Population Changes in Maryland, Post-2020 Census
Planning in Progress
By Alfred P. Sundara, AICP, Projections Manager, Maryland State Data Center, with Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner
A division of the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP), the Maryland State Data Center (MSDC), is the state’s primary liaison with the U.S. Census Bureau. MSDC provides Maryland residents, businesses, and local governments with demographic and socioeconomic statistics. It also produces the state’s official population and household projections and develops school enrollment forecasts.
On July 1, 2023, the Census Bureau’s Population Division released the Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Single Years of Age and Sex for Maryland: April 1, 2020, to July 1,2022 (SC_EST2022-SYA SEX-24).
Fig. 1 Bar graph displaying Maryland Population each year on the first of July for 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Demographic trends can be observed in Maryland, as in other states and/or the nation as a whole, as changes in residents’ age, gender, race, and other defining characteristics over time. The July 1, 2022, Census estimate places the state’s population at 6,164,610 residents.[1] While there was a slight population increase (0.02 percent) from the July 1, 2020 estimate of 6,173,205 persons to 6,174,610 persons in the July 1, 2021, the change from 2021 to the current estimate represents a decline of 0.16 percent.
Since 2020, Maryland has experienced a population decline of 8,545 persons, or about .10 percent, mostly among the male population. Over the same period, the female population in Maryland decreased from 3,163,442 to 3,162,751 residents, a decrease of 691 or 0.02 percent, while the number of males fell from 3,009,763 to 3,001,909 persons, a decrease of 7,854 or 0.26 percent. As a result, females continue to comprise a larger share of the Maryland population overall, slightly increasing to 51.3 percent in 2022 compared with 51.2 percent in 2020.
Maryland had 57,369 fewer children (persons 17 years and under) in 2022 compared to 2020. There were 1,366,422 children in 2020, compared with 1,346,589 in 2022. This is a decrease of 19,833 children or nearly 1.5 percent. This lowers the 17-and-under portion of the total population from 22.1 percent in 2020 to 21.8 percent. Pre-school children (zero through four years) account for more than one-half of this decrease, falling by 10,623 children.
The estimates also show Maryland’s population continues to age in place, both as residents grow older, increasing that population, and as the number of children being born decrease. Persons 65 years and older increased by nearly six percent from 2020 to 2022. The elderly cohort jumped from 986,774 to 1,044,209 in 2022, increasing from 16 to 17 percent of the total population. This in turn contributed to an increase in Maryland’s median age from 39.2 years to 39.6 years over the two-year interval.
Fig. 2 – Chart showing the median age by jurisdiction over the same three year period.
The median age is an important indicator of a population’s age distribution as it is the age that divides the population into two parts of equal size, meaning there are as many persons with ages above the median as there are with ages below.
Sixteen of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions had median ages above the state median in 2022, fourteen of which were above 40 years in age. Talbot County has the highest median age at 51.3 years followed by Worcester County at 51.2 years.
Most of the counties with older populations (nine) have fewer than 100,000 residents. Of the jurisdictions with populations of 100,000 or more, the oldest median ages could be found in Carroll, Cecil, Washington, Harford, and Montgomery counties. The lowest median ages were seen in Wicomico County at 36.3 years and Baltimore City at 36.4 years. Prince George’s and Montgomery counties had the largest increases in median age, up 0.8 years to 38.9, and 0.7 years to 40.5 years, respectively.
Three counties experienced a decrease in median age. Allegany County experienced the largest decrease (-0.4 years), followed by Carroll County (-0.2 years) and Somerset County (-0.1 years), while seven counties –Dorchester, Cecil, Washington, Calvert, Caroline, Frederick, and Wicomico — showed no change.
While the older population grew from 2020 to 2022, the size and rate varied for specific age groups among older Marylanders. In 2022, the 65 to 74 age group was the largest with 608,281 people. This age group represents more than one-half of the 65 and over population, or about one in ten Marylanders. The number of women 65-and-over exceeds men 65-and-older by 30 percent, and for the 85-and-over population women outnumbered men by a ratio of almost two-to-one.
Maryland’s largest five-year age groups as of July 1, 2020, were those between 55 and 59 years with 439,482 persons, 30 to 34 years with 426,423 persons, and 35 to 39 years with 423,419 persons. These groups are the younger “baby boomers,” and the oldest of the “echo boom,” or children of “boomers.”
By 2022, the 35 to 39-year group switched places with the 55 to 59-year group to become the largest age group. In Maryland. The 30 to 34 years age group remains the second largest five-year age group in the state.
The age groups with the largest increase in size from 2020 through 2022 were: 10 to 14 years with 68,015; 75 to 79 years with 21,879; and 40 to 44 years with 16,833 persons.
As Maryland’s population ages, it is also becoming more diverse. Between 2020 and 2022, the American Indian and Alaska Native population increased by 3,555 persons or 8.94 percent. Persons belonging to two or more races increased by 7,724 or 4.1 percent, the Asian population grew by 11,118 or 2.62 percent, and the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population increased by 128 persons or 1.7 percent.
The size of Maryland’s largest racial populations, White and African American, remained nearly unchanged. The Black and African population increased by less than .05 percent, and the White population fell by just over one percent. The Hispanic population increased by 31,416 persons or 4.65 percent.
To access these profiles for the U.S., Maryland, and Maryland’s jurisdictions, visit the Projections and State Data Center Census Data webpage or contact Alfred Sundara, Manager, Projections and State Data Center, at .
[1] SOURCE: U. S. Census Bureau. Population Division. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Single Years of Age and Sex for Maryland: April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2022 (SC_EST2022-SYA SEX-24).
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