Paycheck Calculator Maryland
A Maryland paycheck is really two state-layer taxes in one: the state tax, plus a county tax of 2.25% to 3.30% that almost every resident pays. On a $75,000 salary, a single filer takes home about $58,244 a year in 2026 before the county's share — figure roughly $2,300 more comes out in a typical 3.2% county. Enter your salary below and see the state split.
Maryland's 2026 tax brackets
Maryland rewrote its brackets in the 2025 Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act: the familiar 2% to 5.75% ladder stays for most workers, with two new top brackets — 6.25% and 6.5% — added at the high end. The standard deduction became a flat $3,400 for a single filer ($6,800 joint) in the Comptroller's 2026 withholding guidance. These are the 2026 single brackets:
| Bracket | Rate applies to taxable income |
|---|---|
| 2% | up to $1,000 |
| 3% | $1,001 – $2,000 |
| 4% | $2,001 – $3,000 |
| 4.75% | $3,001 – $100,000 |
| 5% | $100,001 – $125,000 |
| 5.25% | $125,001 – $150,000 |
| 5.5% | $150,001 – $250,000 |
| 5.75% | $250,001 – $500,000 |
| 6.25% (new) | $500,001 – $1,000,000 |
| 6.5% (new) | over $1,000,000 |
Joint filers reach the upper brackets later — the 4.75% band runs to $150,000 and the new top rates start at $600,000 and $1,200,000. Remember these are state brackets only: your county then applies its own flat rate to nearly the same income.
Take-home pay at common Maryland salaries
Single filer, no 401(k) or health premiums, 2026 figures — STATE tax only, before county tax and before the $3,200 personal exemption's effect. A typical 3.2% county would take roughly another $1,500–$4,700 across these salaries:
| Salary | Federal tax | FICA | MD state tax | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $3,820 | $3,825 | $2,161 | $40,194 |
| $75,000 | $7,670 | $5,738 | $3,349 | $58,244 |
| $100,000 | $13,170 | $7,650 | $4,536 | $74,644 |
| $150,000 | $24,734 | $11,475 | $7,082 | $106,710 |
What makes a Maryland paycheck different
The county tax is the headline. Every Maryland county (and Baltimore City) piggybacks its own flat income tax on the state return, from 2.25% in Worcester County up to 3.30% in Dorchester and Kent, with most of the big suburban counties — Montgomery, Prince George's, Howard, Baltimore County and Baltimore City — sitting at 3.2%. Your employer withholds state and county together using the Comptroller's combined tables, so your stub may show one merged Maryland line even though two governments are taking a cut.
Stack the two layers and a typical suburban Marylander's marginal rate is about 4.75% + 3.2% ≈ 7.95% — suddenly comparable to states with much scarier reputations. It is the single most common reason a Maryland job offer disappoints: the offer letter quotes gross, the state takes its bracket, and the county quietly takes a second flat slice of almost the same income.
Two smaller Maryland features deserve fine print. The $3,200 personal exemption (per filer and dependent) also reduces your real bill, but it phases out once federal adjusted gross income passes $100,000 for a single filer — this calculator does not model it, so treat the estimate as slightly high at ordinary incomes and about right at high ones. And from 2025, Maryland adds a 2% surtax on capital gains for filers with federal AGI over $350,000 — irrelevant to a plain salary, very relevant to a startup exit.
Finally, the border matters. Virginia has reciprocity with Maryland, so a Virginia resident working in Maryland pays only Virginia; DC residents working in Maryland pay DC. Maryland residents working in DC pay Maryland (and their county) — the region's commuters all end up taxed at home, which is why the county rate follows you across the river.
Mistakes Maryland workers make
- Quoting the state rate as the whole Maryland tax. "4.75%" is only the state layer. Add your county's 2.25%–3.30% before comparing a Maryland offer with one in Virginia (top rate 5.75%, no county tax) — the ranking flips.
- Moving counties without re-running the number. Montgomery to Worcester County is a full percentage point of gross pay, every year. In Maryland, your address is a tax decision, not just a housing one.
- Missing the personal exemption in hand estimates. The $3,200 exemption per person is real money at the 4.75% bracket — about $152 per exemption — and it vanishes at higher incomes, which surprises people crossing $100,000 of AGI.
An example you can check
Take a $75,000 salary, single filer, no 401(k). Federal tax comes to $7,670. Social Security takes $4,650 and Medicare $1,088. Maryland state tax on $75,000 − $3,400 = $71,600 of taxable income is $3,349. Take-home: $58,244 a year, $2,240.15 every two weeks — before county tax. In a 3.2% county, roughly another $2,291 comes out over the year, leaving about $55,953.
File jointly on a $95,000 household salary: federal tax $7,040, FICA $7,268, state tax $4,137, take-home $76,556, or $2,944.44 per check, again before the county layer. Now add a 6% 401(k) and $3,000 of health premiums to the single $75,000 case. Federal tax falls to $6,020, state tax to $2,992, and you keep $52,980 while banking $4,500 for retirement. Watch what barely moved: FICA. Your 401(k) dodges income tax, never payroll tax.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Maryland county tax, and how much is it?
How much tax does Maryland take on $100,000 in total?
What changed in Maryland taxes under the 2025 budget act?
I live in Maryland but work in DC or Virginia. Where do I pay?
Why does my Maryland withholding look higher than the state brackets suggest?
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Sources & methodology
The 2026 federal and Maryland figures in this calculator come from official tax sources — the Comptroller of Maryland's 2026 employer withholding guide (standard deduction and combined tables) and the 2025 Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act brackets — and are documented on our methodology page. To see where each line lands on a real stub, read how to read your pay stub and what is taken from your gross pay.