Businesses in Maryland: how to look one up, how many there are and who's biggest

This page is for people checking a specific Maryland business (before hiring a contractor, signing with a vendor or filing a claim) and for anyone sizing up the state's market: job seekers, analysts and B2B sellers. It starts with the lookup, then the counts, the employers and the headquarters, and ends with how to prospect.

How to look up a business in Maryland

Maryland registers corporations, LLCs and partnerships through the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), which also collects each entity's annual report. To check one:

1. Search the entity. Use the Maryland Business Express entity search by business name or department ID.
2. Read the status. SDAT publishes a list of entities that are not in good standing or forfeited, and since 1 January 2021 a forfeited entity has to file all its past-due annual reports to be revived or reinstated.
3. Check its annual filings. Maryland businesses file an annual report and personal property return each year; for 2026 they were due on or before 15 April 2026, or 15 June with an approved extension.
4. Order proof if you need it. A certificate of status can be bought online through the entity search portal; SDAT's fee schedule lists the cost.
5. Check the license. For contractors and regulated trades, search the Maryland Department of Labor license search. Its Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing oversees 21 boards and commissions, including home improvement, HVACR, electricians and plumbing.

Trade names are filed separately from the entity record, so if a trade name search returns nothing, try the legal name.

How many businesses are in Maryland

The Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (CBP) counts business establishments with paid employees. For Maryland in 2023:

That's 120,246 establishments with 1 to 19 employees, 19,005 with 20 to 99 and 3,716 with 100 or more.

The county figures are from the same CBP release. Baltimore City has fewer establishments than Anne Arundel County but more employees, an average of 24.4 per establishment, because hospitals, universities and corporate offices concentrate there. CBP counts locations rather than companies, excludes the self-employed and businesses without payroll, and doesn't cover most government employment.

A federal economy

The federal government shapes Maryland's business mix more than its headline count suggests. In the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Maryland averaged 2,754,961 covered jobs in 2025: 2,230,259 private (81.0%), 264,934 in local government, 151,248 federal and 108,520 state. Federal civilian jobs paid an average of $135,089, against $78,676 in the private sector.

That federal presence pulls in contractors and consultants. Professional, scientific and technical services is Maryland's largest sector by establishments in the 2023 CBP data:

Average pay is our calculation. Professional services firms are 15.2% of establishments and pay 19.4% of private payroll. For two related markets, see biotech companies in Maryland and our guide to selling to government.

Maryland's largest employers

The Maryland Department of Commerce lists the state's major employers in its Brief Economic Facts for Maryland (2023 to 2024 figures). It leaves out state and local governments and national retail and food service chains, includes higher education, and excludes federal contractors where it can:

Eight of the 17 are federal agencies or installations, and five are health systems or universities. Amazon, Ahold Delhaize, Northrop Grumman and Walmart are the only companies.

The biggest companies headquartered in Maryland

These are the ten largest SEC-registered public companies whose latest 10-K gives a Maryland principal executive office, by the revenue in that filing:

Lockheed Martin's revenue is more than the next five combined. Headcounts for Lockheed are on our Lockheed Martin employees page. Three of the ten are in Bethesda, three in Baltimore and two in Hunt Valley.

Prospecting Maryland businesses

The size bands set who decides: owners at the 120,246 establishments with fewer than 20 employees, office or operations managers between 20 and 99, and functional buyers at the 3,716 sites with 100 or more. In Maryland, a large share of mid-size firms sell to the federal government, so contract timing (the federal fiscal year starts on 1 October) and compliance requirements drive their own purchases.

Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are fictional, to show the method.

Patapsco Assurance (patapscoassurance.example) prepares federal contractors for cybersecurity assessments and wants IT services firms in the corridor between Washington and Baltimore.

• CBP counts computer systems design and related services (NAICS 5415) establishments with 20 to 249 employees: 172 in Montgomery County, 156 in Howard County and 106 in Anne Arundel County, 434 in all.
• It assumes 60% hold or pursue Department of Defense contracts that require an assessment, about 260 firms.
• With a two-person team running 25 discovery calls a month and closing one in ten, it signs two or three firms a month at about $35,000 per engagement.

Working out which of the 434 sell to defense agencies, and who owns compliance at each, is the slow part. Bebop can search for "IT services firms in Howard and Anne Arundel counties with 20 to 249 employees that hold Department of Defense contracts" and explain why each matches.

Subject: [Company]'s next contract and the assessment it needs

Hi [first name],

Your team's work for [agency] means the next recompete will likely ask for a cybersecurity assessment before award. Most firms your size find the documentation, not the controls, takes longest.

We've prepared 30 Maryland contractors for assessments, with a fixed fee and a written gap report in two weeks. Would a sample gap report be useful before your next proposal?

[Your name], Patapsco Assurance

Next step: turn these counts into a target list with how to build a prospect list.