Laurel is a medium-sized city located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 30,238 people and 24 associated neighborhoods, Laurel is the 38th largest community in Maryland.Laurel is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 85.53% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Laurel is a city of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Laurel who work in management occupations (12.13%), office and administrative support (10.14%), and sales jobs (8.46%). Also of interest is that Laurel has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Laurel telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 14.34% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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. One downside of living in Laurel, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 32.67 minutes every day commuting to work. Laurel is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 44.50% of adults in Laurel have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher. The per capita income in Laurel in 2022 was $46,598, which is middle income relative to Maryland, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $186,392 for a family of four. However, Laurel contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Laurel is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Laurel home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Laurel residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Laurel also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 22.39% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Laurel include African, Irish, Nigerian, German, and Jamaican. Laurel also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 32.84%. The most common language spoken in Laurel is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.
