January 23, 2025
The 2024 Baltimore Area Survey asked 163 questions of a statistically representative sample of residents who live in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. The 2024 survey focused on four central topics: Neighborhoods and schools, local government services, food insecurity, and connectivity and mobility
Baltimore Area Survey
The Baltimore Area Survey (BAS) is an annual, representative survey of Baltimore City and County residents being run by Johns Hopkins 21st Century Cities Initiative. The BAS will help scholars, community members, and policymakers learn more about the Baltimore area’s strengths and challenges from residents.
Learn More
Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative
The Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative (BSEC) is designed to generate the science needed for informed energy investments and extreme weather resilience in Baltimore. In doing so, BSEC contributes to action plans for Baltimore that improve the well-being of residents across the region. Working with businesses, local and state government representatives, and community organizations, BSEC scientists produce the decision-relevant science needed to address local priorities and needs. As data is gathered and findings discovered, the work evolves to answer questions our partners identify.
Learn MoreStay Up to Date
Sign up for the 21st Century Cities email newsletter and be among the first to learn about new research, exciting news, and upcoming events.
Sign UpResearch
Community Exposure to Drug Overdose and Addiction in Baltimore
September 17, 2024
Our new report, based on data from the 2023 Baltimore Area Survey, offers deeper understanding of the families touched by Baltimore’s growing drug addiction epidemic. Findings show the poorest and least educated are the most affected by fatal overdoses.
February 19, 2024
The Baltimore Music Census is an anonymous, voluntary survey designed to capture key information about the local music scene. The goal of this initiative is to support local musicians, educators, venues, promoters, industry personnel, and non-profits by giving them important, up-to-date data about the city’s music ecosystem.
A Portrait of Baltimore: Results of the 2023 Baltimore Area Survey
December 5, 2023
Co-designed by Johns Hopkins researchers in collaboration with community leaders, the inaugural Baltimore Area Survey attempts to address topics important to people who live there. The survey of 1,352 city and county residents, conducted by mail this summer, focuses on issues central to how people feel about and experience living in the area.
Minority Depository Institutions: 2010–2022
May 30, 2023
Johns Hopkins 21st Century Cities Initiative partnered with the National Bankers Association to examine the state of the nation’s 147 Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), mission-driven banks that provide access to credit for marginalized communities, explore how the MDI industry has changed since 2010, identify their lending geography and coverage, discuss their potential impact, and highlight the current state of knowledge on MDIs.
Measuring Diversity in Baltimore’s Startup Ecosystem
March 28, 2023
In 2022, UpSurge Baltimore partnered with the 21st Century Cities Initiative at Johns Hopkins University to field a survey measuring diversity at the employee, leadership, and board level in Baltimore’s startup ecosystem.
News & Events
Survey of Baltimore-area residents shows slight decline in food insecurity in 2024
January 24, 2025
The number of food-insecure Baltimore-area residents declined by 7.5 percentage points between 2023 and 2024, according to a survey by Johns Hopkins. The Baltimore Area Survey (BAS) asked a group of 1,492 Baltimore City and County residents how they felt about food and transportation access, local government, schools and other aspects of life.
Hopkins survey: Fewer Black residents were food insecure in 2024, but racial disparity remains
January 23, 2025
Far fewer Baltimore-area residents experienced food insecurity in 2024 than in 2023, although food insecurity continues to disproportionately impact Black people, according to a new survey by Johns Hopkins University.
Survey shows decline in Baltimore-area food insecurity, though disparities persist
January 23, 2025
Fewer Baltimore-area residents experienced food insecurity last year than in 2023 even though researchers found profound racial disparities with hunger and access to grocery stores, according to the latest results from an annual survey by Johns Hopkins University's 21st Century Cities Initiative.
Hopkins survey: Black Baltimore-area residents less food insecure in 2024
January 23, 2025
A recent Johns Hopkins University survey found less food insecurity for Black Baltimoreans, as well as higher satisfaction with schools and local governments.
Fall 2024
If you want to know what’s on the minds of Baltimore residents, you have to ask them. They are best equipped to speak frankly about challenges, inequities, and quality of life in this city of more than 550,000 people.
Hopkins study reveals extent of opioid epidemic on Baltimore City residents
September 18, 2024
A Johns Hopkins University study reveals the extent of the opioid epidemic among Baltimore residents.