Small Business in Maryland

Employer Firms
Fewer than 500 employees (SBA definition of a small business):

·    In Maryland, small businesses comprise 97.7% of all employers and employ 52.4% of the private sector workforce. 
o   Of the 112,392 employer firms, 109,693 have fewer than 500 employees.
o   These firms employ employ almost 1.2 million workers (1,159,495).
o   These firms have an annual payroll of approximately $47 billion, 48 percent of the total payroll of employer firms in the state.

Nonemployer Business
No paid employees, and receipts of $1,000 or more:

·     Most nonemployers are self-employed sole proprietors operating unincorporated businesses.
·     In 2008 Maryland had 416,970 establishments without employees, 79% of all firms.
·     Maryland nonemployer firms had sales of over $17.7 billion in 2008.
·     Largest sectors are professional, scientific and technical services (17%), other services (12%), real estate (11%), health care (11 %) and construction (10%).

Microenterprises
Five or fewer people and a net worth of no more than $100,000 (Many microenterprises are sole proprietorships):

·     88% of small businesses in Maryland are microenterprises.

Business Ownership by Ethnicity and Gender (Includes all business sizes.)

According to the 2007 Economic Census on Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses:

·    164,253 firms are owned by minorities and 172,221 are owned by women.

• 18,231 women-owned firms with payroll, employing 165,348 workers.
• These same firms had sales of over $18.3 billion and a payroll of $5.4 billion.

·     102,130 African American businesses with total sales of $6.8 billion.

• 5,247 firms with paid employees, employing 46,103 workers, sales of $4.6 billion, and payroll of $1.6 billion.
• 96,884 firms with no paid employees had sales of $2.1 billion.

·     25,746 Hispanic American businesses with total sales of $4.4 billion.

• 3,191 firms with paid employees, employing 25,541 workers, sales of $3.5 billion and payroll of $1.0 billion.
• 22,555 firms with no paid employees had sales of $886 million.

·     35,981 Asian American businesses with total sales of $11.4 billion. 

• 9,539 firms with paid employees, employing 71,892 workers, sales of $10.4 billion and payroll of $2.3 billion.
• 26,442 firms with no paid employees had sales of $1.1 billion.