Employment declined in 7 of the 8 largest counties in Maryland from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Maryland employment decreased 1.7 percent over the year to 2,700,300 in March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that Montgomery County (-4.0 percent) had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment. (See chart 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in Maryland, March 2026

County	Percent change, March 2026
Montgomery	-4.0
Harford	-3.0
Prince George's	-2.9
Frederick	-2.6
Baltimore	-2.1
Howard	-1.5
Anne Arundel	-0.5
Baltimore City	0.0

Montgomery County (440,700) had the highest employment level in Maryland in March 2026. Together, the eight largest counties accounted for 78.6 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 376 largest counties comprise 73.5 percent of total covered employment in the United States. (Large counties and county equivalents are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2025.)

Average weekly wage gains in all eight large counties in Maryland were below the national average of 3.9 percent. (See chart 2.) Anne Arundel had the largest gain (+3.8 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other seven large Maryland counties ranged from 3.7 percent to 0.9 percent.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year percent change in covered average weekly wages among the largest counties in Maryland, first quarter 2026

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Anne Arundel	3.8
Prince George's	3.7
Montgomery	3.5
Harford	3.3
Howard	1.8
Frederick	1.7
Baltimore	1.0
Baltimore City	0.9

Weekly wages in 3 of the 8 largest counties in Maryland were above the national average of $1,654: Montgomery ($2,126), Howard ($1,791), and Baltimore City ($1,776). Average weekly wages among the other five large counties ranged from $1,653 in Anne Arundel to $1,389 in Harford.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 2.7 percent over the year to $1,676. Maryland ranked 10th in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 44th in wage growth.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 16 smaller counties in Maryland, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2025. (See table 2.) Wage levels in 15 of the 16 smaller counties were below the national average. St. Mary’s reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,833) among small counties. Worcester reported the lowest average weekly wage ($932) in the state.

Among all 24 Maryland counties, 6 reported average weekly wages less than $1,100, 8 had wages from $1,100 to $1,299, 4 had wages from $1,300 to $1,499, and 6 had average weekly wages of $1,500 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)