The Family-Supporting Jobs Report is a comprehensive assessment of the employment opportunities in family-supporting jobs in central Maryland. We define family-supporting jobs as occupations that pay an hourly wage that allows working adults with less than a bachelor’s degree to provide for their family’s needs. For our region, we are using the benchmark average hourly wage of $22.28. The purpose of this report is to help job seekers, employers, workforce development professionals and educators make informed decisions about career choice and training opportunities.
We begin by comparing overall job growth and growth in family-supporting jobs in the Baltimore region to similar regions — the next 10 largest and next 10 smallest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). We then focus on family-supporting jobs in the Baltimore region, including the distribution of jobs by three categories: typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training. Tables list the top occupations by total demand for every designation within each of these categories. For example, typical entry-level education includes designations such as no formal educational credential, high school diploma and associate’s degree. The analysis also includes lists of the top 50 family-supporting jobs by total demand, median hourly earnings, and percent growth from 2016 to 2026. Finally, we present an analysis of family-supporting jobs within the Baltimore region by both sector (business services, construction, education, etc.) and local workforce area.
Family-supporting jobs represent 13.8 percent of our region’s labor market demand over the next decade. This figure puts our region in the top half of our peers nationally. Our research indicates that family-supporting jobs will shift away from manufacturing and utilities towards sectors like information technology, bioscience and healthcare. Wholesale industries see the largest increase in their share of the labor market. Construction will remain the sector with the most opportunity to earn a family-supporting wage. While roughly three quarters of our family-supporting jobs have a typical entry-level of education of only a high school diploma, it is important to note that wages typically rise with educational attainment. Within the universe of family-supporting jobs, the attainment of an associate’s degree is the greatest predictor of increased earnings.
We intend for this report to inform the decisions of public officials, policy makers and others in the world of workforce development. We hope that the data will be carefully considered and used to help our workers meet the changing demands of employers over the next decade. The jobs identified in this report are presented as numbers — counting such things as new jobs, separations and wages. But these numbers also depict economic opportunity and ladders out of poverty, as long as we use this data to guide investment to support brighter economic futures for Baltimore-area workers.