Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County population, land area and income

Frederick County had 299,317 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 660.6 square miles of land. It is the largest by land of Maryland's 24 county-equivalents. That works out to 453.1 people per square mile, 4.7 times the US average of 96.3, and in the top tenth nationally.

The median county-equivalent in Maryland has 111,399 residents, so Frederick County is 2.7 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $114,089 is in the top tenth among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Frederick County's population changed since 2020

Frederick County gained 26,530 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 9.7%. That ranks 1st of 24 in Maryland for growth. The median Maryland county changed by +2.1%, and the state as a whole by +1.4%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Frederick County recorded 13,014 births and 9,304 deaths, a natural change of +3,710. Net international migration added +5,301 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +18,713. The largest single component was domestic migration, which added 18,713 people.

Where Frederick County is

The Census internal point of Frederick County is at 39.470200, -77.397600. It sits in UTM zone 18N. The map shades Maryland's 24 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Frederick County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Frederick County

10 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Frederick County, 127,521 people together, or 43% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Frederick County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Frederick with 89,537.

Counties bordering Frederick County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 7 neighbors for Frederick County, including 3 across a state line. The most populous is Montgomery County, MD, with 1,082,273 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Montgomery County

  1,082,273 people

  25 mi SSE

• VA

  Loudoun County, VA

  443,380 people

  30 mi SSW

• Howard County

  339,668 people

  29 mi ESE

• Carroll County

  177,108 people

  21 mi ENE

• PA

  Franklin County, PA

  159,285 people

  36 mi NNW

• Washington County

  157,228 people

  24 mi WNW

• PA

  Adams County, PA

  107,914 people

  29 mi NNE

Distance to Annapolis and the nearest big city

Annapolis is 59.2 miles SE of Frederick County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Baltimore, MD (population 568,271), 43.6 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Frederick, MD (population 89,537), 2.7 miles away.

Frederick County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Frederick County is 24021: state code 24 for Maryland plus county code 021. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $114,089.