The local economy of Maryland and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
4.1%
August 2026, 4.3% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,676
Q1 2026, 2,700,282 jobs
New homes permitted
13,400
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
-20,851
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Maryland, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Maryland is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Maryland was 4.1% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.3% a year earlier. 3,069,927 people were employed out of a labor force of 3,199,779. Among its counties, Carroll County had the lowest rate (3.0%) and Baltimore city the highest (5.5%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Maryland was $1,676 in Q1 2026, up 2.7% from a year earlier, across 2,700,282 jobs at 201,135 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 967 new homes in Maryland in August 2026 (571 single-family and 376 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 9,616, down 3.7% from the same months last year, and 13,400 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Montgomery County (2,836), Prince George County (1,768), Anne Arundel County (1,585) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 139,190 people moved to Maryland and 160,041 moved away, a net loss of 20,851 (-4.3 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Virginia, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and most people who left went to Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for Maryland. In its region, Central Atlantic, regular gasoline averaged $4.41 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.