The local economy of Maryland and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data, plus daily local gas prices for the state, its counties and metro areas.
Unemployment rate
4.1%
-0.2 ptsvs a year ago
Counties: lowest Carroll County 3.0%, highest Baltimore city 5.5%.
August 2026, seasonally adjusted, preliminary
Average weekly pay
$1,676
+2.7%vs a year ago
2,700,282 jobs at 201,135 business locations.
Q1 2026, all jobs
New homes permitted
13,400
-3.7%this year vs last year
Most in Montgomery County 2,836, Prince George County 1,768.
Homes in the last 12 months, to August 2026
People moving in
-20,851
-4.3 per 1,000residents
139,190 moved in and 160,041 moved out. Most newcomers came from Virginia.
Net people, 2022 to 2023, the newest year published
Maryland gas price
$4.27
+$1.21vs a year ago
Counties: lowest Washington County $4.12, highest Allegany County $4.44. Counties and metro areas
Regular, per gallon, Maryland, October 10, 2026
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for the history of that area.
The state, its counties and metro areas, updated daily. A separate series from the weekly survey prices above.
Business locations, employees and payroll by industry, 2023. Click an industry for its US report.
Business locations
143K
+0.3%vs 2022
2023, places with paid employees
Employees
2.47M
+1.3%vs 2022
Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance (16.4%).
2023, mid-March
Annual payroll
$168.1B
Wages and salaries paid during the year.
2023, all industries
Average pay
$68,097
Highest sector: Utilities $138,759.
Per employee per year
Share of Maryland's employees, 2023
| Industry | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 197,368 | $24,833 |
| Employment Services | 129,978 | $56,058 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 99,709 | $82,418 |
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | 86,551 | $115,750 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 61,483 | $110,453 |
| Grocery Stores | 59,678 | $30,996 |
| Building Equipment Contractors | 58,126 | $80,030 |
| Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | 56,808 | $99,471 |
| Services to Buildings and Dwellings | 56,264 | $38,242 |
| Offices of Physicians | 52,191 | $99,754 |
| Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | 51,834 | $105,973 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | 44,925 | $137,450 |
Most values are changed slightly to protect the privacy of single businesses; a few are withheld and shown as a range. Counties and metro areas have the same numbers in the area card above (Industries).
Offered pay in certified work-visa filings, fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025). Click a company for its jobs and salaries.
In fiscal year 2025, employers offered a median of $109,180 a year in 6,049 certified H-1B filings for jobs in Maryland, up 1.0% from 2024 (US: $120,000). The largest job group was Software Developers. Fiscal year 2026 so far covers filings decided through Jun 30, 2026.
Median offered pay
$109,180
+1.0%vs 2024
Middle half: $88,000 to $134,077.
H-1B, fiscal year 2025
H-1B filings
6,049
-2.2%vs 2024
9,888 positions asked for.
Certified, full-time, fiscal year 2025
Top job group
$124,750
Software Developers, 1,414 filings.
Median offered pay of the largest job group
Green card jobs
$90,000
-18.4%vs 2024
1,444 PERM filings.
PERM median, fiscal year 2025
Median and middle half of the offers in Maryland, next to the US median. Hover a year for the numbers.
| Job group | Filings | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 1,414 | $124,750 |
| Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians | 362 | $128,419 |
| Data Scientists | 258 | $110,739 |
| Computer Programmers | 251 | $94,370 |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 244 | $104,416 |
| Molecular and Cellular Biologists | 215 | $90,000 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 180 | $104,000 |
| Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists | 161 | $99,500 |
| Industrial Engineers | 131 | $102,434 |
| Biochemists and Biophysicists | 118 | $91,086 |
| Employer | Filings | Cities |
|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins University | 284 | 10 |
| National Institutes of Health, HHS | 139 | 6 |
| University of Maryland College Park | 129 | 9 |
| Hughes Network Systems LLC | 126 | 4 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corp. CTSH | 111 | 22 |
| Grandison Management | 80 | 22 |
| University of Maryland Baltimore | 73 | 4 |
| T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | 70 | 3 |
| Government Employee Insurance Company (GEICO) | 66 | 20 |
| AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP | 64 | 1 |
| City | Filings | Median pay | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | 1,166 | $93,538 | $73,758 to $125,000 |
| Bethesda | 577 | $113,949 | $95,888 to $142,491 |
| Rockville | 512 | $119,911 | $95,883 to $140,000 |
| Gaithersburg | 351 | $118,664 | $90,370 to $144,707 |
| Frederick | 279 | $115,000 | $94,893 to $135,000 |
| Columbia | 273 | $104,000 | $91,582 to $125,000 |
| Germantown | 226 | $115,650 | $101,550 to $133,038 |
| Owings Mills | 189 | $119,000 | $101,421 to $126,568 |
| Silver Spring | 148 | $107,954 | $82,750 to $132,638 |
| College Park | 141 | $95,139 | $75,000 to $116,399 |
Yearly pay that employers offered in certified work-visa filings (H-1B, E-3 and PERM green card), from official public data. Pay is the lower end of the offered pay range, for full-time positions only. These are offered pay figures for positions in work-visa filings, not the pay of all employees. A filing is an offer for a position, not a hire, and one person can appear in several filings. Fiscal years run from October to September. Groups with fewer than 3 filings show counts only. Employers are ranked by filings in the cities of Maryland added up.
Declared disasters and flood insurance claims: what happened, from official public data.
Maryland has had 38 declared disasters and emergencies since 1962, 23 of them since 2000, most often Flood. Flood insurance has paid $341.2 million on 25,376 claims since 1978; the biggest year was 2003 ($175.4 million).
Declared disasters
23
17 major disasters. Most often Flood (10 since 1962).
Since 2000, all types; 38 since 1962
Flood claims paid
$59.3M
2,967 claims. Biggest year 2003 ($175.4M).
2016 to 2025, flood insurance
Policies in force
62,607
Average premium $458 a year.
2025, flood insurance policies
Most-declared county
17
Baltimore County, latest Jan 24, 2026.
Declarations since 2000
Declarations for Maryland, 1962 to today
Claims paid in Maryland by the year of the flood, US dollars
Declarations since 1962
Declarations naming the county since 2000; statewide ones not counted
All years since 1978; policies are a yearly average. Top 15 of 24.
| # | County | Claims | Paid | Policies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore County | 3,366 | $70.3M | 3,813 |
| 2 | Anne Arundel County | 2,825 | $53.1M | 6,005 |
| 3 | Baltimore City | 1,065 | $26.7M | 3,025 |
| 4 | Dorchester County | 1,142 | $21.7M | 1,574 |
| 5 | Worcester County | 2,519 | $19.5M | 30,809 |
| 6 | Howard County | 422 | $15.8M | 932 |
| 7 | Queen Anne's County | 1,073 | $15.4M | 2,359 |
| 8 | Somerset County | 1,260 | $15.1M | 1,904 |
| 9 | Cecil County | 703 | $14.3M | 982 |
| 10 | Talbot County | 677 | $14.2M | 2,138 |
| 11 | St. Mary's County | 613 | $11.2M | 1,257 |
| 12 | Calvert County | 559 | $9.59M | 838 |
| 13 | Kent County | 341 | $8.93M | 609 |
| 14 | Prince George's County | 1,158 | $7.86M | 3,346 |
| 15 | Charles County | 361 | $6.53M | 686 |
A declaration opens federal help after a disaster; it can name counties or the whole state. Flood insurance numbers count insured losses only (most homes have no flood insurance) and are not adjusted for inflation; the current year is data so far. For the flood-zone risk of a place, open the area on the real estate map.
Environmental compliance records, workplace safety inspections and greenhouse gas reports of facilities in Maryland, from official public data.
Official public data lists 9,220 facilities in Maryland with records since 2010, 9,185 of them with environmental compliance records. In 2022 to 2026, the largest penalties were at Perdue Agribusiness INC, Zion Church Road Complex in Salisbury ($16,024,500). 86 large facilities reported 14.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, down 15.2% from 2022.
Facilities with records
9,220
9,185 with environmental records.
Since 2010
Largest penalties
$16.0M
Perdue Agribusiness INC, Zion Church Road Complex, Salisbury.
One facility, 2022 to 2026
Greenhouse gases
14.6M t
-15.2%vs 2022
86 reporting facilities.
Metric tons CO2e, 2023
Largest emitter
1.86M t
Heidelberg Materials US Cement LLC, Union Bridge.
Metric tons CO2e, 2023
| Facility | Penalties | Violations |
|---|---|---|
| Perdue Agribusiness INC, Zion Church Road Complex Salisbury | $16,024,500 | 7 |
| Carolina Freight Company Elkridge | $535,000 | 0 |
| Abf Freight System, INC. Hagerstown | $535,000 | 0 |
| Potomac Water Filtration Plant Potomac | $464,800 | 7 |
| Petroleum Management INC Curtis Bay | $460,000 | 2 |
| Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Facility Baltimore | $436,600 | 8 |
| Lyons Creek Mobile Home Park WWTP Lothian | $323,081 | 0 |
| Boone'S Mobile Estate WWTP Lothian | $323,081 | 0 |
| Back River Wastewater Treatment Facility Baltimore | $310,200 | 22 |
| Patuxent Mhc, LLC Lothian | $280,000 | 0 |
| Facility | Metric tons CO2e |
|---|---|
| Heidelberg Materials US Cement LLC Union Bridge | 1,857,878 |
| Keys Energy Center Brandywine | 1,655,377 |
| Wildcat Point Generation Facility Conowingo | 1,652,500 |
| St Charles Energy Center Waldorf | 1,604,880 |
| Brandon Shore Generating Station Baltimore | 1,236,592 |
| Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG, LP Lusby | 1,152,357 |
| AES Warrior Run Cogeneration Facility Cumberland | 781,434 |
| Chalk Point Aquasco | 471,263 |
| Amrize Hagerstown Cement Plant (Formerly Holcim Ha Hagerstown | 451,528 |
| Brandywine Power Facility Brandywine | 298,669 |
Large facilities in Maryland, metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Hover a year for the number.
Their facilities in Maryland, 2022 to 2026. Click a company for its Risk & Compliance tab.
| Company | Facilities | Penalties | CO2e (t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArcBest Corporation ARCB | 1 | $535K | - |
| The Sherwin-Williams Company SHW | 3 | $20K | - |
| Constellation Energy Corporation CEG | 1 | $18K | 153K |
| The Home Depot, Inc. HD | 10 | $12K | - |
| FedEx Corporation FDX | 6 | $6,275 | - |
| The AES Corporation AES | 1 | $0 | 781K |
Official public data on environmental compliance records, workplace safety inspections and greenhouse gas reports, summarized by facility and year since 2010. A record does not mean a site is unsafe today; penalties and violations vary a lot by industry and size. Penalties are the amounts assessed (after settlements), not amounts paid. Recent years can still change.
Cost, students and graduate earnings of the colleges in the state, from official public data.
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. Daily gas prices are average pump prices for Maryland, its counties and metro areas on the day shown. The weekly gas prices in the explorer come from a separate weekly survey that publishes a price for only some states, so a state without one shows the price of its region there; the two series are never combined.
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.
Regular gasoline in Maryland averaged $4.27 per gallon on October 10, 2026, up $1.21 from a year earlier. Diesel averaged $6.37. Among its counties, Washington County had the lowest regular price ($4.12) and Allegany County the highest ($4.44).
Health Care and Social Assistance (403,945 employees), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (301,509 employees), Retail Trade (289,469 employees) were the largest sectors in Maryland in 2023. In all, 142,967 business locations employed 2,468,367 people at an average pay of $68,097 a year.
$109,180 a year was the median pay offered in 6,049 certified H-1B filings for jobs in Maryland in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), up 1.0% from 2024. The middle half of the offers ranged from $88,000 to $134,077. The US median was $120,000. These are offered pay figures in work-visa filings, not the pay of all workers.
Johns Hopkins University (284), National Institutes of Health, HHS (139), University of Maryland College Park (129), Hughes Network Systems LLC (126), Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corp. (111) had the most certified H-1B filings for jobs in Maryland in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025).
Software Developers (1,414 filings, median $124,750), Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians (362 filings, median $128,419), Data Scientists (258 filings, median $110,739) were the largest job groups in certified H-1B filings in Maryland in fiscal year 2025.
$119,911 was the median offered pay in Rockville, the highest among the Maryland cities with the most H-1B filings in fiscal year 2025 (512 filings).
$90,000 a year was the median pay offered in 1,444 certified PERM green card filings for jobs in Maryland in fiscal year 2025.
38 disasters and emergencies have been declared for Maryland since 1962, 23 of them since 2000 (17 major disasters). The most common type is Flood (10 declarations).
Baltimore County, with 17 declarations since 2000, followed by Charles County (17) and Howard County (17). Statewide declarations are not counted for single counties.
$341.2 million on 25,376 flood insurance claims since 1978. The biggest year was 2003, with $175.4 million paid on 6,581 claims. Baltimore County received the most ($70.3 million).
$458 a year in 2025, across 62,607 flood insurance policies in Maryland. Most homes have no flood insurance; the premium depends on the home's flood risk and coverage.