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 (60), first in biological sciences (367), first in health (66), and third in physical sciences (193) per 100,000 employed workers.¹
Maryland ranks second in the percentage of professional and technical workers (25.4%) in the workforce.²
Maryland ranks second in the percentage of the population age 25 and above with a graduate or professional degree (15.4%), and fourth in the percentage with a bachelor’s degree or higher (35.2%).³
The Washington DC metro area ranks second in Expansion Management magazines Knowledge Worker Quotient, which identifies metro areas with the best educated work force. Baltimore is rated a 5-Star knowledge worker metro in the ranking, and both Baltimore and Washington DC are in the top ten metros for university R&D spending.⁴
Maryland ranks sixth in federal government employment, with 124,952 non-military federal jobs in 2007. On a per capita basis, the state ranks third with 222 jobs per 10,000 residents. Non-military federal jobs generate $10.2 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 $81,624, which is 26% 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 ($607 million). ⁶
Maryland ranks first in National Institutes of Health research and development contract awards ($757 million).⁷
Johns Hopkins University ranks first among academic institutions in the nation in research and development expenditures, totaling $1.68 billion in FY 2008. The university also ranks first in federally funded research ($1.43 billion).⁸
Maryland ranks second in federal obligations for research and development ($11.6 billion). On a per capita basis, Maryland ranks first among the states in federal R&D obligations.⁹
Maryland ranks third in research and development intensity, which is the ratio of R&D expenditures to gross domestic product (GDP) by state. Maryland ranks ninth in total R&D performance, first in federal intramural R&D, sixth in state government 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 second per capita and fourth overall in Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) awards. Small businesses in Maryland received $102 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration in FY 2009 through the highly competitive SBIR Program (equating to $17.92 per capita).¹²
The Washington-Baltimore metro area ranks sixth among “Hot Cities for Entrepreneurship” based on entrepreneurial activity that includes small business growth and job growth. Among states, Maryland ranks ninth for entrepreneurship.¹³
For the seventh consecutive year, the Washington DC metro (which includes parts of Maryland) ranks first among metros with 42 companies on Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. Among states, Maryland ranks seventh with 20 companies in the top 500, and fourth per capita with 3.6 companies per million residents.¹⁴
Among large metros, Baltimore ranks as the tenth best place to launch a small business. The ranking is based on features that entrepreneurs need to thrive, including growing economies, affordable workers, and stable housing markets.¹⁵

New Economy

Maryland ranks second in the Milken Institute’s State Technology and Science Index for 2008. According to study results, Maryland received high rankings on human capital investment, research and development inputs, technology concentration and dynamism, technology and science workforce, and risk capital and entrepreneurial infrastructure.¹⁶
Maryland ranks third in the 2008 State New Economy Index a measure of a state’s economy as knowledge-based, globalized, entrepreneurial, information technology-driven and innovation-based.¹⁷
Maryland has the fourth largest cluster of biotechnology companies in the U.S.¹⁸
In the 2009 Business Facilities Ranking Report, Maryland ranks second in educated, skilled workforce, fifth in biotechnology strength, workforce health and safety, and quality of life, and seventh in number of financial incentives for renewable energy.¹⁹
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.²⁰

Government & Business Support

Maryland is one of only eight 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 1961.²¹
According to a recent study on business taxes by Ernst & Young, Maryland businesses pay the lowest share of state and local taxes. Maryland business taxes account for 32.1% of total taxes collected in the state, compared with 44.4% for the national average.²²
In a study by Good Jobs First, a national policy resource center, Maryland ranks first for its ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) website. The study ranks states on the effectiveness of their websites in conveying information about categories of stimulus spending, as well as their geographic distribution and employment impact.²³
Maryland ranks fourth among the states in growing jobs according to the Enterprising States study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber Foundation. Maryland’s commitment to advanced technology, defense systems and health sciences led to its top ranking in the study which highlights how state and local policies play a vital role in spurring job creation and economic development.²⁴
Maryland ranks tenth in total federal government expenditures ($77.9 billion) and second per capita ($13,829); fourth in federal government procurement ($25.6 billion) and second per capita ($4,544); and fifth in Defense Department expenditures ($17.3 billion) and fifth per capita ($3,070).²⁵
Among U.S. cities with populations exceeding two million, Baltimore ranks fourth for its favorable business tax structure according to a study by KPMG International. Among 41 large international cities studied, Baltimore ranks 14th overall.²⁶
Baltimore's Foreign Trade Zone is ranked the fourth best port-related foreign trade zone in the world by fDi Magazine, which is produced by The Financial Times. The magazine analyzed 700 economic zones and, using criteria such as economic potential, promotional strategy, facilities and transportation, ranked Baltimore fourth under the "Best Port Zone" category for 2010-2011. ²⁷

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 second consecutive year.²⁸
For the second year in a row, Maryland ranks first in the percentage of 2009 public high school graduates who scored at the mastery level on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, with 24.9 percent earning a score of 3 or higher. Further, Maryland ranks second in the percentage of graduating seniors who took an AP exam, and was the first state in history to have 40 percent of seniors take at least one AP test. Maryland also ranks second in the percentage growth of seniors scoring at the mastery level between 2004 and 2009.²⁹
Newsweek ranks Maryland first in its 2009 Challenge Index, which identifies the most challenging public high schools in the U.S. based on enrollment in college-level courses. Maryland ranks first in both the percentage of schools that made the Newsweek list of top high schools (29.5%), and the percentage of high school students attending these schools (31.6%).³⁰
According to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges survey, Johns Hopkins University holds the following rankings:
o 14th 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 graduate public health ³¹
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 sixth in graduate business information systems
o top ten in graduate artificial intelligence, atomic/molecular/optical physics, nuclear physics, plasma physics and quantum physics
o top ten in graduate and undergraduate aerospace engineering
o first in graduate criminology³²
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 St. Mary’s College of Maryland ranks fourth among top public liberal arts colleges in the nation
o The United States Naval Academy ranks second in the nation among top public liberal arts colleges³³

Income & Wealth

Maryland has the highest median household income for 2008 at $70,545, which is 36% above the national median.³⁴
Maryland has the second lowest poverty rate for 2008, with 8.1% of the population living in poverty, compared with 13.2% for the U.S. as a whole.³⁵
Maryland is home to four of the top 25 counties in the nation for median household income. Among counties with a population of 20,000 or more, Howard County ranks third ($101,710), Montgomery tenth ($93,999), Calvert 13th ($89,049) and Charles 21st ($86,586).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 $237 billion. The CSA ranks fourth in total retail sales ($153 billion), and is home to 8.3 million residents.³⁷

Quality of Life

For the twentieth consecutive year, Johns Hopkins Hospital ranks first in the U.S. News honor roll of best hospitals in the nation, demonstrating outstanding competence in fifteen specialties.³⁸
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport ranks first in its size category in Airports Council International’s 2009 Airport Service Quality survey. BWI topped airports in the15 to 25 million passenger category based on such factors as ambience, cleanliness and comfort of facilities, courtesy and helpfulness of staff, and ease of making connections. ³⁹
Maryland ranks second in active physicians per 100,000 population, with over 23,300 doctors statewide.⁴⁰
According to a report on the economic status of women in the U.S., Maryland ranks second overall, trailing only the District of Columbia.⁴¹
Bethesda ranks second and Baltimore eighth in Forbes’ ranking of “America’s Most Livable Cities” based on income, employment, cost of living and crime, for metropolitan areas with a population of 500,000 or greater.⁴²
Columbia/Ellicott City, Maryland is ranked second among America’s “Best Places to Live” for 2010, up from eighth in 2008, the last Money magazine ranking of small cities. The area is cited for its wide range of housing, ample parkland, excellent schools and diverse population. Gaithersburg in Montgomery County places 25^th in the ranking of top 100 small cities. ⁴³
Maryland ranks tenth among the states according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index for the first half of 2010. The Well-Being Index is comprised of over 40 questions providing an overall composite based on six individual and interrelated indicators of well being, including life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment, and basic access.⁴⁴