Potomac is a medium-sized town located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 44,821 people and six constituent neighborhoods, Potomac is the 16th largest community in Maryland.

Potomac is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 97.02% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Potomac is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Potomac who work in management occupations (19.17%), sales jobs (10.80%), and business and financial occupations (9.39%).

Also of interest is that Potomac has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Potomac is also a town of artists. Potomac has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Potomac's character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their homes - 9.35% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Potomac is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates." Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness.' But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

Potomac is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The town's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Potomac's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

One downside of living in Potomac, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.50 minutes every day commuting to work.

Potomac Information and Demographics

Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Potomac, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Potomac is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 76.40% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 14.96%.

The per capita income in Potomac in 2000 was $64,875, which is wealthy relative to Maryland and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $259,500 for a family of four. However, Potomac contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Potomac is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Potomac home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Potomac is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Potomac include German, Russian, English, Irish, Italian, Polish, Eastern European, and Iranian.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Potomac's cultural character, accounting for 24.72% of the town's population.

The languages spoken by people in Potomac are also diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in Potomac is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Persian.