Language and ancestry
As of 2016, the most spoken languages in Maryland other than English were Spanish (9%), Chinese (1.2%), West African languages (mostly Yoruba and Igbo, 1%), French (1%), Korean (0.7%), Afro-Asiatic languages (mostly Amharic, 0.6% and Arabic, 0.4%), and Tagalog (0.6%). Other languages with a large number of speakers in Maryland include Vietnamese (0.4%), Russian (0.4%), Hindi (0.3%), Urdu (0.3%), Persian (0.3%), Nepali (0.3%), Haitian Creole (0.2%), and Telugu (0.2%).
In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Maryland's population as 17.8 percent African-American and 80.4 percent non-Hispanic White.
In 2019, non-Hispanic white Americans were 49.8% of Maryland's population (White Americans, including White Hispanics, were 57.3%), which made Maryland a majority minority state. 50.2% of Maryland's population is non-white, or is Hispanic or Latino, the highest percentage of any state on the East Coast, and the highest percentage after the majority-minority states of Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas, California, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. By 2031, minorities are projected to become the majority of voting eligible residents of Maryland. Maryland's multiculturalism and diversity can be explained by its historically large African American population, and immigration brought by the importance of the D.C. and Baltimore areas, especially from Central America, Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia.
African Americans form a sizable portion of the state's population, 31.1% as of 2020. Most are descendants of people transported to the area as slaves from West Africa. Concentrations of African Americans live in Baltimore City, Prince George's County, Charles County, western parts of Baltimore County, and the southern Eastern Shore. Charles County and Prince George's County are the two counties where African Americans are the most successful monetarily in the country, with average household incomes much higher than in the rest of the country. As a former slave state, Maryland has had a large African-American population for much of its history; African American populations have increased over time with the Great Migration to the D.C. and Baltimore areas, and in more recent times with the New Great Migration and with movement out from Washington D.C. into Montgomery, Prince George's, and Charles counties, as a result of gentrification and rising housing costs in D.C. causing many African Americans to leave. Prince George's County in particular has been a magnet for African Americans from D.C. to move to for decades; it is often referred to as "Ward 9" of D.C.
Maryland has by far the highest percentage of residents born in Africa out of any state; residents of African descent include 20th-century and later immigrants from Nigeria, particularly of the Igbo and Yoruba tribes; Ethiopia, particularly Amharas with significant Oromo and Tigrayan populations; Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Kenya. Maryland also hosts populations from other African and Caribbean nations. Maryland's African immigrant population is generally well-educated and is most concentrated in the inner suburbs of Baltimore and D.C. Nigerians are the fourth-largest immigrant group in Maryland, and are largely concentrated in the Baltimore area and surrounding suburbs, as well as Prince George's county. Many immigrants from the Horn of Africa, especially Ethiopia, have settled in Maryland, with large communities in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., particularly in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The Washington metropolitan area has the world's largest population of Ethiopians outside of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian community of Greater D.C. was historically based in the Adams Morgan and Shaw neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., but as the community has grown, many Ethiopians have settled in Silver Spring. The Ethiopian American population in Maryland and the rest of the D.C. area is largely Amharic-speaking, but there are significant numbers of speakers of Oromo and Tigrinya speakers as well. The Washington metropolitan area is also home to a large Eritrean community.
The top reported ancestries by Maryland residents are: German (15%), Irish (11%), English (8%), American (7%), Italian (6%), and Polish (3%).
Irish American populations can be found throughout the Baltimore area, and the Northern and Eastern suburbs of Washington, D.C., in Maryland, who were descendants of those who moved out to the suburbs of Washington, D.C.'s once predominantly Irish neighborhoods), as well as Western Maryland, where Irish immigrant laborers helped to build the B&O Railroad. Smaller but much older Irish populations can be found in Southern Maryland, with some roots dating as far back as the early Maryland colony. This population, however, still remains culturally very active and yearly festivals are held.
More recent European immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th century settled first in Baltimore, attracted to its industrial jobs. These groups were largely of Jewish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Russian and Ukrainian descent. The Greek community includes a number of Greek Jews.
The shares of European immigrants born in Eastern Europe increased significantly between 1990 and 2010. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, many immigrants from Eastern Europe came to the United States—12 percent of whom currently reside in Maryland.
Hispanic immigrants of the later 20th century have settled in Aspen Hill, Hyattsville/Langley Park, Glenmont/Wheaton, Bladensburg, Riverdale Park, Gaithersburg, as well as Highlandtown and Greektown in East Baltimore. Maryland has the highest percentage of residents of Central American origin of any state. Salvadorans are the largest Hispanic group in Maryland, and Maryland has the largest percentage of Salvadoran residents of any state. The D.C. area also has the highest percentage of Salvadorans of any American metro area, who are particularly concentrated in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, and has the second-highest total number of Salvadorans after the Los Angeles area. Other Hispanic groups with significant populations in the state include Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Dominicans, Peruvians, and Puerto Ricans, along with growing populations of Brazilians, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Bolivians. Maryland's Hispanic population is especially concentrated in Montgomery County and Prince George's County, with other large populations in the Baltimore area and Frederick County. Maryland has one of the most diverse Hispanic populations in the country, with significant populations from various Caribbean and Central American nations.
Caribbean Americans have a significant presence in Maryland, especially Jamaican Americans, who make up 0.6% of the population and have had a significant presence and influence in Maryland's politics and culture; Maryland's current governor, Wes Moore, is the son of a Jamaican immigrant mother. Other Caribbean American nationalities with a large population in Maryland include Dominicans, Haitians, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, and Guyanese. Caribbean Americans are most concentrated in Prince George's County, the city of Baltimore, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County. Maryland is home to nearly 17,000 Haitians, according to 2023 Census Bureau data. Roughly 4,200 live in Wicomico County, Maryland, which includes Salisbury. Trinidadians and Tobagonians are concentrated in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Prince George's County. There are growing Caribbean populations in Columbia and Waldorf.
Asian Americans are concentrated in the suburban counties surrounding Washington, D.C., and in Baltimore suburbs, especially Howard County, with Chinese American, Korean American and Taiwanese American communities in Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown. Chinese in particular form the second-largest group of Asian Americans, and are the largest group in Montgomery County. Maryland also has a large Korean American population, especially in Howard County, where there is a Koreatown in Ellicott City. Filipino Americans, the largest group of Southeast Asians, form major communities in Montgomery, Prince George's, and Charles counties; other large groups of Southeast Asians include Vietnamese, who are concentrated in Montgomery County, and Burmese, who are concentrated in Frederick, Howard, and Baltimore Counties. Maryland has a very large and diverse South Asian American population that has had a major presence in the state since the 1970s. Indian Americans are the largest Asian group in Maryland, making up 1.7 percent of the population, and live throughout the state, especially in Montgomery and Howard counties, with large numbers in Baltimore, Frederick, and Prince George's counties. The Indian American population is culturally and linguistically diverse, with the Indian languages spoken most being Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu, and Tamil. There are also large Pakistani American populations throughout the D.C. and Baltimore areas, especially in Baltimore County and Howard County, and a large Bangladeshi American community in the D.C. area. Maryland has one of the largest populations of Nepali Americans, including Bhutanese Americans of Nepali descent, in the U.S., many of whom are recent immigrants or refugees who sought asylum after expulsion from Bhutan or the 2015 Nepal earthquake; there are an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Nepalis in Maryland, concentrated in the Baltimore area with significant populations in the D.C. area. The first Nepali American elected to a state legislature, Harry Bhandari, was elected in Maryland, representing part of Baltimore County. There are three state-recognized tribes, and in 2020, 31,845 identified as being Native American alone, and 96,805 did in combination with one or more other races.
Attracting educated Asians and Africans to the professional jobs in the region, Maryland has the fifth-largest proportions of racial minorities in the country.
In 2006, 645,744 were counted as foreign born, which represents mainly people from Latin America and Asia. About four percent are undocumented immigrants.
According to The Williams Institute's analysis of the 2010 U.S. census, 12,538 same-sex couples are living in Maryland, representing 5.8 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.
Romani people are present in Maryland.
