The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Howard County is a county of Maryland with 336,328 residents. Its economy produced $37,130 million in 2024 (ranked #6 of 24 counties) and had 173,483 jobs with an average annual pay of $86,951 (#2 for pay). The unemployment rate was 3.0% in 2026M09. It is part of the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area (central county).
Howard County produced about $37,130 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 6.8% of the combined output of the 24 counties of Maryland that BEA reports (about 5.4% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 6th of 24 on that measure. Per resident that is $110,397, 25% above the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $87,984. In current dollars output grew 6.5% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 173,483 jobs located in Howard County on average in 2024, spread over 11,342 employer sites (about 15 jobs per site). That is 0.52 jobs for every resident, above the 0.40 of the typical county in Maryland, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $86,951, 13% above the average of all counties in the state ($86,951 against $76,898). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 2.2% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are professional and technical services (22.7% of private jobs, $141,132 a year on average), health care and social assistance (12.8% of private jobs, $62,121 a year on average), retail trade (11.0% of private jobs, $46,344 a year on average). Together they hold 46.4% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $141,132 a year, followed by finance and insurance ($127,608). The county is specialised in several industries: professional and technical services (2.8 times the US share, 33,176 jobs); wholesale trade (2.0 times the US share, 13,487 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($46,344), accommodation and food services ($28,311). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Howard County was 3.0%, 14% below the average of the state's counties (3.0% against 3.5%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 185,084. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 3.0% (2026M09) to 4.2% (2026M02); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $149,763 (ACS 2020–2024), 44% above the state median ($149,763 against $103,678). The guide covers 5 cities with this as the main county: Columbia, Ellicott City, Ilchester, Elkridge, North Laurel. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $2,031 in North Laurel to $2,295 in Elkridge, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Howard County in output are Baltimore, Prince George's County, Frederick County, Harford County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 24 counties of Maryland ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 336,328 | 6 of 24 |
| GDP 2024 | $37,130 million | 6 of 24 |
| GDP per resident | $110,397 | 3 of 24 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 173,483 | 6 of 24 |
| Average annual pay | $86,951 | 2 of 24 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +2.2% | 12 of 24 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 3.0% | 3 of 24 |
| Median household income | $149,763 | 1 of 24 |
Federal jobs in Maryland (655) →All cities of MarylandState guide: Maryland
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Howard County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | 104,338 | $131,490 | $2,042 | $497,400 | 63.6% |
| Ellicott City | 75,257 | $156,964 | $2,061 | $661,700 | 68.8% |
| Ilchester | 28,364 | $152,103 | $2,115 | $532,400 | 62.9% |
| Elkridge | 26,283 | $139,913 | $2,295 | $454,200 | 59.0% |
| North Laurel | 25,563 | $122,949 | $2,031 | $450,100 | 53.5% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional and technical services | 33,176 | 22.7% | $141,132 | 2.75 |
| Health care and social assistance | 18,693 | 12.8% | $62,121 | 0.75 |
| Retail trade | 16,088 | 11.0% | $46,344 | 0.93 |
| Wholesale trade | 13,487 | 9.2% | $105,497 | 1.97 |
| Accommodation and food services | 12,736 | 8.7% | $28,311 | 0.81 |
| Administrative and waste services | 11,778 | 8.0% | $61,926 | 1.15 |
| Construction | 11,299 | 7.7% | $92,775 | 1.24 |
| Manufacturing | 6,904 | 4.7% | $88,493 | 0.48 |
| Finance and insurance | 5,258 | 3.6% | $127,608 | 0.75 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 4,482 | 3.1% | $62,242 | 0.61 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 3,256 | 2.2% | $30,368 | 1.12 |
| Educational services | 3,142 | 2.1% | $54,542 | 0.88 |
| Management of companies | 3,105 | 2.1% | $117,191 | 1.06 |
| Real estate and rental | 2,876 | 2.0% | $89,362 | 1.07 |
| Utilities | 183 | 0.1% | $143,270 | 0.28 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 185,084 |
| Employed residents | 179,506 |
| Unemployed residents | 5,578 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.0% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 173,483 |
| Employer sites | 11,342 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery County | 1,065,949 | $117,390 million | $110,127 | 462,298 | $94,473 | 3.2% |
| Prince George's County | 959,754 | $65,163 million | $67,896 | 329,476 | $73,373 | 4.0% |
| Baltimore County | 850,796 | $73,114 million | $85,935 | 374,470 | $71,051 | 3.6% |
| Anne Arundel County | 598,166 | $69,946 million | $116,934 | 288,447 | $79,546 | 3.0% |
| Baltimore | 573,243 | $65,579 million | $114,400 | 348,184 | $82,818 | 4.6% |
| Howard County | 336,328 | $37,130 million | $110,397 | 173,483 | $86,951 | 3.0% |
| Frederick County | 287,048 | $20,352 million | $70,902 | 108,438 | $69,852 | 3.1% |
| Harford County | 263,757 | $17,906 million | $67,887 | 95,188 | $68,533 | 3.1% |
| Carroll County | 175,321 | $8,877 million | $50,635 | 59,195 | $57,405 | 2.7% |
| Charles County | 170,527 | $8,672 million | $50,853 | 43,087 | $60,436 | 3.9% |
| Washington County | 155,709 | $9,961 million | $63,974 | 64,206 | $58,252 | 3.6% |
| Saint Mary's County | 115,126 | $10,446 million | $90,735 | 49,113 | $85,381 | 3.0% |
| Cecil County | 104,960 | $7,154 million | $68,161 | 36,713 | $63,481 | 3.5% |
| Wicomico County | 104,914 | $7,088 million | $67,556 | 46,139 | $56,568 | 3.6% |
| Calvert County | 94,313 | $6,248 million | $66,253 | 22,676 | $61,154 | 3.1% |
| Allegany County | 67,452 | $3,542 million | $52,514 | 26,680 | $51,777 | 4.5% |
| Worcester County | 53,700 | $4,138 million | $77,060 | 26,303 | $45,838 | 3.3% |
| Queen Anne's County | 51,825 | $2,875 million | $55,484 | 16,269 | $56,415 | 2.8% |
| Talbot County | 37,917 | $2,787 million | $73,494 | 18,220 | $56,684 | 3.3% |
| Caroline County | 33,669 | $1,590 million | $47,216 | 9,246 | $53,786 | 3.4% |
| Dorchester County | 32,754 | $1,801 million | $54,973 | 11,903 | $52,568 | 4.0% |
| Garrett County | 28,615 | $1,790 million | $62,571 | 12,162 | $48,523 | 3.3% |
| Somerset County | 24,822 | $1,231 million | $49,582 | 6,963 | $58,162 | 4.2% |
| Kent County | 19,346 | $1,248 million | $64,527 | 7,648 | $52,881 | 3.6% |
336,328 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$37,130 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
3.0% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
173,483 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $86,951 (BLS QCEW).