Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, bordering the northern edge of Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth-most-populous place in Maryland after Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, and Waldorf. The primary urban center of Montgomery County, Silver Spring is one of the most diverse communities in the United States — a walkable, transit-connected hub of government agencies, media companies, arts institutions, and immigrant communities just minutes from the nation’s capital.

Founding and History

Before European settlement, present-day Silver Spring had been inhabited by various indigenous peoples for about 10,000 years. Among them were the Piscataway, an Algonquian-speaking people who may have established a few villages along Sligo Creek and Rock Creek.

Silver Spring takes its name from a mica-flecked spring discovered there in 1840 by Francis Preston Blair, who subsequently bought much of the area’s surrounding land. Acorn Park, south of downtown, is believed to be the site of the original spring. Two years later, Blair completed a 20-room mansion he dubbed “Silver Spring” on a 250-acre country homestead. In 1854, Blair’s son, Montgomery Blair, who became Postmaster General under Abraham Lincoln and represented Dred Scott before the U.S. Supreme Court, built the Falkland House nearby.

The opening of the Metropolitan branch of the B&O Railroad (1873) and the Washington, Woodside, and Forest Glen Railway & Power Company (1897) allowed for more housing and commercial opportunities in the area. At the start of the twentieth century, developers of residential neighborhoods in Silver Spring often included racial restrictive covenants to bar Black residents and people of other nationalities, ethnicities, and religious backgrounds from the housing market.

The opening of the Silver Spring Shopping Center at Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road created a thriving retail environment, and by the end of World War II, Silver Spring was the second largest community in the state of Maryland. The postwar decades brought continued growth, but suburban shopping malls drew retail away from downtown Silver Spring in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving the core commercially stagnant for years. Silver Spring continued to diminish as a retail center even with the opening of the Silver Spring Metro Station in 1978. This period of time, however, created affordable housing and business opportunities that contributed to the area’s celebrated racial, social, and economic diversity.

In 2003, Discovery Communications completed the construction of its headquarters and relocated to downtown Silver Spring. The same year also brought the reopening of the Silver Theatre, as AFI Silver. This pair of openings anchored a broader downtown renaissance that transformed Silver Spring into one of the region’s most successful transit-oriented urban redevelopments. In 2005, Downtown Silver Spring was awarded the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence.

Geography

As of the 2010 census, the U.S. Census Bureau gives Silver Spring a total area of 7.92 square miles, which is all land; however, the CDP contains some creeks and small ponds. Silver Spring contains the following neighborhoods: Downtown Silver Spring, East Silver Spring, Woodside, Woodside Park, Lyttonsville, North Hills Sligo Park, Long Branch, Indian Spring, Goodacre Knolls, Franklin Knolls, Montgomery Knolls, Clifton Park Village, New Hampshire Estates, Oakview, and Woodmoor.

Four major creeks run through Silver Spring: from west to east, they are Rock Creek, Sligo Creek, Long Branch, and Northwest Branch. Each is surrounded by parks offering hiking trails, playgrounds, picnic areas, and tennis courts. Northwest Branch Park includes the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail, named after Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring and a former resident of the area.

The postal address area of “Silver Spring” is considerably larger than the CDP, encompassing communities including Wheaton, White Oak, Colesville, and others across a large swath of southeastern Montgomery County.

Demographics

Silver Spring has a 2026 population of 84,593. The median household income is $99,860 with a poverty rate of 10.64%. The median age is 35.6 years. As of 2024, 33.3% of Silver Spring residents were born outside of the United States.

Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 26.3% of the population at the 2010 census (12.3% Salvadoran, 3.71% Guatemalan, 2.83% Mexican). Silver Spring also has one of the largest concentrations of Ethiopian immigrants in the United States, contributing to an extraordinarily diverse mix of cultures, cuisines, and faith communities. Four of the ten most culturally diverse cities and towns in the U.S. are in Montgomery County, and Silver Spring ranks fourth — more culturally diverse than New York City, San Jose, and Oakland.

Government

As an unincorporated CDP, Silver Spring has no independent municipal government. It is governed by Montgomery County, whose County Council and County Executive provide all public services, zoning, and planning. The county seat is Rockville. Silver Spring falls within Maryland’s 8th congressional district. The Montgomery County government’s planning arm, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), oversees land use in the area, with the 2000 Silver Spring CBD Sector Plan having guided the community’s dramatic downtown transformation.

Economy

Silver Spring’s economy is anchored by a concentration of federal agencies, media companies, and healthcare institutions. Landmarks in the downtown area include the AFI Silver Theatre, the National Museum of Health and Medicine, a branch of The Fillmore, and the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Greater Silver Spring includes the headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the U.S.

The most common employment sectors for residents of Silver Spring are Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (7,458 people), Health Care & Social Assistance (5,692 people), and Public Administration (5,258 people). Discovery Communications (now Warner Bros. Discovery) brought thousands of media jobs to its downtown headquarters. The Paul Sarbanes Transit Center — a major bus and rail hub serving approximately 60,000 passengers daily — anchors the downtown economically by connecting the community to Washington and the broader metro area.

Education

Silver Spring serves as the primary urban area in Montgomery County and its revitalization has ushered in an eclectic mix of people and ideas, evident in the fact that the flagship high school, Montgomery Blair High School, has no majority group with each major racial and ethnic group claiming a significant percentage. Montgomery Blair is nationally known for its highly competitive Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science magnet program, consistently producing National Merit Scholars, Intel Science Fair winners, and Westinghouse award recipients.

Silver Spring is served by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), one of the largest and most highly regarded school systems in the country. Higher education options include a Montgomery College campus at Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Howard University’s School of Continuing Education campus in Silver Spring.

Culture and Landmarks

Downtown Silver Spring has emerged as one of the most successful examples of urban renewal in the Washington region. The central spine, Ellsworth Drive, is a pedestrian-friendly outdoor dining and retail corridor. Veterans’ Plaza serves as a public gathering space with a winter ice skating rink and summer concerts. The Silver Spring Civic Building hosts community events and performances year-round.

Silver Spring hosts the American Film Institute Silver Theatre and Culture Center on Colesville Road. The theatre showcases American and foreign films. The Fillmore Silver Spring, a 2,000-seat concert venue, has established the community as a destination for live music. The National Museum of Health and Medicine, tracing the history of military medicine, occupies a campus near downtown.

The community’s extraordinary cultural diversity is most visible in its restaurant scene — Ethiopian injera restaurants, Salvadoran pupuserías, Vietnamese noodle houses, Korean BBQ, Caribbean roti shops, and a dozen other cuisines crowd the commercial corridors. The Long Branch and Langley Park neighborhoods to the east are among the most Latino communities in the metro area.

The famous singer Stevie Nicks of the band Fleetwood Mac was inspired by Silver Spring — she saw a sign for Silver Spring, Maryland, and it helped her write the band’s 1977 song “Silver Springs.”

Notable People

Francis Preston Blair (1791–1876) — Newspaper editor and advisor to President Andrew Jackson who named and developed the Silver Spring area. His family’s legacy shaped the community for generations. Montgomery Blair (1813–1883) — Postmaster General under Abraham Lincoln who represented Dred Scott before the Supreme Court; Blair’s family name lives on in Montgomery Blair High School. Rachel Carson (1907–1964) — Ecologist and author of Silent Spring who lived in Silver Spring; the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail and a nearby elementary school are named in her honor. Stevie Nicks (b. 1948) — Fleetwood Mac singer who was inspired by a Silver Spring road sign to write the 1977 song “Silver Springs.” Connie Chung (b. 1946) — Broadcast journalist raised in the Silver Spring area.

At a Glance