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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Maryland

1 persistent-poverty county

Maryland has 1 persistent-poverty counties and 7 nonmetro counties — home to 577,193 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 9.3% and child poverty is 11.5%.

1

Persistent-poverty counties

7

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

577K

Residents in PPCs

24

Total counties

Maryland by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Maryland at a glance

Poverty rate

9.3%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

11.5%

Under 18

PPC share

4.2%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

29.2%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

2.40

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.12

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Maryland's 148 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 24 in Maryland.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Baltimore 0.38
  2. 2 Garrett 0.31
  3. 3 Dorchester 0.25
  4. 4 Caroline 0.24
  5. 5 Talbot 0.23

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Baltimore 20.1%
  2. 2 Somerset 20.1%
  3. 3 Allegany 17.2%
  4. 4 Dorchester 16.3%
  5. 5 Wicomico 14.0%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Baltimore 20.1%

Every county in Maryland

All 24 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Allegany 4 — — 17.2% 20.3% 67,762 0.18
Anne Arundel 1 — — 5.5% 5.8% 590,936 0.02
Baltimore 1 — Housing 10.0% 12.9% 849,586 0.04
Baltimore 1 Yes Pop. loss, Housing 20.1% 26.4% 577,193 0.38
Calvert 3 — — 4.0% 4.3% 93,791 0.09
Caroline 6 — Housing 12.4% 18.9% 33,406 0.24
Carroll 1 — — 5.3% 4.9% 174,318 0.02
Cecil 1 — Housing 10.9% 14.9% 104,366 0.04
Charles 1 — — 6.6% 8.0% 168,710 0.03
Dorchester 6 — Housing 16.3% 22.8% 32,612 0.25
Frederick 1 — — 6.3% 7.7% 280,341 0.03
Garrett 8 — — 11.0% 13.8% 28,713 0.31
Harford 1 — — 7.0% 7.6% 262,509 0.03
Howard 1 — — 5.1% 5.5% 333,916 0.02
Kent 6 — Housing 9.5% 13.6% 19,265 0.23
Montgomery 1 — Housing 7.1% 8.4% 1,057,586 0.03
Prince George's 1 — Housing 10.2% 13.7% 955,584 0.04
Queen Anne's 1 — Housing 7.0% 8.5% 50,951 0.03
Somerset 3 — Low emp., Housing 20.1% 25.7% 24,685 0.16
St. Mary's 3 — — 7.4% 7.8% 114,372 0.10
Talbot 6 — Housing 10.2% 13.7% 37,707 0.23
Washington 2 — — 12.5% 16.1% 155,033 0.09
Wicomico 3 — Housing 14.0% 16.3% 104,117 0.13
Worcester 4 — Housing, Retire. 8.1% 11.0% 53,279 0.14

Find a food pantry in Maryland

Search Maryland's 148 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Maryland pantry directory

Maryland SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Maryland SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Maryland food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology