State Overview · Census CBP 2023
Maryland Industries
Employment and payroll benchmarks for 924 industries in Maryland
Reading the Maryland Industry Picture
Maryland (MD) shows 10,248,423 workers employed across 650,213 business establishments, covering 924 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 program. That single-state footprint is a starting point for anyone benchmarking location strategy, evaluating a market for expansion, or simply understanding where jobs concentrate. The single largest employer-industry in Maryland is Health Care and Social Assistance with 403,945 workers — a signal about what kind of labor market and supplier ecosystem the state actually supports.
Beyond the top employer, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (301,509) and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (301,509) fill out the top three, giving you a quick read on the state's economic base. Payroll dispersion is just as important as headcount: the highest-paying tracked industry (Finance and Insurance) pays $229,740/yr per employee, while the lowest-paying (Educational Services) pays $10,802/yr. That gap tells you how the state's median wage is being pulled up or down by its industry composition — critical context for anyone comparing cost of labor across markets.
Census CBP data does not include profit margins (that comes from IRS Statistics of Income at the national level only), so a full benchmark on any specific NAICS code in Maryland requires combining this state page with the national industry page. Click any industry in the table below to drop into a Maryland-specific NAICS view showing employment, establishments, annual payroll, and average compensation for that exact combination — then cross-reference the national page for profitability, entity structure, and SBA lending activity in the same industry.
Total Employment
10,248,423
Total Establishments
650,213
Industries Tracked
924
Top Industries by Employment
| Industry | Employment |
|---|---|
| Health Care and Social Assistance NAICS 62 | 403,945 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services NAICS 54 | 301,509 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services NAICS 541 | 301,509 |
| Retail Trade NAICS 44 | 289,469 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management NAICS 56 | 256,840 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management NAICS 561 | 247,135 |
| Accommodation and Food Services NAICS 72 | 241,483 |
| Accommodation and Food Services NAICS 722 | 216,002 |
| Accommodation and Food Services NAICS 7225 | 197,368 |
| Accommodation and Food Services NAICS 72251 | 197,368 |
| Construction NAICS 23 | 167,451 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance NAICS 621 | 160,614 |
| Construction NAICS 238 | 118,543 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) NAICS 81 | 112,568 |
| Manufacturing NAICS 31 | 109,929 |
| Finance and Insurance NAICS 52 | 98,329 |
| Transportation and Warehousing NAICS 48 | 96,536 |
| Accommodation and Food Services NAICS 722513 | 91,593 |
| Accommodation and Food Services NAICS 722511 | 90,952 |
| Wholesale Trade NAICS 42 | 90,300 |
Frequently Asked Questions
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Industry Benchmarking Guides
Related Data from Other Sources
Salary Data
Occupation Wage Benchmarks
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Labor Market
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Tax Data
IRS Tax Statistics
Income, deduction, and filing statistics by state on PlainTaxData
Innovation
Patent Activity Data
USPTO patent grants and applications by technology class on PlainPatent
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · MD
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.