Arbutus is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,483 at the 2010 census. The census area also contains the communities of Halethorpe and Relay, in which all three names were used during the 1960 census when the area had a population of 22,402. Residents of Arbutus are often called Arbutians.