Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census, it is the 30th-most populous US city. Baltimore was designated as an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851, and is the most populous independent city in the nation. As of 2020, the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was 2,838,327, the 20th-largest metropolitan area in the country.