Laurel is a medium-sized city located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 29,400 people and 24 associated neighborhoods, Laurel is the 38th largest community in Maryland.

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

A relatively large number of people in Laurel telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 12.70% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.

Laurel, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

One downside of living in Laurel, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 33.74 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Laurel is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, taxis helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Laurel area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

The education level of Laurel ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Laurel, 45.36% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Laurel in 2022 was $45,887, which is middle income relative to Maryland, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $183,548 for a family of four. However, Laurel contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Laurel is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Laurel home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Laurel residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Laurel also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.28% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Laurel include African, Jamaican, Irish, German, and Nigerian.

Laurel also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 28.95%.

The most common language spoken in Laurel is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.