How many people are employed in Maryland?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Maryland has 2,458,634 employees across 142,574 business establishments in 842 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Maryland?

The largest industries in Maryland by employment are Limited-Service Restaurants (91,593), Full-Service Restaurants (90,952), and Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices (60,255).

What is the average payroll in Maryland?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Maryland. The highest-paying tracked industry is Investment Advice at $229,740/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Maryland?

Maryland has 142,574 business establishments across 842 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · MD · Census CBP 2023

Maryland Industry Benchmarks

Name: Maryland Industry Employment and Payroll Benchmarks
Creator: PlainBizBench
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 842 industries in Maryland. Drill into any industry for a Maryland-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

2.5M
Workers: 143K
Establishments: 842
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Maryland

Maryland employs 2,458,634 workers across 842 tracked industries, led by Limited-Service Restaurants (91,593 workers).

No single sector dominates Maryland (lead 16%; top-three 40%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Maryland sector employment mix

Share of private-sector employment by NAICS-2 sector (Census CBP 2023). Tile area = workers.

Maryland private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Maryland spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 16% of 2,458,634 private-sector workers (about the 57th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

MD breadth ledger · HHI 0.093
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	403,945	16%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)	301,509	12%
Retail Trade (44)	289,469	12%
Top-three cumulative 40% - no single NAICS-2 block dominates.

Profit margins are national (IRS SOI); open any industry row below, then the matching national industry page for profitability.

Census CBP firm roll

County Business Patterns MD DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#22/51 · 2,458,634 workers · 142,574 firms

EMP 2,458,634
EST 142,574
RANK #22/51
PCT 57th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 16% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 17.2 /firm
BOOK 842 NAICS
PHOTO Colorado

Nearest employment-scale peer: Colorado (2,555,107 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Maryland ranks #22 of 51 states and territories by total private-sector employment (level-2 sector totals, the same non-double-counted aggregate shown above). Margins stay on national industry pages (IRS SOI). Read with this state → · Lead 6-digit industry →

Census CBP level-2 private employment among this state and nearest nationwide peers

Top Industries by Employment

Industry	Employment	Establishments	Annual Payroll	Avg Payroll/Emp
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	91,593	5,487	$2.0B	$21,867/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	90,952	3,803	$2.6B	$28,235/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	60,255	1,058	$6.7B	$110,846/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	54,282	1,256	$1.7B	$31,763/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	49,992	3,756	$5.0B	$100,490/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	45,021	1,493	$4.9B	$109,806/yr
Custom Computer Programming Services NAICS 541511	36,724	2,176	$4.4B	$119,787/yr
Computer Systems Design Services NAICS 541512	36,048	2,327	$4.1B	$113,951/yr
Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services NAICS 541611	34,791	2,466	$3.5B	$99,381/yr
Professional Employer Organizations NAICS 561330	32,592	62	N/A	N/A
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	31,862	1,436	$939.2M	$29,477/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	29,326	1,986	$2.3B	$77,068/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	27,369	3,355	$917.4M	$33,519/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	25,288	1,444	$2.0B	$79,644/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	24,627	337	$1.2B	$48,169/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	24,578	442	$1.2B	$49,915/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	24,546	750	$960.4M	$39,126/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	23,711	636	$850.4M	$35,864/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	23,572	379	$1.9B	$80,834/yr
Security Guards and Patrol Services NAICS 561612	22,089	288	$710.1M	$32,147/yr

Breadth peers near Maryland's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (2,458,634 in Maryland), excluding MD.

Colorado 2,555,107 Indiana 2,573,310 Wisconsin 2,574,604 Missouri 2,611,057 Washington 2,749,118 Minnesota 2,788,620 South Carolina 2,054,515 Arizona 2,864,269

Disclaimer: Maryland (MD) figures on this page are Census CBP employment and payroll counts for informational registry use only, not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant for decisions about Maryland businesses.

Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · MD

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Maryland (MD). See our methodology.

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau → · Verify with IRS SOI →