By Daniel Davis
Small Businesses Make Up the Majority, but Growth Is Uneven
Baltimore City is home to well over 20,000 business establishments, yet the overwhelming majority are small firms. More than 94% of establishments have fewer than 50 employees; over half of those have fewer than five. With nearly 40,000 sole proprietorships, many working business owners are going it alone. These numbers tell a clear story: small businesses are Baltimore’s economic backbone—but most are small-scale.
Jobs and Unemployment: A Mixed Picture
The broader Baltimore–Columbia–Towson metro area recently saw 4.0–4.2% unemployment, depending on the month—figures that are somewhat elevated compared to national trends. Nonfarm wage-and-salary employment has shown slow growth, with job gains in sectors like construction and professional services, but little to no growth in manufacturing.
Residents express sharp concerns over job security: more than one-third worry about losing their current positions, while nearly half feel they wouldn’t be able to find one as good. Access to reliable transportation remains a barrier for many in securing or keeping steady work.
Entrepreneurship: Opportunity vs Necessity
Surveys suggest that while entrepreneurship is seen as a path forward, many local entrepreneurs are driven more by necessity than opportunity. Individuals with lower incomes, less formal education, or fewer job prospects are more likely to start businesses because they have limited alternatives—not always because they’ve identified a scalable market.
Meanwhile, more-educated and higher-income Baltimoreans—including many who are White—tend to view roles in established businesses as more secure or financially viable, highlighting lingering inequalities in how entrepreneurial paths are perceived and supported.
What’s Helping—and What Baltimore Still Needs
- Emerging sectors: Craft manufacturing and “maker” businesses are seeing slow but steady gains. Median revenue and production space among those certified by programs like Made In Baltimore have doubled in recent years.
- Capital and financing are hurdles: Access to flexible capital remains a top issue for many small business owners. Expanding small-business lending and public-private support could make a difference.
- Inclusive ecosystems matter: Encouraging BIPOC entrepreneurs, immigrant business owners, women-led ventures, and those in lower-income neighborhoods is essential for city-wide economic health. Local planning reports stress the gap between ownership and revenue share among businesses owned by Black and Brown entrepreneurs.
- Neighborhood infrastructure: Reliable workforce transportation, affordable rents for retail or production space, business incubators—all build stronger business districts in every part of the city.
Looking Ahead: Balancing Number with Sustainability
Baltimore’s economy includes thousands of businesses, but many are micro-enterprises. For the city to thrive, it’s not just about having a high number of ventures—it’s ensuring those ventures can sustain themselves, hire, and grow.
This means nurturing entrepreneurial opportunity (not just necessity), expanding access to capital and resources, and building infrastructure—both physical and social—that supports small business at every scale.
Baltimore won’t become economically stronger by simply counting businesses—it must help existing ones last, scale, and create meaningful careers.