In 2025, the Maryland Museums Association (MMA) received a $5,000 Heritage Fund grant from Preservation Maryland + the Maryland Historical Trust, to launch the Maryland Museum Economic Impact Report. At the time, the project set out to create statewide data measuring the educational and economic contributions of Maryland’s museums.
The first-of-its-kind study has now put hard numbers behind the economic and community impact of museums across Maryland.
$705.3 million in economic impact
According to the new study, Maryland’s museums and cultural institutions generated $705.3 million in economic impact in Fiscal Year 2025, supporting 4,508 full- and part-time jobs across the state.
The study, conducted by Parker Strategy Group on behalf of MMA, looked at the direct operating and capital spending of 95 participating museums, as well as visitor spending on dining, lodging, transportation, and retail. That visitor spending accounted for $504.6 million of the total economic impact.
The study also found that for every $1 Maryland museums spent directly on operations and capital projects, $6.29 was returned to the statewide economy. Museums generated an estimated $53.9 million in state and local tax revenue in FY25.
Those numbers demonstrate that museums are about much more than preserving objects and telling stories. They are part of Maryland’s economic infrastructure.
The Heritage Fund, a partnership between Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust, provides grants to help communities preserve and protect Maryland’s historic and cultural resources. The program is designed to support projects that might otherwise struggle to get off the ground.
In this case, a $5,000 investment helped MMA launch a project that is now providing Maryland with a much clearer picture of the value of its museums.