Baltimore

About Baltimore

Baltimore, also known as Baltimore City is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the 30th-most-populous U.S. city, with a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 569,997 in 2025; the Baltimore metropolitan area, at 2.86 million residents, is the 22nd-largest metropolitan area in the nation. The city is also part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which had a population of 9.97 million in 2020. Baltimore was designated as an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851. Though not located under the jurisdiction of any county in the state, it forms part of the Central Maryland region together with the surrounding county that shares its name.

The land that is present-day Baltimore was once used as hunting ground by Paleo-Indians. In the early 1600s, the Susquehannock began to hunt there. People from the Province of Maryland established the Port of Baltimore in 1706 to support the tobacco trade with Europe and established the Town of Baltimore in 1729. During the American Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress briefly moved its deliberations to Henry Fite House from December 1776 to February 1777 prior to the capture of Philadelphia by British troops, which permitted Baltimore to serve briefly as the nation's capital before it returned to Philadelphia. The Battle of Baltimore was pivotal during the War of 1812. During the Pratt Street Riot of 1861, the city was the site of some of the earliest violence associated with the American Civil War. The British bombardment of Fort McHenry led revolutionary Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star-Spangled Banner", which was designated as the U.S. national anthem in 1931.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the nation's oldest, was built in 1830 and reinforced Baltimore's status as a transportation hub, giving producers in the Midwest and Appalachia access to the city's port. Baltimore's Inner Harbor was the second-leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States, after New York's Ellis Island, making Baltimore a major manufacturing center. After a decline in heavy industry and a restructuring of the rail industry, Baltimore shifted to a service-oriented economy. Johns Hopkins Hospital and University are now the city's top employers. Baltimore is also home to the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball and the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. It is ranked as a Gamma− world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

The city is home to some of the earliest National Register Historic Districts in the nation, including Fells Point, Federal Hill, and Mount Vernon. Baltimore has more public statues and monuments per capita than any other U.S. city. Nearly one third of the buildings (over 65,000) are designated as historic in the National Register, more than any other U.S. city. Baltimore has 66 National Register Historic Districts and 33 local historic districts.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Baltimore weather: 7-day forecast

Source: National Weather Service (NOAA).

Live webcams in Baltimore

Webcams: Windy.com

Living in Baltimore

Median household income

$62,177

Median home value

$229,600

Median rent

$1,331/mo

Median age

36.2

Map of Baltimore

Tap any street on the map to see it in Street View below. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Baltimore Street View

Drag the image to look around and tap the arrows on the ground to move. If it says there is no imagery, tap a nearby street on the map above.

Baltimore, MD population

Baltimore had 585,708 residents in the 2020 Census.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Decennial Census.

Baltimore at a glance

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (Gazetteer, ZCTA), USGS GNIS, Wikidata.

Towns near Baltimore

• Baltimore Highlands4.7 mi S
• Lansdowne5.3 mi SW
• Brooklyn Park5.6 mi S
• Rosedale5.9 mi E
• Arbutus5.9 mi SW
• Dundalk6.4 mi E
• Towson6.5 mi N
• Parkville6.5 mi NE
• Overlea6.7 mi NE
• Linthicum6.9 mi SW
• Lochearn7.1 mi NW
• Woodlawn7.4 mi W

Straight-line distance between town centers.

Frequently asked questions about Baltimore