MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

ECONOMY

MANUFACTURING

[photo, General Motors (GM) Plant, White Marsh (Baltimore County), Maryland] In 2023, some 4,677 manufacturing firms conducted their operations in Maryland, employing 113,656 people.

The highest employment of 2023 in Maryland was in the computer and electronic products industry (22,837 jobs), followed by food manufacturing (18,057 jobs), chemical manufacturing (14,546 jobs), and fabricated metal products (7,922 jobs).

Former General Motors (GM) Plant, White Marsh (Baltimore County), Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

In 2023, manufacturing contributed $27 billion to Maryland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), up from $25.6 billion in 2022. Manufactured products that were exported totaled $13.5 billion in 2023. Maryland's top five export markets were Canada, France, Netherlands, Germany, and Japan.

McCormick, the world's top spice manufacturer, was started in Baltimore in 1889 by Willoughby McCormick, who sold syrups and flavors door-to-door. Today, McCormick operates across 170 countries and territories.

In 2017, Diageo, one of the world's largest producers of alcoholic beverages, announced its plan to build a Guinness brewery and taproom in Halethorpe, Baltimore County. The Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House opened in August 2018 and is the company's sole brewery in the United States.

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Maryland's transportation infrastructure, as well as its central location on the East Coast, offers easy access to move manufactured products by air, land, and sea.

Air Transport. Four international airports, Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Thurgood Marshall Airport (Baltimore), Washington Dulles International (Dulles, Virginia), Ronald Reagan National (Arlington, Virginia), and Philadelphia International (Philadephia, Pennsylvania), in and within proximity of Maryland provide convenience for shipments of goods.

Land Transport. There are five major interstate highways in Maryland, I-68, I-70, I-81, I-83, and I-95. Due to its prime location in the Mid-Atlantic and in one of the country's busiest commercial areas, products are within an overnight drive of over 30% of the national population. Maryland's efficient rail network includes two Class 1 freight rails (CSX and Norfolk Southern), four Class III short line freight rails (Canton, Bay Coast, Maryland & Delaware, & Maryland Midland), and one passenger rail (Amtrak). Of the over 1,150 miles of track throughout the State, over 70% of the network is owned by CSX, Norfolk Southern, Maryland & Delaware, and Amtrak. Carriers, such as MARC and the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, use trackage rights, agreements allowing a railroad to use tracks owned by another, to operate their trains. Started in late 2021, the Howard Street Tunnel is undergoing renovations in order to move double-stack container cars.

Sea Transport. Maryland's Port of Baltimore has a 50-foot (15.2 meters) shipping channel and two 50-foot container berths, which allows it to accomodate two of the world's largest container ships at once. To offload the cargo, the Port is equipped with post-Panamax cranes, four super-post-Panamax cranes, and four Neo-Panamax cranes, with additional cranes to be added later. The Port contains twelve private terminals and five public terminals, including Dundalk, Fairfield, North Locust Point, Seagirt, and South Locust Point. These terminals use highways and the rail network to ship their goods across Maryland and the region.

MOST IMPORTANT MANUFACTURES

2021
Computer & electronic products $6,220,800,000
Chemicals $7,885,200,000
Food, beverage & tobacco products $3,455,800,000
Fabricated metal products $1,020,300,000
Plastics & rubber products $657,500,000
Printing and related support activities $696,200,000
Machinery $1,054,400,000


2018 2019 2020
Computer & electronic products $5,915,100,000 $6,761,700,000 $6,374,400,000
Chemicals $5,534,400,000 $6,100,400,000 $7,017,000,000
Food, beverage & tobacco products $2,818,900,000 $2,996,200,000 $3,300,400,000
Fabricated metal products $910,300,000 $1,004,000,000 $935,100,000
Plastics & rubber products $969,400,000 $1,026,500,000 $759,700,000
Printing and related support activities $721,700,000 $692,000,000 $694,400,000
Machinery $1,288,100,000 $1,006,100,000 $936,600,000


2015 2016 2017
Computer & electronic products $4,288,800,000 $4,409,900,000 $4,907,200,000
Chemicals $5,627,500,000 $6,321,200,000 $6,261,900,000
Food, beverage & tobacco products $2,888,300,000 $2,772,500,000 $2,721,000,000
Fabricated metal products $807,100,000 $825,600,000 $961,000,000
Plastics & rubber products $967,200,000 $976,200,000 $957,800,000
Printing and related support activities $615,900,000 $671,700,000 $665,300,000
Machinery $830,700,000 $1,144,500,000 $1,244,900,000


2012 2013 2014
Computer & electronic products $4,107,200,000 $4,382,800,000 $4,300,500,000
Chemicals $4,254,300,000 $4,886,700,000 $4,969,500,000
Food, beverage & tobacco products $2,882,600,000 $3,017,300,000 $3,352,200,000
Fabricated metal products $793,400,000 $787,400,000 $803,400,000
Plastics & rubber products $978,700,000 $1,004,100,000 $834,600,000
Printing and related support activities $719,200,000 $726,100,000 $669,100,000
Machinery $773,00,000 $772,200,000 $781,600,000


2009 2010 2011
Computer & electronic products $4,376,500,000 $4,440,800,000 $4,516,600,000
Chemicals $4,389,200,000 $5,398,300,000 $5,401,400,000
Food, beverage & tobacco products $3,384,400,000 $3,103,500,000 $2,652,200,000
Fabricated metal products $953,400,000 $868,800,000 $769,700,000
Plastics & rubber products $852,800,000 $791,100,000 $842,100,000
Printing and related support activities $750,300,000 $650,500,000 $624,500,000
Machinery $669,700,000 $756,800,000 $871,700,000


2006 2007 2008
Computer & electronic products $2,512,400,000 $3,057,600,000 $4,192,300,000
Food products* $2,723,700,000 $2,990,300,000 $3,156,900,000
Chemicals $3,113,600,000 $3,676,500,000 $3,111,000,000
Fabricated metal products $922,300,000 $983,200,000 $1,084,300,000
Printing and related support activities $1,058,100,000 $1,130,200,000 $1,018,900,000
Machinery $1,043,800,000 $798,700,000 $719,500,000
Plastics & rubber products $768,300,000 $633,000,000 $589,700,000

*(in 2007, the classification for food products was redesignated as Food and beverage and tobacco products)

2003 2004 2005
Chemicals $2,673,800,000 $2,946,400,000 $2,576,700,000
Food products $2,087,000,000 $2,249,900,000 $2,349,000,000
Computer & electronic products $2,282,800,000 $2,560,600,000 $2,552,000,000
Printing and related support activities $917,900,000 $867,100,000 $998,400,000
Fabricated metal products $858,400,000 $842,300,000 $939,200,000
Machinery $787,900,000 $1,047,200,000 $759,900,000
Plastics & rubber products $728,100,000 $764,800,000 $746,700,000


2000 2001 2002
Chemicals $2,836,900,000 $3,563,100,000 $3,027,200,000
Food products $2,039,700,000 $2,187,900,000 $2,387,800,000
Computer & electronic products $1,446,600,000 $1,674,000,000 $1,964,700,000
Machinery $897,100,000 $958,400,000 $1,197,300,000
Printing and related support activities $942,900,000 $976,000,000 $976,900,000
Fabricated metal products $914,600,000 $895,700,000 $819,900,000
Plastics & rubber products $674,800,000 $666,400,000 $784,400,000


1997 1998 1999
Chemicals $1,931,500,000 $2,257,200,000 $2,733,900,000
Food products $2,115,000,000 $1,783,600,000 $2,140,100,000
Computer & electronic products $2,296,200,000 $2,249,100,000 $1,820,400,000
Printing and related support activities $825,400,000 $887,000,000 $974,300,000
Machinery $957,000,000 $1,042,400,000 $1,092,400,000
Fabricated metal products $844,500,000 $888,700,000 $828,000,000
Primary metals $1,054,000,000 $912,600,000 $728,300,000


1996
Food & kindred products $2,728,700,000
Chemicals & allied products $2,360,800,000
Printing & publishing $2,175,600,000
Primary metal industries $1,465,700,000
Industrial machinery & equipment $1,429,700,000
Instruments & related products $1,266,600,000
Electric, electronic equipment $1,142,400,000

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

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