North Bethesda vs Potomac

A side-by-side comparison of North Bethesda and Potomac: population, income, housing, and more.

North Bethesda and Potomac are places in Maryland. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

North Bethesda has the higher population (49,498 vs 46,230 in Potomac). Potomac has the higher median household income ($239,205 vs $128,970 in North Bethesda). Potomac has the higher median home value ($1,105,900 vs $712,100 in North Bethesda).

Population, income & housing

	North Bethesda	Potomac
Population	49,498	46,230
Median age	40.2 yrs	47.0 yrs
Median household income	$128,970	$239,205
Median home value	$712,100	$1,105,900
Median gross rent	$2,161	$2,616
Housing units	23,158	16,843
Homeownership rate	49.2%	85.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	74.2%	84.5%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	North Bethesda	Potomac
Population	49,872 → 49,498 (-0.7%)	45,940 → 46,230 (+0.6%)
Median household income	$107,220 → $128,970 (+20.3%)	$195,884 → $239,205 (+22.1%)
Median home value	$567,500 → $712,100 (+25.5%)	$893,800 → $1,105,900 (+23.7%)
Median gross rent	$1,910 → $2,161 (+13.1%)	$1,990 → $2,616 (+31.5%)

North Bethesda

Population

49,87249,498

Median household income

$107,220$128,970

Median home value

$567,500$712,100

Median gross rent

$1,910$2,161

Potomac

Population

45,94046,230

Median household income

$195,884$239,205

Median home value

$893,800$1,105,900

Median gross rent

$1,990$2,616

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	North Bethesda	Potomac
Under 5	4.8%	4.6%
5 to 17	14.2%	19.4%
18 to 24	6.9%	6.6%
25 to 34	15.5%	5.3%
35 to 44	14.8%	11.1%
45 to 54	13.7%	15.6%
55 to 64	12.6%	14.2%
65 to 74	9.4%	12.2%
75 and over	8.1%	10.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	North Bethesda	Potomac
White (non-Hispanic)	52.3%	57.9%
Black or African American	9.9%	5.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	15.3%	20.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.9%
Two or more races	5.1%	4.7%
Hispanic or Latino	16.6%	10.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	North Bethesda	Potomac
No high school diploma	5.8%	3.0%
High school graduate	7.8%	4.0%
Some college or associate's	12.2%	8.5%
Bachelor's degree	30.4%	29.4%
Graduate or professional degree	43.8%	55.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	North Bethesda	Potomac
Drove alone	46.9%	53.9%
Carpooled	4.8%	5.5%
Public transit	12.8%	4.2%
Walked	1.9%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.2%
Worked from home	32.0%	33.1%
Other means	1.3%	2.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	North Bethesda	Potomac
1-unit, detached	28.2%	70.3%
1-unit, attached	11.6%	15.0%
2 to 4 units	1.7%	0.9%
5 to 19 units	17.3%	1.6%
20 or more units	41.2%	12.2%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	North Bethesda	Potomac
Poverty rate	5.7%	3.7%
Average household size	2.22	2.82
Mean commute (minutes)	30	31
Median year structure built	1982	1977