Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers
Audiovisual equipment installers and repairers
Automotive body and related repairers
Automotive glass installers and repairers
Automotive service technicians and mechanics
Avionics technicians
Boilermakers
Brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons
Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters
Carpenters
Carpet, floor, and tile installers and finishers
Cement masons, concrete finishers, and terrazzo workers
Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
Coin, vending, and amusement machine servicers and repairers
Commercial divers
Computer numerically controlled tool operators and programmers
Computer, automated teller, and office machine repairers
Construction and building inspectors
Construction equipment operators
Control and valve installers and repairers
Conveyor, dredge, and hoist and winch operators
Crane and tower operators
Crushing, grinding, polishing, mixing, and blending workers
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Dental and ophthalmic laboratory technicians and medical appliance technicians
Derrick, rotary drill, and service unit operators, oil and gas
Drywall installers, ceiling tile installers, and tapers
Earth drillers, except oil and gas
Electric motor, power tool, and related repairers
Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians
Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment
Electrical and electronics repairers, industrial and utility
Electrical power-line installers and repairers
Electrical, electronics, and electromechanical assemblers
Electricians
Electronic equipment installers and repairers, motor vehicles
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers
Engine and other machine assemblers
Etchers and engravers
Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders
Fence erectors
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers
Forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders
Furniture finishers
Glaziers
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Hazardous materials removal workers
Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers
Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians and mechanics
Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers
Highway maintenance workers
Home appliance repairers
Industrial and refractory machinery mechanics
Industrial truck and tractor operators
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers
Insulation workers
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
Locksmiths and safe repairers
Locomotive engineers and operators
Machinists
Maintenance and repair workers, general
Maintenance workers, machinery
Manufactured building and mobile home installers
Metal furnace operators, tenders, pourers, and casters
Millwrights
Miscellaneous construction and related workers
Miscellaneous plant and system operators
Miscellaneous vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers
Model makers and patternmakers, metal and plastic
Molders and molding machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic
Other assemblers and fabricators
Other engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters
Other extraction workers
Other installation, maintenance, and repair workers
Other machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Other metal workers and plastic workers
Other rail transportation workers
Other woodworkers
Painters and paperhangers
Painting workers
Pipelayers
Plasterers and stucco masons
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters
Power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers
Precision instrument and equipment repairers
Prepress technicians and workers
Printing press operators
Radio and telecommunications equipment installers and repairers
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators
Railroad conductors and yardmasters
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers
Riggers
Roofers
Roustabouts, oil and gas
Sailors and marine oilers
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood
Security and fire alarm systems installers
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners
Sheet metal workers
Ship and boat captains and operators
Ship engineers
Small engine mechanics
Solar photovoltaic installers
Stationary engineers and boiler operators
Structural iron and steel workers
Structural metal fabricators and fitters
Telecommunications line installers and repairers
Tire builders
Tool and die makers
Transportation inspectors
Underground mining machine operators
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
Welding, soldering, and brazing workers
Wind turbine service technicians
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing
United States
Alaska
Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Iowa
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Maryland
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Mississippi
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
West Virginia
Wyoming
Explorer
All trades in Maryland
Demand pressure48
Projected growth
40
Recent growth
12
Occupation mix
94
Wage path
46
Supply position47
Counted entrants
95
Training throughput
39
Age of workforce
20
Migration pull
34
Borderline · Maryland is within a few places of the middle state on at least one of the two indexes, so it does not fall clearly into either group.
Workforce
An overview of Maryland's skilled trades workforce. Dots show where Maryland sits among all states for this work; the line is the national figure or the median state, and the shaded band covers the middle half of states.
Workers
240k
-7% since 2019
20192025
21ktick is median state1.81M
Employment growth▼ 9.2% vs US
-6.7%
2019 to 2025, down 17k workers
-7.6%tick is national22.6%
Aged 55 and over▲ 2% vs US
26%
Share of the current workforce aged 55+
18%tick is national32%
Under 25▼ 1% vs US
10%
Share of the current workforce aged under 25
4%tick is national18%
Five-year retention▲ 1% vs US
60%
Share of entrants working in any skilled trade five years later
50%tick is national70%
Part-time share▼ 0.7% vs US
7.8%
Economy-wide rate: 20.5% (trades nationally 8.5%)
5.7%tick is national10.8%
Pay
Levels, spread, and growth. OEWS May 2025, with a 2019 to 2025 history.
Median pay▲ $7k vs US
$64k
22.2% since 2019, before inflation
20192025
$50ktick is national$79k
Pay spread▲ $4k vs US
$44–93k
10th to 90th percentile
10th percentile
$44k
Median
$64k
90th percentile
$93k
$30ktick is national$64k
Pay premium over workers with the same education▲ 4.4% vs US
26.3%
Trades workers with a high school diploma against other workers with a high school diploma (ACS 2020–2024)
0.0%tick is national51.0%
Employment growth per year▼ 1.6% vs US
-1.2%
Compound annual rate, 2019 to 2025
-1.3%tick is national3.5%
Entry & Training
How people typically enter this work, what exists here to train them, and how often training completes, against the national figure where one is published.
Typical way in▲ 9% vs US
70% trained
Share of this workforce in trades with a structured training route in
Registered apprenticeship
32%
College or CTE credential
39%
On the job training
24%
Open entry
6%
51%tick is national83%
Registered apprentices▲ 184 per 1k vs US
23k
All trades statewide · 283.6 per 1k workers in apprenticeship-route trades
33 per 1ktick is national284 per 1k
Apprenticeship completion
49%
Of pooled FY2021-24 exiters statewide
29%tick is median state68%
College trade-program completion▲ 2% vs US
41%
Degree-granting colleges only · institution cohorts, 12,083 students (IPEDS)
30%tick is national65%
Movement
Where this workforce comes from and where it goes. Click any state to trace it.
Arrive per year
5,554
ACS 2020-2024 annual average
Leave per year
6,130
ACS 2020-2024 annual average
Net per year
−576
Number arriving versus leaving
From abroad per year
997
Arrivals from outside the United States
Net movement rate for trades workers
−0.21%/yr
Net change in number of skilled workers via interstate movement compared with overall trades workforce in the state. The equivalent figure for all workers is −0.11%/yr.
More leaving Level More arriving · tile shade is each state's net movement.
Selected
Maryland
All trades · movement of trades workers per year
5,554
arrived
6,130
left
−576
net
Growth
Where this work is heading: projected change.
Projected employment change▼ 0.1% vs US
5.1%
2024 to 2034, state long-term projections
-2.5%tick is national15.9%
This state against other states
48on demand pressure47on supply position
Supply & Demand
The map shades each state by its demand pressure: projected and realized demand, occupation mix and wage path. The score is an average of their percentiles on each measure compared with other states.
Demand pressure by state
AK
AL
AR
AZ
CA
CO
CT
DC
DE
FL
GA
HI
IA
ID
IL
IN
KS
KY
LA
MA
MD
ME
MI
MN
MO
MS
MT
NC
ND
NE
NH
NJ
NM
NV
NY
OH
OK
OR
PA
RI
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VA
VT
WA
WI
WV
WY
highest demand pressure · click a state to inspect it without leaving the page table view
State
Demand pressure
Workers
Florida
95
1,040,150
Arizona
93
385,970
Georgia
80
576,080
Idaho
78
118,290
Tennessee
77
454,400
Texas
74
1,805,170
Montana
73
62,930
Utah
71
242,120
Colorado
70
305,780
Mississippi
70
174,910
Nevada
70
179,120
North Carolina
68
584,270
Arkansas
65
187,560
New Jersey
60
377,190
New Mexico
60
104,440
South Dakota
60
68,820
Rhode Island
59
50,150
South Carolina
59
322,380
Alabama
57
366,240
Delaware
54
44,880
Virginia
54
443,330
Washington
53
417,370
Massachusetts
52
332,240
Oregon
51
231,140
Iowa
48
228,920
Maryland
48
240,440
Nebraska
48
133,780
California
47
1,732,660
Alaska
46
43,930
Hawaii
44
58,970
Missouri
44
368,910
Connecticut
43
167,030
Maine
43
82,080
New Hampshire
43
82,380
Louisiana
42
273,430
Kansas
41
208,750
Minnesota
41
360,980
Kentucky
39
315,030
Illinois
37
693,690
Wisconsin
37
437,450
Indiana
35
577,820
Ohio
34
797,330
Pennsylvania
31
728,520
North Dakota
29
71,280
Wyoming
28
50,470
Oklahoma
25
247,790
District of Columbia
22
20,600
Vermont
17
33,540
New York
13
812,970
Michigan
11
691,850
West Virginia
11
97,530
Selected
Maryland
All trades
48demand pressure
A higher demand pressure score indicates higher demand for skilled trades in this state.
240,440 workers
Projected growth
40
Recent growth
12
Occupation mix
94
Wage path
46
States by demand pressure
State index, a position among the 51
1Florida95
2Arizona93
3Georgia80
4Idaho78
5Tennessee77
6Texas74
7Montana73
8Utah71
9Colorado70
10Mississippi70
11Nevada70
12North Carolina68
The score is an average of the state's percentile positions on each measure - projected and realized demand, occupation mix and wage path - compared with other states, so 80 means high in the ranking, not higher than 80% of other states.
Shortage Pressure
The trades here are ranked on the Burning Glass Institute's Labor Shortage Index, which scores the structural pressure on filling the occupation from nine indicators, including workforce age, new entrants, part-time work, licensing, AI exposure and projected growth. Each occupation is ranked against every other occupation in the same state, so a reading of 90 means more pressure than 90% of occupations in that state. It is a risk score, not a count of unfilled jobs. The worker data come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, and occupations with fewer than 20 survey respondents in a state are not scored.
Trades in Maryland by shortage pressure
Labor Shortage Index percentile among all occupations scored here
1Industrial and refractory machinery mechanics99
2Precision instrument and equipment repairers97
3Home appliance repairers95
4Stationary engineers and boiler operators95
5Electrical, electronics, and electromechanical assemblers93
6Cement masons, concrete finishers, and terrazzo workers92
7Construction equipment operators91
8Security and fire alarm systems installers87
9First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers86
10Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters85
11First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers85
12Heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians and mechanics83
The score is the trade's Labor Shortage Index percentile among all occupations scored in Maryland: 90 means more structural pressure on filling it than 90% of them, not more vacancies. 70 of 105 trades scored.