North Bethesda vs Wheaton

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

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

Wheaton has the higher population (52,172 vs 49,498 in North Bethesda). North Bethesda has the higher median household income ($128,970 vs $107,349 in Wheaton). North Bethesda has the higher median home value ($712,100 vs $483,100 in Wheaton).

Population, income & housing

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
Population	49,498	52,172
Median age	40.2 yrs	36.8 yrs
Median household income	$128,970	$107,349
Median home value	$712,100	$483,100
Median gross rent	$2,161	$2,151
Housing units	23,158	17,105
Homeownership rate	49.2%	65.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	74.2%	38.9%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	5.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
Population	49,872 → 49,498 (-0.7%)	50,229 → 52,172 (+3.9%)
Median household income	$107,220 → $128,970 (+20.3%)	$85,617 → $107,349 (+25.4%)
Median home value	$567,500 → $712,100 (+25.5%)	$371,700 → $483,100 (+30.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,910 → $2,161 (+13.1%)	$1,813 → $2,151 (+18.6%)

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

Wheaton

Population

50,22952,172

Median household income

$85,617$107,349

Median home value

$371,700$483,100

Median gross rent

$1,813$2,151

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
Under 5	4.8%	6.4%
5 to 17	14.2%	16.9%
18 to 24	6.9%	8.2%
25 to 34	15.5%	15.7%
35 to 44	14.8%	14.3%
45 to 54	13.7%	13.1%
55 to 64	12.6%	12.8%
65 to 74	9.4%	8.0%
75 and over	8.1%	4.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
White (non-Hispanic)	52.3%	22.6%
Black or African American	9.9%	19.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	15.3%	10.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	1.3%
Two or more races	5.1%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	16.6%	43.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
No high school diploma	5.8%	19.4%
High school graduate	7.8%	20.0%
Some college or associate's	12.2%	21.7%
Bachelor's degree	30.4%	19.6%
Graduate or professional degree	43.8%	19.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
Drove alone	46.9%	56.7%
Carpooled	4.8%	11.3%
Public transit	12.8%	12.5%
Walked	1.9%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.0%
Worked from home	32.0%	17.5%
Other means	1.3%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
1-unit, detached	28.2%	60.4%
1-unit, attached	11.6%	14.5%
2 to 4 units	1.7%	0.9%
5 to 19 units	17.3%	11.4%
20 or more units	41.2%	12.7%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	North Bethesda	Wheaton
Poverty rate	5.7%	10.6%
Average household size	2.22	3.11
Mean commute (minutes)	30	33
Median year structure built	1982	1959