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Baltimore city, MD — Gas stations Saturation

How many gas stations exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 27 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Gas stations with a convenience store · Fuel + mart locations. Counted together because official statistics use one 447110 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.50× the U.S. rate (between 0.50× and 0.60× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 14 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 9 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Baltimore city gas stations — 50–60% of the U.S. rate

92 gas stations are counted in Baltimore city — 1.2 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 50% of the U.S. rate of 2.4.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has stayed roughly flat between 2015 and 2023 (86 → 86).

Measured supply density is highest in 21230 (Baltimore), 21215 (Baltimore), 21224 (Baltimore) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 21202 (Baltimore), 21218 (Baltimore), 21239 (Baltimore).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 97 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Baltimore city sits at 50% of the U.S. rate for gas stations. 9 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 50% and 60% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 21230 and 21215; the lowest measured density is in 21202 and 21218.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing gas stations and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Gas stations
92–120
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (14 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
1.2
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
2.4
per 10,000 present
County index
0.50×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
97
2023 — $18M annual payroll
Residents
622,980
22 ZIPs with data
Workers
291,829
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
568,271
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
−2.6%
−14,918 people
Net migration 2024
+237
international +3,516, domestic −3,279
Jobs located here
317,074
LODES 2022, −9.1% since 2019

Baltimore city had an estimated 568,271 residents on July 1, 2024 — 2.6% fewer than in 2020 (−14,918). In the latest year it gained 754 people: births minus deaths +524, international migration +3,516, domestic migration −3,279. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

317,074 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (−9.1% since 2019), and 230,798 employed residents lived there (−10.3% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant increase.

ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
21205 Baltimore
−19.9%
21215 Baltimore
−10.4%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes gasoline stations only as a broader 2022 grouping (NAICS 4571) that also includes other fuel retailers, so a convenience-store-gas-station-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more gas stations in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 0% since 2015

Number of gas stations in Baltimore city across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

86
2015
89
2018
85
2020
93
2021
88
2022
86
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
21230 Baltimore
136%
21215 Baltimore
97%
21224 Baltimore
93%
21231 Baltimore
85%
21211 Baltimore
82%
21212 Baltimore
70%
21229 Baltimore
68%
21225 Brooklyn
57%
21206 Baltimore
50%
21239 Baltimore
42%
21218 Baltimore
38%
21202 Baltimore
31%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
21202 Baltimore
31%
21218 Baltimore
38%
21239 Baltimore
42%
21206 Baltimore
50%
21225 Brooklyn
57%
21229 Baltimore
68%
21212 Baltimore
70%
21211 Baltimore
82%
21231 Baltimore
85%
21224 Baltimore
93%
21215 Baltimore
97%
21230 Baltimore
136%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few gas stations may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersGas stationsIndex
21201Baltimore Employment hub 18,30737,672 3 34%

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = gas stations per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersGas stations Per 10kIndexStatus
21230Baltimore 32,97726,828 15 3.2 136% Above average
21215Baltimore 52,22916,859 14 2.3 97% Below average
21224Baltimore 47,46540,767 15 2.2 93% Below average
21231Baltimore 14,9699,784 4 2.0 85% Below average
21211Baltimore 14,96911,403 4 1.9 82% Below average
21212Baltimore 33,9744,545 6 1.7 70% Below average
21229Baltimore 46,6796,019 8 1.6 68% Below average
21225Brooklyn 34,0626,117 5 1.3 57% Below average
21206Baltimore 48,9023,412 6 1.2 50% Far below average
21239Baltimore 27,3465,093 3 1.0 42% Far below average
21218Baltimore 44,01444,841 6 0.9 38% Far below average
21201Baltimore 18,30737,672 3 0.8 34% Far below average
21202Baltimore 20,68340,356 3 0.7 31% Far below average
21203Baltimore —1,629 0–2 — — Not published
21205Baltimore 13,0137,359 0–2 — — Not published
21209Baltimore 30,1269,386 0–2 — — Not published
21210Baltimore 14,1346,438 0–2 — — Not published
21213Baltimore 28,0583,126 0–2 — — Not published
21214Baltimore 21,0922,295 0–2 — — Not published
21216Baltimore 29,4261,172 0–2 — — Not published
21217Baltimore 30,7923,648 0–2 — — Not published
21223Baltimore 19,5724,507 0–2 — — Not published
21233Baltimore 023 0–2 — — Not published
21235Baltimore —83 0–2 — — Not published
21251Baltimore 191202 0–2 — — Not published
21278Baltimore —15 0–2 — — Not published
21287Baltimore 011,017 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Baltimore

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Baltimore retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Baltimore retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Baltimore retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Baltimore city and gas stations

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 447110 — gasoline stations with convenience stores. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 97 establishments and $18M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (2.37 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.