Potomac vs Wheaton

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

Potomac 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 46,230 in Potomac). Potomac has the higher median household income ($239,205 vs $107,349 in Wheaton). Potomac has the higher median home value ($1,105,900 vs $483,100 in Wheaton).

Population, income & housing

	Potomac	Wheaton
Population	46,230	52,172
Median age	47.0 yrs	36.8 yrs
Median household income	$239,205	$107,349
Median home value	$1,105,900	$483,100
Median gross rent	$2,616	$2,151
Housing units	16,843	17,105
Homeownership rate	85.1%	65.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	84.5%	38.9%
Unemployment rate	3.6%	5.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Potomac	Wheaton
Population	45,940 → 46,230 (+0.6%)	50,229 → 52,172 (+3.9%)
Median household income	$195,884 → $239,205 (+22.1%)	$85,617 → $107,349 (+25.4%)
Median home value	$893,800 → $1,105,900 (+23.7%)	$371,700 → $483,100 (+30.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,990 → $2,616 (+31.5%)	$1,813 → $2,151 (+18.6%)

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

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)

	Potomac	Wheaton
Under 5	4.6%	6.4%
5 to 17	19.4%	16.9%
18 to 24	6.6%	8.2%
25 to 34	5.3%	15.7%
35 to 44	11.1%	14.3%
45 to 54	15.6%	13.1%
55 to 64	14.2%	12.8%
65 to 74	12.2%	8.0%
75 and over	10.8%	4.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Potomac	Wheaton
White (non-Hispanic)	57.9%	22.6%
Black or African American	5.4%	19.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	20.7%	10.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.9%	1.3%
Two or more races	4.7%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	10.3%	43.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Potomac	Wheaton
No high school diploma	3.0%	19.4%
High school graduate	4.0%	20.0%
Some college or associate's	8.5%	21.7%
Bachelor's degree	29.4%	19.6%
Graduate or professional degree	55.1%	19.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Potomac	Wheaton
Drove alone	53.9%	56.7%
Carpooled	5.5%	11.3%
Public transit	4.2%	12.5%
Walked	1.0%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	33.1%	17.5%
Other means	2.1%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Potomac	Wheaton
1-unit, detached	70.3%	60.4%
1-unit, attached	15.0%	14.5%
2 to 4 units	0.9%	0.9%
5 to 19 units	1.6%	11.4%
20 or more units	12.2%	12.7%
Mobile home & other	0.1%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	Potomac	Wheaton
Poverty rate	3.7%	10.6%
Average household size	2.82	3.11
Mean commute (minutes)	31	33
Median year structure built	1977	1959