MD · independent city · 585,708 (2020) · 30th-largest US city · Eastern time
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore sits at the head of the Patapsco River estuary on the upper Chesapeake Bay in central Maryland. It is the largest city in Maryland and the thirtieth in the United States.
- State
- Maryland
- County
- None – independent city, not in any county
- Population (2020)
- 585,708
- Rank
- 30th in the US
- Coordinates
- 39.29°N, 76.61°W
- Time zone
- Eastern
- Metro area
- about 2.8 million
- State capital
- No – Annapolis
Where Baltimore is
Baltimore is at 39.29°N, 76.61°W and is an independent city: since 1851 it has belonged to no county, and the surrounding Baltimore County (seat: Towson) is a separate jurisdiction. The city covers 81 square miles of land around the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River, whose drowned mouth forms the harbor, about 12 miles from the open bay. Downtown is near sea level; the city rises northward across the fall line onto the Piedmont, reaching about 480 feet. Washington is 40 miles southwest, Philadelphia 100 miles northeast and Annapolis, the state capital, 30 miles south.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 585,708 residents, ranking Baltimore 30th in the US and first in Maryland — the next-largest incorporated city, Frederick, has about 78,000, though Columbia and other unincorporated suburbs are larger. Baltimore peaked at 950,000 in 1950 and has lost population every decade since. The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson metropolitan area has about 2.8 million people, the 20th-largest metro in the country; combined with Washington it forms a region of nearly ten million.
Geography
- Patapsco River and harbor — the Inner Harbor is the head of the Northwest Branch; the main shipping channel runs past Fort McHenry and the Key Bridge site to the Chesapeake. The Port of Baltimore is one of the busiest on the East Coast.
- Chesapeake Bay — the largest estuary in the US, 200 miles long, opens 12 miles from downtown.
- Jones Falls and Gwynns Falls — steep streams cutting through the city from the Piedmont to the harbor; the fall line runs through the middle of Baltimore.
- Coastal Plain and Piedmont — flat, sandy ground south and east; rolling hills of the Piedmont to the north, where the city's reservoirs lie.
Nearest large cities
Baltimore is 40 minutes from Washington and two hours from Philadelphia on Interstate 95. Distances are approximate road miles from the Inner Harbor.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | DC | 40 | SW |
| Philadelphia | PA | 100 | NE |
| New York | NY | 190 | NE |
| Pittsburgh | PA | 250 | W |
| Raleigh | NC | 310 | SW |
Is Baltimore the state capital?
No. Maryland's capital is Annapolis, 30 miles south on the Severn River, and has been since 1694. Annapolis is also the smaller city by a factor of about fifteen. Baltimore has been the largest city in Maryland since the 18th century and is one of only three independent cities in the US outside Virginia, alongside St. Louis and Carson City.
Related maps
- Maryland map — the state with its 23 counties and one independent city.
- Annapolis — the state capital, 30 miles south.
- US cities map.
- Mason–Dixon Line and US coastlines maps.
- Nearby: Washington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware.
- South Atlantic division · Eastern Time Zone.