County Maps US

Howard County, Maryland

A county in Maryland, ranked 6 of 24 by population.

CountyFIPS 24027

Within Maryland
Howard County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data.

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Population
339,183
+6,374 (+1.9%) since 2020
Land area
251
square miles. A further 1.0% of the total area is water
Population density
1,352
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Ellicott City
Seat of county government.
Established
1838
187 years ago
Largest city
Not available
No incorporated place lies within this county.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Howard County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Howard County, Maryland from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 586 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Howard County ranks

Position among the 24 counties of Maryland, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MarylandNationally
Population339,1836th of 24220th of 3,144
Land area251 sq mi22nd of 242,909th of 3,144
Population density1,352 per sq mi6th of 24120th of 3,144
Median household income$149,7631st of 245th of 3,143

Full data for Howard County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population339,183Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020332,809Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?332,311Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area251 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area2.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area253.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?1,352 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$149,763American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$597,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.8American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households121,065American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units125,286American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+932
2,939 births, 2,007 deaths
Net migration
+458
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Howard County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Montgomery CountyMaryland31 mi1,074,582
Baltimore CountyMaryland20 mi847,650
Carroll CountyMaryland20 mi176,677
Anne Arundel CountyMaryland13 mi603,380
Prince George's CountyMaryland3.7 mi970,374
Frederick CountyMaryland266 ft302,883

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 24 counties of Maryland

Open the interactive Maryland county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.