Laurel vs South Laurel

A side-by-side comparison of Laurel and South Laurel: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Laurel has the higher population (29,594 vs 27,736 in South Laurel). Laurel has the higher median household income ($94,063 vs $90,715 in South Laurel). South Laurel has the higher median home value ($443,100 vs $367,300 in Laurel).

Population, income & housing

	Laurel	South Laurel
Population	29,594	27,736
Median age	36.6 yrs	36.1 yrs
Median household income	$94,063	$90,715
Median home value	$367,300	$443,100
Median gross rent	$1,878	$1,795
Housing units	12,596	11,450
Homeownership rate	43.9%	40.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	44.5%	41.2%
Unemployment rate	4.4%	6.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Laurel	South Laurel
Population	25,767 → 29,594 (+14.9%)	28,683 → 27,736 (-3.3%)
Median household income	$78,313 → $94,063 (+20.1%)	$79,227 → $90,715 (+14.5%)
Median home value	$269,000 → $367,300 (+36.5%)	$343,500 → $443,100 (+29.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,566 → $1,878 (+19.9%)	$1,506 → $1,795 (+19.2%)

Laurel

Population

25,76729,594

Median household income

$78,313$94,063

Median home value

$269,000$367,300

Median gross rent

$1,566$1,878

South Laurel

Population

28,68327,736

Median household income

$79,227$90,715

Median home value

$343,500$443,100

Median gross rent

$1,506$1,795

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Laurel	South Laurel
Under 5	6.2%	7.4%
5 to 17	16.8%	15.9%
18 to 24	7.4%	7.7%
25 to 34	17.3%	17.2%
35 to 44	15.6%	14.8%
45 to 54	15.3%	14.3%
55 to 64	10.4%	11.4%
65 to 74	6.6%	6.7%
75 and over	4.4%	4.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Laurel	South Laurel
White (non-Hispanic)	14.2%	12.0%
Black or African American	48.8%	58.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	9.6%	5.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.8%
Two or more races	4.5%	3.7%
Hispanic or Latino	22.4%	19.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Laurel	South Laurel
No high school diploma	11.9%	9.3%
High school graduate	18.2%	23.7%
Some college or associate's	25.4%	25.7%
Bachelor's degree	22.1%	24.2%
Graduate or professional degree	22.4%	17.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Laurel	South Laurel
Drove alone	68.3%	69.8%
Carpooled	9.6%	7.4%
Public transit	2.6%	5.8%
Walked	1.8%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.1%
Worked from home	14.3%	11.9%
Other means	3.1%	4.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Laurel	South Laurel
1-unit, detached	22.3%	29.5%
1-unit, attached	29.0%	15.1%
2 to 4 units	4.1%	2.4%
5 to 19 units	20.7%	44.4%
20 or more units	24.0%	8.3%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.5%

Poverty & households

	Laurel	South Laurel
Poverty rate	9.1%	11.8%
Average household size	2.48	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	32	32
Median year structure built	1984	1977