Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat is Rockville, while its most populous place is Germantown. The county is adjoined to Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area and the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. Most of the county's residents live in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Germantown, and the incorporated cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg.

The average household income in Montgomery County is the 20th-highest among U.S. counties as of 2020.

The county has the highest percentage (29.2%) of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate degrees. Like other counties in the Washington metropolitan area, the county has several U.S. government offices, scientific research and learning centers, and business campuses.

Etymology

The Maryland state legislature named Montgomery County after Richard Montgomery; the county was created from lands that had at one point or another been part of Frederick County. On September 6, 1776, in use as early as 2001.

The county's motto, adopted in 1976, is "Gardez Bien", a French phrase meaning "Watch Well". The county's motto is also the motto of its namesake's family.

History

Prior to 1688, the first tract of land in what is now Montgomery County was granted by Charles I in a charter to the first Lord Baltimore, the head of the Calvert family. The county's creation was a focus of Thomas S. Wootton who, on August 31, 1776, introduced a measure to form a new county from Frederick County, Maryland to aid area residents in simplifying their business affairs. The measure passed, creating the new political entity of Montgomery County in what was then the colonial-era Province of Maryland.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.1%) is water. Montgomery County lies entirely inside the Piedmont plateau. The topography is generally rolling. Elevations range from a low of near sea level along the Potomac River to about 875 feet in the northernmost portion of the county north of Damascus. Relief between valley bottoms and hilltops is several hundred feet. Earthquakes are rare; the most recent one, on June 24, 2024, had a 1.8 magnitude and was centered near Spencerville, Maryland.

When Montgomery County was created in 1776, its boundaries were defined as "beginning at the east side of the mouth of Rock Creek on Potomac river [sic], and running with the said river to the mouth of Monocacy, then with a straight line to Par's spring, from thence with the lines of the county to the beginning". Thunderstorms are common during the summer months, and account for the majority of the average 35 days with thunder per year. Heavy precipitation is most common in summer thunderstorms, but drought periods are more likely during these months because summer precipitation is more variable than winter.

The mean annual temperature is . The average summer (June–July–August) afternoon maximum is about while the morning minimums average . In winter (December–January–February), these averages are and . Extreme heat waves can raise readings to around and slightly above , and arctic blasts can drop lows to to . For Rockville, the record high is in 1954, while the record low is . Higher elevations in the north, such as Damascus, receive an average of of snowfall per year. During a particularly snowy winter, Damascus received during the 2009–2010 season.

Demographics

| voting_system1 = First-past-the-post

| first_election1 = November 3, 1948

| last_election1 = November 8, 2022

| next_election1 = November 3, 2026

| redistricting = Recommendations by the legislature-appointed commission, approval by legislature.

| motto =

| session_room =

| session_res =

| session_alt = 3rd Floor, Council Hearing Room

| meeting_place = Stella B. Werner Council Office Building

| website = Council Website

| constitution = Charter

| rules = Rules of Proceduce

Montgomery County was granted a charter form of government in 1948.

The present County Executive/County Council form of government of Montgomery County dates to November 1968 when the voters changed the form of government from a County Commission/County Manager system, as provided in the original 1948 home rule Charter. The County Commission/County Manager system was seen as inadequate for the growing population of the county who wanted more services assistance and accountability from the government.

The Montgomery County government had a surplus of $654million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021.

{|class="wikitable"

|+County Executive

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;"| Position

! style="text-align:center;" | Name

! style="vertical-align:bottom" | Party

! style="vertical-align:bottom" | Hometown

! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center;"| Term

| style="background-color:" | 

| 1st

| James Gleason

| style="text-align:center;" | Republican

| Rockville

| style="text-align:center;" | 1970–1978

| style="background-color:" | 

| 2nd

| Charles Gilchrist

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

|Rockville

| style="text-align:center;" | 1978–1986

| style="background-color:" | 

| 3rd

| Sidney Kramer

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| Rockville As of January 2023, all 11 members on the council are Democrats. The council meets weekly at the county seat of Rockville—the 6th Floor of the Stella B. Werner Council Office Building.

The members of the County Council as of 2026 are:

{|class=wikitable

|+County Council

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;"| Position

! style="text-align:center;" | Name

! style="vertical-align:bottom" | Affiliation

! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center;"| District

! style="vertical-align:bottom; test-aligh:center;"| Neighborhoods

! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center;"| First elected

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Andrew Friedson

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | 1

| style="text-align:center;" | Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase

| style="text-align:center;" | 2018

| style="background-color:" | 

| Vice President

| Marilyn Balcombe

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | 2

| style="text-align:center;" | Germantown, Clarksburg, Darnestown, Poolesville

| style="text-align:center;" | 2022

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Sidney A. Katz

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | 3

| style="text-align:center;" | Gaithersburg, Rockville

| style="text-align:center;" | 2014

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Kate Stewart

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | 4

| style="text-align:center;" | Downtown Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Kensington, North Bethesda, Garrett Park, North Chevy Chase

| style="text-align:center;" | 2022

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Kristin Mink

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | 5

| style="text-align:center;" | Burtonsville, Four Corners, Cloverly

| style="text-align:center;" | 2022

| style="background-color:" | 

| President

| Natali Fani-González

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | 6

| style="text-align:center;" | Wheaton, Glenmont, Aspen Hill, Derwood, Forest Glen Park

| style="text-align:center;" | 2022

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Dawn Luedtke

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | 7

| style="text-align:center;" | Damascus, Ashton, Laytonsville, Olney, Montgomery Village

| style="text-align:center;" | 2022

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Shebra Evans

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | At-large

| style="text-align:center;" | Entire county

| style="text-align:center;" | –

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Evan Glass

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | At-large

| style="text-align:center;" | Entire county

| style="text-align:center;" | 2018

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Will Jawando

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | At-large

| style="text-align:center;" | Entire county

| style="text-align:center;" | 2018

| style="background-color:" | 

| Member

| Laurie-Anne Sayles

| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic

| style="text-align:center;" | At-large

| style="text-align:center;" | Entire county

| style="text-align:center;" | 2022

The most recent Republican serving on the Montgomery County Council, Howard A. Denis of District 1 (Potomac/Bethesda), lost re-election in 2006. Since then, all Council members have been Democrats.

Law enforcement

County police

The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) provides the full spectrum of policing services to the entire county. It was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It consists of around 1,300 sworn officers and 650 support personnel, split into 6 districts throughout the county. The department also provides assistance to other nearby departments, such as the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the Prince George's County Police Department, if requested.

County sheriff's office

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) is a nationally accredited U.S. law enforcement agency and acts as the enforcement arm of the courts in the county. All of its deputy sheriffs are fully certified law enforcement officials with full authority of arrest. The office was created in July 1777 and is the oldest law enforcement agency in Montgomery County. It is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. It was nationally accredited in 1995, the first county sheriff's office in Maryland to be so. The MCSO has authorized over 165 employees consisting of sworn law enforcement officers and civilian support staff. The office is headed by the sheriff, who has been elected every four years since the 1920s. The current Sheriff is Maxwell C. Uy (D), elected in 2022. Uy is the 62nd Sheriff and the first Asian American to hold that office.

Other agencies

The cities of Rockville, Gaithersburg, Takoma Park, and Chevy Chase Village maintain their own police departments to complement MCPD. State Law Enforcement Agencies to include the Maryland State Police, Maryland Natural Resources Police, and the Maryland Park Police maintain a presence in the county as well.

Budget

Montgomery County has a budget of $2.3 billion. Approximately $1.48 billion are invested in Montgomery County Public Schools and $128 million in Montgomery College.

Bi-county agencies

Montgomery and Prince George's counties share a bi-county planning and parks agency in the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and a public bi-county water and sewer utility in the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water).

LGBTIQ+ bill of rights

In October 2020, the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed an ordinance that implemented an LGBTIQ+ bill of rights.

Liquor control

Montgomery County is an alcoholic beverage control county. Beer and wine may also be sold in private stores.

History

In December 1933, when prohibition was repealed in the United States, Montgomery County only allowed dispensaries located in Bethesda, Rockville, and Silver Spring to sell alcoholic beverages. The dispensaries then could sell beer and light wine to retailers in the county for resale. The dispensaries were not allowed to sell hard liquor for on-premises consumption. Country clubs were also allowed to sell beer and light wine for on-premises and off-premises consumption.

The first beer-and-wine license in Montgomery County was issued to Fred Salamy for Fred's Country Store. In 1961, the license was transferred to Henry J. Dietle to be used at Hank Dietle's. Hank Dietle's originally opened in 1916 as a general store named Offutt's.

Until 1964, only three restaurants in the county had liquor licenses to serve liquor by the drink. The county stopped issuing liquor licenses to all other restaurants under a law that had existed since Prohibition.

Following a voter referendum, restaurants and bars could apply for county permits to sell liquor by the drink. John J. McCarthy (D) has served as the State's Attorney since 2007.

State representation

In the Maryland House of Delegates, Montgomery County is in districts 9A, represented by Chao Wu and Natalie Ziegler; 14, represented by Bernice Mireku-North, Pamela E. Queen, and Anne Kaiser; 15, represented by David Fraser-Hidalgo, Lily Qi, and Linda Foley; 16, represented by Sarah Siddiqui Wolek, Teresa Saavedra Woorman, and Marc Korman; 17, represented by Joe Vogel, Julie Palakovich Carr, and Ryan Spiegel; 18, represented by Emily Shetty, Jared Solomon, and Aaron Kaufman; 19, represented by Charlotte Crutchfield, Bonnie Cullison, and Vaughn Stewart; 20, represented by Jheanelle Wilkins, Lorig Charkoudian, and David Moon; and 39, represented by Gabriel Acevero, Lesley Lopez, and W. Gregory Wims.

In the Maryland Senate, Montgomery County is in districts 9, represented by Katie Fry Hester; 14, represented by Craig Zucker; 15, represented by Brian Feldman; 16, represented by Sara Love; 17, represented by Cheryl Kagan; 18, represented by Jeff Waldstreicher; 19, represented by Benjamin F. Kramer; 20, represented by William C. Smith Jr.; and 39, represented by Nancy J. King.

Federal representation

In the 119th Congress, Montgomery County is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Glenn Ivey (D) of the 4th district, April McClain Delaney (D) of the 6th district, and Jamie Raskin (D) of the 8th district.

{| class=wikitable

! colspan = 6 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of June 2025:

| Democratic

| style="text-align:center" |

| Unaffiliated

| style="text-align:center" |

| Republican

| style="text-align:center" |

| Other parties

| style="text-align:center" |

! colspan = 2 | Total

! style="text-align:center" |

Montgomery County is one of the most consistently Democratic counties in Maryland. Before 1928, the County never voted Republican. In total, it has only voted Republican in eight presidential elections. The Democratic presidential candidate has won Montgomery County in every presidential election since 1988.

Transportation

Roads

thumb|right|I-270 northbound in Rockville

Poor transportation was a hindrance for Montgomery County's farmers who wanted to transport their crops to market in the early 18th century. Montgomery County's first roads, often barely adequate, were built by the 18th century.

One early road, Maryland Route 355, connected Frederick and Georgetown. There was a road, Maryland Route 190 that connected Georgetown and the mouth of the Monocacy River. Plans to continue the road to Cumberland did not come to fruition. Another road connected the Montgomery County Courthouse with Sandy Spring and Baltimore, and one other road connected the courthouse with Bladensburg and Annapolis.

The county's first turnpike was chartered in 1806, but its construction began in 1817. In 1828, the turnpike was completed, running from Georgetown to Rockville. It was the first paved road in Montgomery County. Major routes closer to its rail service area are also covered by WMATA's Metrobus service.

The county also operates a bus rapid transit (BRT) system named Flash.

The Corridor Cities Transitway is a proposed BRT line that would provide an extension of the Red Line corridor from Gaithersburg to Germantown, and eventually to Frederick County.

Rail

thumb|[[Silver Spring station in August 2017, serving the Red Line of the Washington Metro and serving Amtrak and the Brunswick line of MARC]]

Montgomery County is served by three passenger rail systems, with a fourth line under construction.

Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger rail system, operates its Capitol Limited to Rockville, between Washington Union Station and Chicago Union Station.

The Brunswick line of the MARC commuter rail system makes stops at Silver Spring, Kensington, Garrett Park, Rockville, Washington Grove, Gaithersburg, Metropolitan Grove, Germantown, Boyds, Barnesville, and Dickerson, where the line splits into its Frederick and Martinsburg branches.

Both suburban arms of the Red Line of the Washington Metro serve Montgomery County. It follows the CSX right of way to the west, roughly paralleling Route 355 from Friendship Heights to Shady Grove. The eastern side runs between the two tracks of the CSX right of way from Washington Union Station to Silver Spring, and roughly parallels Georgia Avenue, from Silver Spring to Glenmont.

The Purple Line, a light rail system, is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2027. The line will run in a generally east-west direction, connecting Montgomery and Prince George's Counties near the Beltway, with 21 stations. The Purple Line will connect directly with four Metro stations, MARC trains and Amtrak.

Air

The Montgomery County Airpark (FAA GAI, ICAO KGAI), a general aviation facility in Gaithersburg, is the major airport in the county. Davis Airport (FAA Identifier W50), a privately owned airstrip, is located in Laytonsville on Hawkins Creamery Road. Commercial air service is provided at the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National, Washington Dulles International, and BWI Airports.

Education

Education in the county is provided by Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery College and other institutions.

Montgomery County Public Schools

Elementary and secondary public schools are operated by the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). The county public school system is the largest school district in Maryland, serving about 162,000 students with 13,000 teachers and 10,000 support staff. The public school system operating budget for Fiscal Year 2019 was $2.6 billion (~$ in ).

MCPS operates under the jurisdiction of an elected board of education. Its current members are:

{| class="wikitable"

!Name || District || Term ends

|Brenda Wolff || District 5 || 2026

|Karla Silvestre || At-Large, President || 2026

|Grace Rivera-Oven || District 1 || 2026

|Shebra L. Evans || District 4, Vice President || 2024

|Lynne Harris || At-Large || 2024

|Julie Yang || District 3 || 2026

|Rebecca Smondrowski || District 2 || 2024

|Anuva Maloo || Student Member || 2026

|Thomas Taylor || Superintendent || 2028

MCPS conducted its first 'data deletion week' in 2019, purging its databases of unnecessary student information. Parents said they hoped to shield children from being held accountable in adulthood for youthful mistakes, as well as to guard them from exploitation by what one parent termed "the student data surveillance industrial complex".The district also requires tech companies to annually delete data they collect on schoolchildren. In December 2019 it said GoGuardian had sent formal certification that it had deleted its data, but the district was still waiting for confirmation from Google.

Montgomery College

The county is also served by Montgomery College, a public, open access community college that had a budget of US$315 million for FY2020. The county has no public university of its own, but the state university system does operate a facility called Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville that provides access to baccalaureate and Master's level programs from several of the state's public universities.

Montgomery County Public Libraries

The Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) system includes 23 individual libraries, and had a budget $38 million (~$ in ) for 2015.

Culture

thumb|Takoma Park Seventh-day Adventist Church

Religion

Montgomery County is religiously diverse. In 2010, Montgomery County's population, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives, was 13% Catholic, 5% Baptist, 4% Evangelical Protestant, 3% Jewish, 3% Methodist/Pietist, 2% Adventist, 2% Presbyterian, 1% Episcopalian/Anglican, 1% Mormon, 1% Muslim, 1% Lutheran, 1% Eastern Orthodox, 1% Pentecostal, 1% Buddhist, and 1% Hindu.

In 2020, Montgomery County's congregation members, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives, was 27.7% Catholic, 8.7% Evangelical Protestant, 6.1% Mainline Protestant, 3.1% Muslim, 2.5% Jewish, 1.2% Latter Day Saints, 1.1% Hindus, 0.8% Buddhist, 0.8% Orthodox Christian, 0.7% Jehovah's Witness, 0.4% Black Protestant, 0.3% Other Christian, and 0.1% Other.

Montgomery County was named the most religiously diverse county in the United States in 2023 by the Public Religion Research Institute's census.

According to the 2020 ARDA census, there are 776 religious congregations. Their tradition and adherents are listed below, however not all religious bodies reported their adherents, so they are estimates.

{| class="wikitable"

!Tradition

!Congregations

!Adherents

|Black Protestant

|19

|4,102

|Buddhist

|20

|8,489

|Catholic

|40

|293,819

|Evangelical Protestant

|504

|92,292

|Hindu

|18

|11,493

|Islam

|12

|33,394

|Jehovah's Witness

|29

|7,442

|Judaism

|47

|26,465

|Latter Day Saints

|21

|12,390

|Mainline Protestants

|171

|64,508

|Orthodox Christians

|19

|8,374

|Others (Jain, Sikh, Baha'i, Zoroastrian)

|16

|978

|Other Christians

|13

|3,226

Sports

The county was home to the National Women's Soccer League team Washington Spirit, a professional soccer team that played its home games at the Maryland SoccerPlex sports complex in Boyds. In 2021, the Spirit will play its seven home games at Audi Field, in Washington, D.C., and five home games at Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia. Starting in 2022, the team began to play games at Audi Field.

Bethesda's Congressional Country Club has hosted four Major Championships, including three playings of the U.S. Open, most recently in 2011 which was won by Rory McIlroy. The Club also hosts the Quicken Loans National, an annual event on the PGA Tour which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. Previously, neighboring TPC at Avenel hosted the Booz Allen Classic.

Sports Commentator and former adult film star Mia Khalifa emigrated to Montgomery County in 2001.

The award-winning Members Club at Four Streams is located on a former farm in Beallsville, Maryland.

The Bethesda Big Train, Rockville Express, and Silver Spring–Takoma Thunderbolts all play college level wooden bat baseball in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League.

Montgomery County is home of the Montgomery County Swim League, a youth (ages 4–18) competitive swimming league composed of ninety teams based at community pools throughout the county.

The King Farm Park in Rockville, open and accessible 24/7 without cost, provides a first-class 16-station Bankshot Playcourt, the Home Court for the Rockville based Bankshot Sports Organization advocating "Total-mix diversity based on Universal Design." Hundreds of communities provide Bankshot Playcourts mainstreaming differently-able participants in community sports. Bankshot basketball Playcourts are also at Montrose park, the JCC among other locations.

Montgomery County Agricultural Fair

thumb|right|upright|Montgomery County Fairgrounds

The Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, mounted annually since 1949 in Gaithersburg, is the largest farm show in the state. The event includes family events, carnival rides, animals, entertainment, and food. County farmers compete with displays of livestock, produce, canned and baked goods, clothing, and quilts.

Sister cities

Montgomery County maintains sister city agreements with:

Morazán Department, El Salvador
Gondar, Ethiopia
Xi'an, China
Hyderabad, India
Daejeon, South Korea

Communities

Cities

Gaithersburg
Rockville (county seat)
Takoma Park

Towns

Barnesville
Brookeville
Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase View
Chevy Chase Village
Garrett Park
Glen Echo
Kensington
Laytonsville
Poolesville
Somerset
Washington Grove

Villages

Chevy Chase, Village of, Section 3
Chevy Chase, Village of, Section 5
Martin's Additions
North Chevy Chase

Special Tax Districts

Occupying a middle ground between incorporated and unincorporated areas are Special Tax Districts, quasi-municipal unincorporated areas created by legislation passed by either the Maryland General Assembly or the county. The Special Tax Districts generally have limited purposes, such as providing some municipal services or improvements to drainage or street lighting.