Dorchester County vs Worcester County

A side-by-side comparison of Dorchester County and Worcester County: population, income, housing, and more.

Dorchester County and Worcester County are counties in Maryland. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Worcester County has the higher population (53,279 vs 32,612 in Dorchester County). Worcester County has the higher median household income ($81,455 vs $60,495 in Dorchester County). Worcester County has the higher median home value ($348,100 vs $252,300 in Dorchester County).

Population, income & housing

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
Population	32,612	53,279
Median age	43.9 yrs	50.7 yrs
Median household income	$60,495	$81,455
Median home value	$252,300	$348,100
Median gross rent	$959	$1,180
Housing units	16,416	56,585
Homeownership rate	66.3%	76.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.8%	32.7%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	6.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
Population	32,138 → 32,612 (+1.5%)	51,765 → 53,279 (+2.9%)
Median household income	$52,917 → $60,495 (+14.3%)	$63,499 → $81,455 (+28.3%)
Median home value	$183,300 → $252,300 (+37.6%)	$262,200 → $348,100 (+32.8%)
Median gross rent	$879 → $959 (+9.1%)	$1,035 → $1,180 (+14.0%)

Dorchester County

Population

32,13832,612

Median household income

$52,917$60,495

Median home value

$183,300$252,300

Median gross rent

$879$959

Worcester County

Population

51,76553,279

Median household income

$63,499$81,455

Median home value

$262,200$348,100

Median gross rent

$1,035$1,180

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
Under 5	5.4%	4.0%
5 to 17	15.8%	13.2%
18 to 24	6.9%	6.7%
25 to 34	11.3%	9.7%
35 to 44	11.3%	10.2%
45 to 54	11.5%	11.6%
55 to 64	15.3%	16.4%
65 to 74	13.4%	16.0%
75 and over	9.2%	12.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
White (non-Hispanic)	61.0%	78.5%
Black or African American	25.3%	12.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	1.4%	1.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.6%
Two or more races	5.9%	3.6%
Hispanic or Latino	5.9%	3.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
No high school diploma	13.2%	6.3%
High school graduate	40.1%	30.2%
Some college or associate's	27.9%	30.8%
Bachelor's degree	10.7%	19.9%
Graduate or professional degree	8.1%	12.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
Drove alone	81.4%	76.4%
Carpooled	9.3%	7.3%
Public transit	0.3%	0.6%
Walked	1.4%	2.4%
Bicycle	0.4%	1.0%
Worked from home	6.7%	11.5%
Other means	0.6%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
1-unit, detached	75.0%	42.6%
1-unit, attached	4.0%	9.9%
2 to 4 units	4.5%	4.0%
5 to 19 units	6.4%	13.0%
20 or more units	3.5%	25.5%
Mobile home & other	6.6%	5.1%

Poverty & households

	Dorchester County	Worcester County
Poverty rate	16.3%	8.1%
Average household size	2.41	2.21
Mean commute (minutes)	27	23
Median year structure built	1973	1984