The city of Cumberland, Maryland, is offering up to $20,000 to families willing to relocate there as city authorities try to attract new residents. The generous incentive is part of a limited-time pilot program by the City of Cumberland targeted at U.S. citizens and Green Card holders moving to the city from outside of Allegany County.
Nestled among the Appalachian Mountains, Cumberland is a charming historic town in northwestern Maryland, counting 18,660 residents, according to the World Population Review’s figures for this year based on the latest U.S. Census estimates. The city’s population has decreased by -1.91 percent since the previous census, which recorded a population of 10,024 in 2020, and it’s currently shrinking at a rate of -0.49 percent.
Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, or Fred, shows that the resident population of Cumberland has been plummeting since peaking in 2010 when it reached 103,176.
Newsweek reached out to the City of Cumberland for comment by email on Thursday morning.
In order to be eligible for the city’s relocation incentive, applicants must be aged 18 and over and eligible to work in the U.S. They also must have full-time remote employment, existing local employment, proof of self-employment or accepting a new job in the Cumberland area. Additionally, eligible applicants must not have a current home under contract with a local realtor.
Autumn landscape in historic Cumberland, Maryland. This Maryland city’s population has been plunging for the past 24 years. City authorities are hoping a monetary incentive offered to people willing to move there could turn the tide.
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Successful applicants must have completed a relocation package application and have it approved before moving to Cumberland and be able to move to the city within six months of being accepted. The $20,000 “welcome” package includes $10,000 relocation cash, which will be paid at closing, and up to $10,000 for approved renovations on an existing home.
Those buying a newly built home can apply for up to $10,000 at closing or as a separate check. However, the home’s value cannot be less than $150,000. That’s technically more expensive than the median price of a home in the city. According to the latest Redfin data, the median sale price of a home in Cumberland was $138,000 in July, up 36.6 percent compared to a year earlier.
There’s a catch to the City of Cumberland’s offer: applicants must purchase a home and live in it as their primary residence for no less than five years. There’s no changing your mind after you’ve taken the city’s relocation incentive: applicants who have obtained the relocation package money but spent less than five years living in their Cumberland home would have to pay the money back to the city.
If you’re interested in moving to Cumberland, you can fill out the city’s application form and email it to Ruth Davis-Rogers at ruth.davis-rogers@cumberlandmd.gov.
Cumberland’s relocation cash carrot follows in the footsteps of cities in other states that have successfully implemented similar initiatives, including Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has had 2,900 people taking its relocation incentive since 2018.
