If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Maryland, the bank you call first matters more than most borrowers think. A lender that already writes a lot of commercial credit and sits in your state is structurally likelier to say yes than a national name passing through. This page ranks the Maryland-headquartered banks doing the most commercial lending right now, using public Q1 2026 FFIEC call-report data. It is the open-book version of what the paid report does with far more inputs.
Maryland borrowers operate in the shadow of Washington and Baltimore money, where federal-adjacent business and a thin in-state bank roster shape the options.
The 15 most active commercial lenders in Maryland
Ranked by commercial and industrial (C&I) loans outstanding, Q1 2026. Bank names link to the live BankingLens scorecard.
| # | Bank | City | Assets | C&I share | ROA | Fit notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cfg Bank | Lutherville | $5.7B | 28.3% | 1.59% | Mid-size regional, an active C&I book. Top-decile returns. |
| 2 | Eaglebank | Bethesda | $9.9B | 15.3% | 0.66% | Regional commercial bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 3 | Forbright Bank | Potomac | $8.3B | 16.3% | 0.70% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 4 | Capital Bank | Rockville | $3.8B | 24.3% | 1.16% | Regional commercial bank, an active C&I book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 5 | First United Bank & Trust | Oakland | $2.0B | 15.3% | 1.35% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 6 | Middletown Valley Bank | Middletown | $1.2B | 15.3% | 1.13% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 7 | Harford Bank | Aberdeen | $732M | 9.1% | 0.99% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 8 | Farmers and Merchants Bank | Upperco | $863M | 7.8% | 0.95% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 9 | Calvin B. Taylor Banking Company of Berlin, Maryland | Berlin | $993M | 6.4% | 1.55% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. Top-decile returns. |
| 10 | Bank of Glen Burnie, the | Glen Burnie | $380M | 16.6% | 0.12% | Small local lender, a steady commercial book. Thin current returns. |
| 11 | Hebron Savings Bank | Hebron | $822M | 5.6% | 1.71% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. Top-decile returns. |
| 12 | Farmers Bank of Willards, the | Willards | $537M | 6.3% | 1.30% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. |
| 13 | Woodsboro Bank | Woodsboro | $470M | 6.0% | 1.16% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 14 | Harbor Bank of Maryland, the | Baltimore | $382M | 8.9% | 0.60% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 15 | Jarrettsville Federal Savings and Loan Association | Jarrettsville | $165M | 7.2% | 0.07% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. Thin current returns. |
Assets and ratios are Q1 2026 FFIEC call-report figures. ROA is annualized return on assets. A bank's headquarters city is shown; many lend statewide and beyond.
C&I lending muscle, ranked
Commercial and industrial loans outstanding for the top 10 Maryland-HQ lenders, Q1 2026. This is the single number our ranking leans on hardest.
How we ranked these
Three steps, all of them transparent. First, we took every bank headquartered in Maryland. Second, we loosened the usual 10 percent C&I cutoff to 5 percent here, because Maryland has a shallow commercial-banking bench and a stricter filter would leave too short a list (a bank that is 90 percent home mortgages is not your SBA lender, regardless of size). Of the qualifying banks, 15 cleared that bar. Third, we ranked them by C&I loan dollars outstanding, which already blends balance-sheet size with how committed a bank is to commercial credit, and kept the top 15.
This is an honest, simplified proxy. It does not see a bank's actual SBA 7(a) origination volume (that lives in SBA FOIA data, not the call report), its appetite for your industry, or whether it funded forty SBA loans last quarter or zero. The $49 Borrower Assist report folds all of that in and ranks against your specific deal, not just your state. That is the part worth paying for.
What Maryland looks like for a borrower
Maryland borrowers operate in the shadow of Washington and Baltimore money, where federal-adjacent business and a thin in-state bank roster shape the options.
The state's banking base totals $48.5B in assets across 27 charters, topped by Eaglebank (Bethesda) at $9.9B. Commercial appetite varies widely; the median Maryland bank runs a 6.0% C&I share, and Cfg Bank leads on raw C&I dollars ($1.1B).
None of that tells you which of these banks will fund your specific deal. A $400,000 restaurant acquisition and a $4M owner-occupied warehouse purchase have different optimal lender lists even in the same state, and the ranking above does not split by loan size, industry, or collateral. Treat it as your starting shortlist, not your final answer.
How to use this list
- Start with the bank near you that has the strongest commercial profile, not just the closest branch. A lender with a real C&I book understands your deal faster.
- Ask for the SBA or commercial lending group directly. The general line routes business deals slowly.
- Have a one-page summary ready: use of funds, cash flow, collateral, owner credit, timeline. Banks decide whether to engage in the first ninety seconds.
- Run two banks in parallel, not five. Two real conversations close a loan; five waste everyone's time.
Hero photo: Lower Manhattan at dusk by Triston Dunn on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Maryland.