![[photo, General Motors (GM) Plant, White Marsh (Baltimore County), Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/economy/images/1198-1-07115b.jpg)
In 2020, some 4,187 manufacturing firms conducted their operations in Maryland, employing 108,519 people.
The highest employment of 2020 in Maryland was in the computer and electronic products industry (20,134 jobs), followed by food manufacturing (17,008 jobs), chemical manufacturing (13,807 jobs), and fabricated metal products (7,879 jobs). Total wages paid in 2020 were $9.26 billion.
General Motors (GM) Plant, White Marsh (Baltimore County), Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
McCormick, the world's top spice manufacturer, was started in Baltimore in 1889 by Willoughby McCormick, who sold syrups and flavors door-to-door. In 2019, McCormick had $5.35 billion in sales across 150 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. Starting 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 seven post-Panamax cranes, four super-post-Panamax cranes, and four Neo-Panamax cranes, with additional cranes to be added later in 2022. 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.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| Computer & electronic products | $5,797,200,000 | $6,427,500,000 | $6,460,700,000 |
| Chemicals | $5,866,400,000 | $6,331,900,000 | $6,847,100,000 |
| Food, beverage & tobacco products | $2,819,100,000 | $2,931,900,000 | $3,106,500,000 |
| Fabricated metal products | $909,500,000 | $994,000,000 | $915,600,000 |
| Plastics & rubber products | $970,000,000 | $1,036,400,000 | $1,050,600,000 |
| Printing and related support activities | $725,300,000 | $691,500,000 | $659,600,000 |
| Machinery | $1,291,500,000 | $1,358,500,000 | $1,273,200,000 |
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Computer & electronic products | $4,288,800,000 | $4,409,900,000 | $4,892,800,000 |
| Chemicals | $5,627,500,000 | $6,321,200,000 | $6,397,900,000 |
| Food, beverage & tobacco products | $2,888,300,000 | $2,772,500,000 | $2,719,500,000 |
| Fabricated metal products | $807,100,000 | $825,600,000 | $896,700,000 |
| Plastics & rubber products | $967,200,000 | $976,200,000 | $957,800,000 |
| Printing and related support activities | $615,900,000 | $671,700,000 | $669,100,000 |
| Machinery | $830,700,000 | $1,144,500,000 | $1,246,500,000 |
| 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 | $2,566,600,000 | $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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