There are plenty of reasons why people choose to move and adjust to Baltimore City. New graduates come here to find employment, and other people opt to live here to be closer to their work. 

Located roughly forty miles (64 km) from Washington, D.C., the city offers an abundance of employment opportunities in various industries. The bulk of these jobs are in healthcare and higher education, although you can also find work in the government, tech, IT, financial services, cybersecurity, sports, bioscience and defense contracting. 

State of Baltimore City’s Employment

As of April 2023, the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development recorded a total labor force of 278,199 residents. The total number of employed Baltimoreans was at 267,495, and the labor force participation rate was 59.7%. 

In terms of unemployment, there were a total of 10,704 residents in the city who were not working. The unemployment rate in Baltimore City as of April 2024 was 3.8%.  

Baltimore City Workforce Distribution Per Industry

The government employs more than 75,000 Baltimoreans; so does the health care and social assistance industry, according to the 2019 data of the Bureau of Labor Statistics SAE Database. The latter does not include over 40,000 residents of the city working in hospitals. Education services, along with trade, transportation and utilities sector, employ more than 40,000 residents each. Meanwhile, leisure and hospitality as well as admin and support and waste/remediation services both have more than 25,000 employees each. 

Professional, scientific and technical services and the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector account for more than 20,000 workers each, while the retail trade, finance and insurance, and manufacturing sectors each employ more than 10,000 Baltimoreans. 

Meanwhile, the industries with the least city residents employed are: the mining, logging and construction sector with about 9,000 workers; wholesale trade with just over 7,000 workers; and the information sector with nearly 5,000 employees. 

Baltimore City’s Biggest Employers

As you can see from the data above, only a few industries can boast of being the biggest employers for Baltimoreans. These include the government, the health care industry, and the educational services sector. 

The Government

According to the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, a total of 71,904 city residents, or nearly 21% of Baltimoreans, are government employees. This is slightly more than the average of 15% who work for the government nationwide, according to The Brookings Institute. 

The report, commissioned by the Baltimore City Department of Finance, also found that the State of Maryland employs fewer than 37,000 people, or 10.74% of the city’s total workforce. Several of these state government agencies, including the Commission on Human Relations and the Maryland Transit Administration, are operating from The William Donald Schaefer Building in downtown. The Schaefer Building, located on St. Paul Street, is the fourth largest skyscraper in the city. 

The government presents many opportunities for those willing and able to apply to available positions. In fact, in April 2024, there was a big push by the city to encourage more people to apply for government jobs. A new website was launched, along with job fairs, in an effort to fill more than 230 vacant positions across the city government. 

“These city jobs are not just good jobs…they are great jobs…that pay a living wage that you can buy a house and raise a family on,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told WMAR. “We want all of you to come join us in this work to make Baltimore the best version of itself.”

Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health Systems and Johns Hopkins University

According to the Maryland Department of Labor, hospitals in Baltimore City employ more than 40,000 people. A big employer in this sector is Johns Hopkins. Both Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health Systems are top private sector employers for Baltimoreans, according to the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. 

In 2020, Johns Hopkins Medicine employed a total of about 27,000 full-time workers. This is broken down as follows: The bulk, or about 10,000 employees, are with the Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by over 5,000 full-time workers at the JHCP/JHHS/Hons Hopkins Health Plans. The Bayview Medical Center and the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital employs more than 3,000 workers each. Sibley Hospital has almost 1,800 employees, while Suburban Hospital and Howard County General each have over 1,300 workers. Its Home Care Group has about 1,000 employees, while Johns Hopkins Medical Associates has over 100 full-time workers. 

Similar to Johns Hopkins, both the University System of Maryland and the University of Maryland Medical Center also employ many city residents, according to the audit report. Other top employers in the healthcare industry include MedStar Health, Exelon, and LifeBridge Health – Sinai. 

Educational Services

If you’re a teacher, you’ll have plenty of opportunities in Baltimore City because just like the rest of the state and the country, Baltimore City is facing a teacher shortage. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Shortage Areas database, Maryland needs teachers in 28 subjects, such as health science, English as a second language and special education, from pre-K to 12th grade. 

With 86% of K-12 public schools facing a teacher shortage in the country, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, it’s no wonder why many schools are hiring less-credentialed “conditional” teachers. In fact, Maryland’s issuance of conditional certificates grew by 5.6%. But, in Baltimore City, that figure is 11.5%. 

“Human capital is the biggest issue, and money can help with that problem, but recruiting, training and retaining high-quality teachers and staff has to be the primary focus,” Simon Birenbaum, director of grading, assessment and scheduling at Baltimore City Public Schools told Capital News Service (via MarylandReporter.com). “No amount of money can compensate for a lack of highly-skilled educators.”

Baltimore City’s Growing and Emerging Industries

As of this writing, the Maryland Department of Labor has identified the following growing and emerging industries in Baltimore City. 

In terms of the highest over the year percentage change (OTY PTC), the arts, entertainment and recreation industry and the accommodation and food services sector both posted more than 12% OTY PTC. Both are emerging industries in the city where more and more people can possibly find employment. 

Wholesale trade (3.9%), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (1.7%), manufacturing (1.2%), real estate and rental and leasing (1.1%), and other services excluding public administration (0.8%) round up the emerging sectors in Baltimore City. 

Meanwhile, the utilities sector grew by nearly 10%. This is followed by the transportation and warehousing industry with 7.6% OTY PTC. Management of companies and enterprises (2.5%) rounds up Baltimore City’s growing industries, which present additional work options for Baltimoreans.

Are there plenty of employment opportunities in Baltimore?

In conclusion, Baltimore City offers a diverse range of employment opportunities across various industries, making it an attractive destination for job seekers. Whether in government, healthcare, or emerging sectors, the city provides ample avenues for career growth and development.