Essex is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 40,505 people and 11 associated neighborhoods, Essex is the 22nd largest community in Maryland.

Also of interest is that Essex has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.50% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Essex is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Essex is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Essex, the average commute to work is 30.43 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

For the size of the town, public transportation in Essex is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Essex, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

The percentage of adults in Essex who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 19.94% of the adults in Essex have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Essex in 2022 was $35,849, which is lower middle income relative to Maryland, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $143,396 for a family of four. However, Essex contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Essex is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Essex home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Essex residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Essex include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Essex is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.