Jury Pool Profile
Howard County, Maryland
- County seat
- Ellicott City
- Judicial district
- 5th Judicial Circuit Court
- Population (July 2025 estimate)
- 339,183
- Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 336,328.
At a glance
Howard County is a 339,183-person venue. The county population is 47% White and 20% Black (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $149,980, $47,145 above the MD state median of $102,835; 64.5% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 28.3% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly Spanish, then other Indo-European languages (5.6%), a group the Census does not break out. The largest employment sector is Professional & business services, at 27.9% of covered employment, average pay $126,732/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.72%, below the 4.3% state average. The county carried the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 64% to 71% of the vote across the three.
- Population
- 336,328
- Median household income
- $149,763
- Unemployment
- 3.7%
Who sits on a jury?
<50% in any single race-alone group. White here: 47%; Black: 20%.
Howard County has a population of 336,328, with a median age of 39.8. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 46.8%; Black residents 20.0%. Independently, 8.7% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The median household earns $149,980; 64.5% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 5.5% live below the federal poverty line.
Economic context
Largest sector in BLS QCEW, even counting every withheld job toward the other sectors: Professional & business services, about 28% of covered jobs.
Professional & business services is the largest employment sector at 27.9% of covered employment, followed by Trade, transportation & utilities at 19.7%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.72%, below the Maryland state average.
Political composition
Democratic candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 68%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.
Howard County was carried by the Democratic candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 69.1% in 2024, 70.7% in 2020, 64.1% in 2016.
Languages, households, faith & health
Family households are 73% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 28.3% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).
28.3% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, Chinese, Korean. Veterans account for 6.0% of the adult civilian population (15,149 individuals).