for Queen Anne.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Talbot County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in Saint Michaels, the historic Oxford&#8211;Bellevue Ferry,<br \/>\nand Tilghman Island&#8217;s working skipjack fleet.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/maryland\/\">Towns<br \/>\nand villages in Maryland<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Talbot County is a county in Maryland, United States, on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, about 40 miles southeast of Annapolis across the bay. It had a population of 37,526 at the 2020 census, an estimated 38,238 by 2025, and covers 477 square miles (1,240 km2) centred near 38\u00b045\u2032N 76\u00b011\u2032W. Easton is the [&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 Talbot County, Maryland","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 7 towns and places in Talbot County, Maryland - type, population and ZIP code for each, plus the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and Oxford ferry.","_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-4565","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\/4565","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=4565"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9491,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4565\/revisions\/9491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}