Although officially unincorporated, it is an edge city[3] with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 census,[4] making it the fifth-most-populous place in Maryland after Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, and Waldorf.

The racial makeup of the community, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, for residents who self-identified as being members of "one race" was 45.7% White (7.8% German, 7.0% Irish, 5.7% English), 27.8% Black or African American (5.2% Ethiopian, 1.1% Haitian), 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 7.9% Asian (2.35% Indian, 1.74% Vietnamese, 1.32% Chinese, 0.63% Korean), 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 13.2% "Some Other Race" (SOR).

During the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln visited the Silver Spring mansion several times, where he relaxed by playing town ball with Francis P. Blair's grandchildren.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Metropolitan Branch opened on April 30, 1873, and ran through Silver Spring from Washington, D.C., to Point of Rocks, Maryland.

Dale Drive, a winding roadway, was built to provide vehicular access to much of the family's substantial real estate holdings.

[33] In 1924, Washington trolley service on Georgia Avenue (present-day Maryland Route 97) across B&O's Metropolitan Branch was suspended so that an underpass could be built.

The Silver Spring Shopping Center was one of the nation's first retail spaces with a street-front parking lot, defying conventional wisdom that merchandise should be in windows closest to the street so that people could see it.

The shopping center was purchased in 1944 by real estate developer Sam Eig, who helped attract large retailers to the city.

The North Washington Real Estate Company designed 63 acres to be white-only, written in its deeds to prevent the sale of land to anyone else.

"[40] In practice, covenants excluding "Semitic races" were primarily used to discriminate against Jews, as Montgomery County did not have significant Armenian, Greek, Iranian, or Turkish populations at the time.

[41] In all, housing in more than 10 square miles of greater Silver Spring was blocked off to Blacks, Jews, Armenians, Persians, Turks, and Greeks, who were considered non-white at the time.

[43][44] On August 17, 1964, the final segment of the 64-mile (103 km) Beltway was opened to traffic,[45] and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held near the New Hampshire Avenue interchange, with a speech by Gov.

The Red Line heads south to downtown DC from Silver Spring, running at grade before descending into Union Station.

The Hecht Company closed its downtown location in 1987 and moved to Wheaton Plaza while forbidding another department store to rent its old spot.

In the mid-1990s, developers considered building a mega-mall and entertainment complex called the American Dream, similar to the Mall of America, in downtown Silver Spring, but were unable to secure funding.

A bright spot for the city in the late 1980s and early 1990s was the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) consolidating its headquarters to four new high-rise office buildings near the Silver Spring Metro station.

In 2017, Discovery, Inc. CEO David Zaslav announced that the company was relocating to New York City to operate close to their "ad partners on Madison Avenue", "investors and analysts on Wall Street", and their "creative and production community".

[51] In June 2007, The New York Times noted that downtown was "enjoying a renaissance, a result of public involvement and private investment that is turning it into an arts and entertainment center".

[55] In response, Montgomery County Attorney Leon Rodriguez said that the street in question, Ellsworth Drive, "constitutes a public forum" and that the First Amendment's protection of free speech applies there.

[57][58] In May 2019, Peterson announced a $10 million renovation of the Downtown Silver Spring development that will include public art and a new outdoor plaza, featuring green space.

[59] Downtown Silver Spring hosts several entertainment, musical, and ethnic festivals, the most notable of which are the Silverdocs documentary film festival held each June and hosted by Discovery Communications and the American Film Institute, an annual Thanksgiving Day Parade (Saturday before Thanksgiving) for Montgomery County.

The venue joins the American Film Institute and Discovery Communications as cornerstones of the downtown Silver Spring's arts and entertainment district, and has featured performances by artists Prince Royce, Minus the Bear, Tyga, Wale, Schoolboy Q, Migos, and others.

Dining in Silver Spring is varied, including American, African, Burmese, Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Japanese, Moroccan, Italian, Mexican, Salvadoran, Jamaican, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Thai, Persian, Chinese, Indian, Greek, and fusion restaurants, and national and regional chains.

Silver Spring serves as the primary urban area in Montgomery County and its revitalization has ushered in an eclectic mix of people and ideas, evident in the fact that the flagship high school, Montgomery Blair High School, has no majority group with each major racial and ethnic group claiming a significant percentage.

Gandhi Brigade, a youth development media project, began in Silver Spring out of the Long Branch neighborhood.

Silver Spring Stage, an all-volunteer community theater, performs in Woodmoor, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north up Colesville Road from the downtown area.

It was relocated in June 2015 to Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street[80] as part of the Downtown Silver Spring redevelopment plan.

Silver Spring is also home to several swim teams, including Parkland, Robin Hood, Calverton, Franklin Knolls, Daleview, Oakview, Forest Knolls, Kemp Mill, Long Branch, Stonegate, Glenwood, Rock Creek, and Northwest Branch, Hillandale, and West Hillandale.

In addition to introducing numerous young athletes to the sport of rugby, PAC has also won Maryland state championships across the age groups.

After relocating to New York City in 2018, Discovery Inc. sold its former Silver Spring headquarters to Foulger-Pratt and Cerberus Capital Management, and leased a smaller space at nearby 8403 Colesville Road.