Preston is a tiny coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 677 people and two associated neighborhoods, Preston is the 243rd largest community in Maryland. Preston has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Preston is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Preston is a town of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Preston who work in office and administrative support (7.73%), art, media, and design (7.73%), and teaching (7.73%). Of important note, Preston is also a town of artists. Preston has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Preston’s character. Also of interest is that Preston has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 19.65% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. One of the nice things about Preston is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities. As is often the case in a small town, Preston doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.The education level of Preston citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 22.55% of adults in Preston have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Preston in 2022 was $34,516, which is lower middle income relative to Maryland, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $138,064 for a family of four. However, Preston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. The people who call Preston home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Preston residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Preston include English, Irish, German, Polish, and Lebanese. The most common language spoken in Preston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Greek.
