Work in Maryland

Work Where You Want

With a low unemployment rate and a diverse business community, Maryland offers an abundance of career opportunities. Play a role in homeland security and defense at Maryland’s military installations.  Develop innovative aerospace and electronic systems at BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems.  Create cutting-edge computer games and modeling simulations at computer gaming trend-setters like Firaxis and Big Huge Games. Or find your niche in Fortune 1000 companies like Lockheed Martin, W.R. Grace, T. Rowe Price, and McCormick & Company.

Maryland is home to corporate headquarters for ARINC, Celera Genomics, Discovery Communications, Ritz-Carlton, RTKL Associates, and Under Armour, among others; award-winning small businesses like ImpactHR and Accent Apparel Company, Inc.; and entrepreneurial start-ups in Maryland’s business incubators. Wherever your career interests lie, there’s a place for you in Maryland!


financial newspapersWhere Business Is Business

Maryland enjoys one of the most vibrant business environments in the U.S. The State has traditional strength in transportation and trade, manufacturing, shipping, financial services, and government contracting. In fact, more than 70 of the top 100 federal contractors operate in Maryland. And Maryland is at the forefront of the new economy, with a growing presence as a technology center and a leader in homeland security and defense. 

Maryland’s military installations support the U.S. armed forces in every way – from training recruits, to researching and developing the latest in weapons and protective gear for the warfighter, to caring for the wounded, to handling the personal effects of those who gave their lives for our country.  Maryland’s highly skilled civilian labor force of 3.0 million is typically ranked among the best in the nation. And the State’s business tax rate is among the nation’s lowest – 32.3 percent of total taxes collected in the State, compared with the national average of 44.1 percent.

Military installations and defense contractors supporting the missions of the nation’s armed forces. Fortune 1000 companies and corporate headquarters in industries ranging from financial services to athletic apparel. Innovative small businesses filling unique niches in the state’s economy. And cutting-edge start-ups forging paths in technology, bioscience and more. These career options – and more – await you in Maryland!


Capital aerial viewFederal Agencies

Maryland is home to more than 50 federal agencies. In fact, the federal government touches every region of Maryland – from Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County to Patuxent Naval Air Station in Southern Maryland. Major developments in bioscience, space science, health care, and other fields have all been incubated in Maryland. As examples:

  • The National Cancer Institute, where scientists cracked the human genome and took a significant step toward finding a cure for cancer;
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where experts oversee the Hubble Space Telescope program; and
  • The National Institutes of Health, where researchers developed a nanotechnology-based approach to diagnose early Alzheimer’s disease.

technicianResearch & Development

Research emanating from federal laboratories and facilities fuels the dynamic growth of industry sectors like biotech, bioinformatics, aerospace and defense electronics, and information technology in Maryland.

Further your R&D career at more than 350 federal and academic research centers throughout Maryland.  The University of Maryland College Park; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and the Johns Hopkins institutions have created 250 research centers in science and technology. And federal agencies conduct R&D in another 70 research centers in Maryland.  In fact, on a per capita basis, Maryland ranks second nationally in federal government R&D obligations, receiving $12.2 billion in funding annually.


laboratory beakerBioscience

With nearly 400 bioscience companies – eight percent of the U.S. bioscience market – Maryland already has one of the fastest-growing bioscience sectors in the U.S. Ernst & Young ranks Maryland among the top three centers for biodefense. And companies like MedImmune, Human Genome Sciences, BD Diagnostics, and Qiagen are developing cutting-edge drugs, diagnostics and other therapeutic remedies.  Among the State’s research-intensive federal agencies is the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center which – as part of the largest and most diversified agricultural research complex in the world – is finding solutions for high-priority agricultural challenges.  

Maryland has invested more than $450 million in bioscience infrastructure to ensure that the bioscience sector continues to grow and thrive.  For information in learning more about career and business opportunities in Maryland’s vibrant workforce, please visit Maryland Workforce Exchange. 


Hubble TelescopeAerospace and Defense

Maryland’s vibrant and varied business environment offers unparalleled opportunities to job seekers. Historically strong in manufacturing, shipping and similar industries, Maryland today is at the forefront of an economic transformation to a global-, knowledge-, and innovation-based economy. 

Maryland is continuing to build its reputation as a leader in the aerospace and defense industries. In addition to its well-qualified workforce, Maryland offers the benefit of close proximity to many federal agencies, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Security Agency, NASA Goddard, National Institutes of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Patuxent River Naval Air Station and Aberdeen Proving Ground.

NASA’s second largest spending operation with some 12,000 scientists, engineers and support personnel is Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. In addition, as Maryland implements the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations, the State’s role in homeland security and national defense will be significantly enhanced by an influx of Department of Defense programs and associated defense contractors.