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is a city in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Incorporated in 1870, the city maintains a historic district including its Main Street. The official 2007 population estimate for Laurel city was 21,619; adding the residents in Laurel's postal zip codes outside city limits, the population was 87,810 as of the 2000 census.
Laurel is near Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, the Fort Meade Army base, and the National Security Agency (NSA). It is also adjacent to Laurel Park Racecourse, a horse racetrack in Anne Arundel County.
Laurel is located at . This positions it on the bank of the Patuxent River, which was the power source for the cotton mills that were the early industry of the town.
Though the incorporated portion of Laurel is bounded entirely within the northern tip of Prince George's County, the larger area generally known by locals as Laurel spreads eastward into Anne Arundel County, northward into Howard County, and west toward (though not into) Montgomery County.
The ZIP Codes for the community of Laurel are 20707 through 20709 and 20723 through 20729. Although served by the Laurel post office, Montpelier is not within the city limits; the same is true for the unincorporated communities of Scaggsville and Whiskey Bottom in Howard County, and Maryland City and Russett in Anne Arundel County.