MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

ECONOMY

EMPLOYMENT

[photo, Baltimore Farmers' Market, Holliday St. and Saratoga St., Baltimore, Maryland]
  • Job Fairs
  • Local Employment Agencies
  • Maryland Workforce Exchange

    • Baltimore Farmers' Market, Holliday St. & Saratoga St., Baltimore, Maryland, November 2007. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    Employers

    Job Service

    State Jobs

    Unemployment Insurance

    Unemployment Rates

    Wages

    Workforce

    [photo, Window washers, St. Agnes Hospital, Catonsville, Maryland] In Maryland, State agencies concerned with employment (including unemployment insurance & job-seeker assistance) are the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning, the Division of Unemployment Insurance, and the Division of Labor and Industry. Each is part of the Maryland Department of Labor.

    Information about employment within State government agencies is available from the Office of Personnel Services and Benefits of the Department of Budget and Management. Those agencies employing the most workers include the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; the Department of Transportation; the Maryland Department of Health; and the Department of Human Services.

    Window washers, St. Agnes Hospital, Catonsville, Maryland, April 2011. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    In 2020, Maryland ranked fourth in the Milken Institute's State Technology and Science Index. The rankings are based on five categories: human capital investment; research and development inputs; risk capital and entrepreneurial infrastructure; technology and science workforce; and technology concentration and dynamism.

    According to CompTIA’s Cyberstates 2021 report, Maryland ranked seventh for concentration of tech jobs in the total workforce with 297,993 workers, 10.7% of overall employment. In salaries, Maryland technology job workers earned an annual average salary of $100,865.

    [photo, Under Armour Global Headquarters, 1020 Hull St., Baltimore, Maryland] [photo, Under Armour headquarters, Baltimore, Maryland]

    EMPLOYERS

  • Major Employers by State & County

    • Under Armour Global Headquarters (left), 1020 Hull St., Baltimore, Maryland, June 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
    Under Armour Headquarters (right), 1020 Hull St., Baltimore, Maryland, April 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    [photo, Domino Sugar plant and cargo ship, Baltimore, Maryland] In 2020, there were nearly 2.52 million workers. Approximately 2,036,351, or 81%, of those working in Maryland were employed by the private sector. Federal, State, county and municipal government employees in Maryland numbered 480,385, or 19% of the workforce. Of these, 149,350 were federal workers, 97,336 worked for State government, and 233,698 were employed by county and municipal governments.


    Domino Sugar plant and cargo ship, Baltimore, Maryland, April 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    [photo, DAP world headquarters, Baltimore, Maryland] In Maryland are over 350 federal, academic, and private research centers, 20 military facilities, more than 60 federal civilian agencies, and 75 federal laboratories (twice the number of any other state). The Department of Defense employs more than 400,000 workers with over $20 billion in total wages. Fort George G. Meade is the largest employer in Maryland with over 50,000 employees, the third largest workforce of the Army's facilities. The military industry generates more than $57 billion and constitutes 17% of Maryland's total output.

    Maryland is home to 15 of the nation's top 20 aerospace and defense firms. More than 10,000 aerospace and defense contractors in Maryland generate over $39 billion each year. Per capita, Maryland ranks first for research and development (R&D) federal obligations worth over $17.7 billion.


    DAP world headquarters, Baltimore, Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    In 2021, the Salisbury Regional Airport opened the East Coast's first Unmanned Aircraft Aerial Systems (UAS) hangar. The Naval Air Station Patuxent River along with its Webster Field Annex are some of the nation's most important UAS sites. The University of Maryland has a test facility for UAS commercialization, which could create 2,500 jobs and $2 billion by 2025.

    In 2020, Maryland had 176,000 businesses with an annual payroll of over $173 billion. In Maryland are corporate headquarters for such well-known businesses as McCormick, Lockheed Martin, Under Armour, DAP, Phillips Seafood, T. Rowe Price, and Goetze's Candy.

    The largest private employers in Maryland in 2021 were The Johns Hopkins University and The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System; the University of Maryland; and the University of Maryland Medical System. Financial services is a growing sector in the Maryland economy. Brokerage firms, insurers, and other financial companies maintain their home operations or a significant presence in the State.

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