Rankings

Workforce

Maryland has the highest concentration of employed doctoral scientists and engineers. The state ranks first in employed PhD scientists and engineers per 100,000 employed workers. Maryland also ranks first in mathematical sciences (71), first in biological sciences (398), first in health (63), and third in physical sciences (197) per 100,000 employed workers.¹
Maryland ranks second in the percentage of professional and technical workers (26.1%) in the workforce.²
Maryland ranks second in the percentage of the population age 25 and above with a bachelor's degree or higher (36.9%) and second also in the percentage with a graduate or professional degree (16.5%).³
Maryland ranks fourth in the concentration of technology jobs, which employ 87 of every 1,000 private sector workers. Further, the state ranks fourth by employment in space and defense systems manufacturing, sixth in computer systems design, and eighth in engineering services.⁴
Maryland ranks fourth in federal government employment, with 144,499 non-military federal jobs in 2011. On a per capita basis, the state ranks second with 248 jobs per 10,000 residents. Non-military federal jobs generate $13.4 billion in total wages in Maryland, ranking fourth among the states. Further, these jobs pay better in Maryland than in any other state, with an average annual wage of $93,068, which is 27% higher than the national average. ⁵

Research & Development

Johns Hopkins University ranks first among U.S. colleges and universities in total National Institutes of Health awards, including grants and contracts for research, development, training and fellowships ($645 million). ⁶
Maryland ranks first in National Institutes of Health research and development contract awards ($656 million). ⁷
Johns Hopkins University ranks first among academic institutions in the nation in research and development expenditures, totaling $2.15 billion in FY 2011. The university also ranks first in federally funded research ($1.88 billion).⁸
Maryland ranks second in federal obligations for research and development ($15.8 billion). On a per capita basis, Maryland ranks first among the states in federal R&D obligations.⁹
Maryland ranks second in research and development intensity, which is the ratio of R&D expenditures to gross domestic product (GDP) by state. Maryland ranks fourth in total R&D performance, first in federal intramural R&D, and fourth in R&D performed at universities and colleges. ¹⁰

Entrepreneurship

Maryland holds the following rankings for women and minority business ownership:

First in the percentage of women-owned firms as a share of all firms (32.6%); and sixth in the percent of women-owned firms with employees (7.4%)
Second in the percentage of African American-owned firms as a share of all firms (19.3%); first in the percent of African American-owned firms with employees (2.1%); and seventh in the total number of African American owned firms (102,130)
Seventh in the percentage of Asian-owned firms as a share of all firms (6.8%); and first in the percent of Asian-owned firms with employees (3.2%)
12th in the percentage of Hispanic-owned firms as a share of all firms (4.9%); and 13th in the percent of Hispanic-owned firms with employees (1.1%) ¹¹

Maryland ranks fifth per capita and seventh overall in Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) awards. Small businesses in Maryland received $94 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration in FY 2011 through the highly competitive SBIR Program (equating to $16.15 per capita).¹²
The Washington DC metro (which includes parts of Maryland) ranks second among metros with 347 companies on Inc. magazine’s list of the 5000 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. Among states, Maryland ranks eighth with 20 companies in the top 500, and 11th with 161 companies in the top 5000. Ranked by number of companies per capita, Maryland ranks fourth for both the Inc. 500 and 5000.¹³
The Baltimore metropolitan area ranks second among metro areas with a population of one million or more in Forbes' ranking of "Best Cities for Minority Entrepreneurs." The ranking is based on housing affordability, population and income growth, and entrepreneurship.¹⁴

New Economy

Maryland maintained its second place ranking in the Milken Institute’s State Technology and Science Index for 2010. According to study results, Maryland received high rankings in human capital investment, research and development inputs, technology and science workforce, and technology concentration and dynamism. The Index provides measurements of the technology and science assets for states, ranking them on their ability to foster and sustain a technology sector, which research has shown is a crucial factor in determining a region's future economic success. The previous study was conducted in 2008.¹⁵
Maryland ranks fifth in the 2012 State New Economy Index a measure of a state’s economy as knowledge-based, globalized, entrepreneurial, information technology-driven and innovation-based.¹⁶
Baltimore metro ranks sixth and Washington DC, which includes parts of Maryland, ranks second in a Forbes ranking of the best cities for tech jobs, based on growth of science and technology-related employment.¹⁷
Maryland ranks fifth among the states in the square footage of LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita. By using less energy, LEED buildings save money for businesses and taxpayers; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for workers and the larger community .¹⁸
Baltimore ranks eighth in Forbes’ 2010 list of America’s Most Wired Cities for internet broadband adoption, the range of internet service providers, and the availability of public wireless hot spots.¹⁹

Government & Business Support

Maryland is one of only nine states with a “triple triple” general obligation bond rating from the three major bond rating houses—Maryland has the longest running Triple-A rating with a “stable” outlook from Standard & Poor’s, dating back to 1961.²⁰
According to a study on business taxes by Ernst & Young, Maryland businesses pay the second lowest share of state and local taxes, with business taxes accounting for 33.3% of total taxes collected in the state, compared with 47.9% for the national average. Further, Maryland ranks sixth nationally in state and local business taxes as a share of private sector GSP. Maryland has a total effective business tax rate of 3.8% on economic activity compared with 5.0% for the U.S. as a whole.²¹
In the 2012 Business Facilities Ranking Report, Maryland ranks second overall among the states in education climate, Baltimore ranks sixth among large metros for low cost of business and tenth for economic growth potential, and Frederick, Maryland ranks ninth in economic growth potential among smaller metros.²²
In the 2013 Enterprising States study which looks at how states are creating an environment in which the private sector can thrive, Maryland ranks first in “Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” third in the human capital "Talent Pipeline," and ninth in "Growth and Economic Performance."²³
Maryland ranks second in per capita procurement of goods and services ($4,594 per Maryland resident) and fourth in total procurement of goods and services ($26.5 billion); third in per capita total expenditures, which includes procurement, salaries, wages and grants ($16,673 per Maryland resident), and ninth in total expenditures ($96.3 billion); and fifth in per capita Defense Department expenditures ($3,235 per Maryland resident), and sixth in total Defense Department expenditures ($18.7 billion).²⁴
Among U.S. cities with populations exceeding two million, Baltimore ranks sixth for its favorable business cost structure according to a study by KPMG International. Among 44 large international cities studied, Baltimore ranks 12th overall.²⁵
According to fDi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times, Baltimore ranks fourth among major cities for the quality of its infrastructure. ²⁶

Education

According to Quality Counts, Education Week’s annual assessment of key indicators of student success, Maryland’s K-12 public school system ranks first for the fifth year in a row. Maryland scores particularly well in “Transitions and Alignment,” which assesses how well states smooth the transition through the educational pipeline, including early-childhood education, college readiness, and the economy and workforce.²⁷
Maryland is home to 15 higher education institutions designated by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance education and research, more than any other state in the nation.²⁸
For the seventh year in a row, Maryland ranks first in the percentage of public high school graduates who scored at the mastery level on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, with 29.6 percent earning a score of 3 or higher in 2012. The state also ranks first in the percentage of graduates taking AP tests in math and science. Further, Maryland leads the nation in the change in the percentage of graduates who scored 3 or higher, increasing 13.1 points over ten years.²⁹
According to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges survey, Johns Hopkins University holds the following rankings:
o 13th overall among top national universities that offer doctoral degrees
o third among top research medical schools
o first in both undergraduate and graduate biomedical engineering
o first in nursing
o first in graduate public health ³⁰
According to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges survey, the University of Maryland, College Park holds the following rankings:
o top ten rankings in undergraduate management information systems and supply chain management/logistics, and in graduate information systems
o top ten in graduate atomic/molecular/optical physics, condensed matter, plasma physics and quantum physics
o top ten in undergraduate aerospace engineering
o first in graduate criminology³¹
Other Maryland colleges/universities that rank highly in the U.S. News and World Report survey include:
o The University of Maryland Baltimore County ranks first among up-and-coming national universities
o The United States Naval Academy ranks first among top public liberal arts colleges in the nation
o St. Mary's College of Maryland ranks fifth among top public liberal arts colleges in the nation³²
The University of Maryland, College Park places fifth in a Kiplinger ranking of the 100 best values among public college for 2013 based on a combination of academics and affordability. Four other Maryland public institutions also make the top 100, including St. Mary’s College, Salisbury University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Towson University. 33

Income & Wealth

Maryland has the highest median household income for 2011 at $70,004, which is 39% above the national median.³⁴
Maryland has the second lowest poverty rate for 2011, with 10.1% of the population living in poverty, compared with 15.9% for the U.S. as a whole.³⁵
Maryland is home to three of the top 15 counties in the nation for median household income. Howard County ranks fifth ($98,953), Montgomery 10th ($92,909), and Charles 11th ($91,733).³⁶
Among combined metro areas in the U.S., the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia Combined Statistical Area (CSA) ranks third in total Effective Buying Income, with $242 billion. The CSA ranks fourth in total retail sales ($137 billion), and is home to 8.3 million residents.³⁷

Quality of Life

Johns Hopkins Hospital ranks second in the U.S. News honor roll of best hospitals in the nation, demonstrating outstanding competence in fifteen specialties. Furthermore, Hopkins ranks highly among children's hospitals, with excellence in three pediatric specialties.³⁸
Maryland ranks fifth in active physicians per 100,000 population, with over 20,000 doctors statewide.³⁹
Baltimore ranks first among "Top Cities for Hospital Care." HealthGrades identified hospitals performing in the top five percent nationwide across 26 different medical procedures and diagnoses, and then ranked cities by the highest percentage of distinguished hospitals for clinical excellence.⁴⁰
Columbia/Ellicott City, Maryland is ranked eighth among America’s “Best Places to Live” in the CNN/Money magazine 2012 ranking of small cities. The area is cited for its diverse population, reasonable housing costs, good schools, and miles of hiking trails. Waldorf, Gaithersburg and Germantown, Maryland also placed in the top 25 in the ranking of small cities. ⁴¹