Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Maryland scores 105.0 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $78,719 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Maryland (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 105.0 | 8th of 51 |
| Rents | 121.1 | 10th of 51 |
| Goods | 102.5 | — |
| Other services | 101.6 | — |
Home electricity averaged 17.86 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $3.94 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 2,763,030 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Maryland, the median pay is $59,510 a year, or $28.61 an hour; that ranks 8th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $34,520 and one in ten more than $145,410.
Maryland taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 6.5%. The brackets in Maryland. A single filer on the median $59,510, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $47,222 a year, or $1,816 every two weeks, after $4,961 of federal income tax, $4,553 of Social Security and Medicare and $2,774 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in Maryland.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| General and Operations Managers | 96,740 | $117,930 |
| Retail Salespersons | 79,320 | $35,510 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 54,890 | $48,680 |
| Registered Nurses | 52,910 | $99,790 |
| Cashiers | 49,910 | $34,390 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are software developers ($138,680), general and operations managers ($117,930), project management specialists ($104,040). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 24 Maryland counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $424,677, and across the 19 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,940 a month. A typical home costs 3.59 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $3,320 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $142,302 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 8.3% of Maryland's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +1.0% over the past year and +17.9% over five years, and rents +2.8% over the past year.
The most expensive Maryland counties are Howard County ($639,961), Montgomery County ($619,247) and Queen Anne's County ($530,985); the least expensive are Allegany County ($159,568), Baltimore city ($186,140) and Somerset County ($205,096).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Maryland county, that comes to $55,685 a year for one adult and $118,537 for two adults and two children, of which $20,555 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $110,627.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,595 | $1,716 |
| Food | $12,834 | $1,070 |
| Transportation | $18,977 | $1,581 |
| Healthcare | $13,371 | $1,114 |
| Childcare | $20,555 | $1,713 |
| Other necessities | $10,395 | $866 |
| Taxes | $19,364 | $1,614 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 75 colleges in Maryland, 30 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $18,308 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $44,910. Compare degrees and schools.
| Allegany County | $159,568 | +3.8% | $1,020 | $71,767 | $93,239 |
| Anne Arundel County | $509,641 | +0.9% | $2,341 | $141,201 | $144,046 |
| Baltimore city | $186,140 | −3.0% | $1,803 | $73,681 | $113,700 |
| Baltimore County | $365,669 | +0.8% | $1,727 | $113,535 | $131,848 |
| Calvert County | $488,965 | +1.4% | $2,430 | $150,587 | $137,457 |
| Caroline County | $332,511 | +0.6% | — | $79,803 | $95,886 |
| Carroll County | $498,011 | +1.1% | $1,813 | $139,997 | $128,361 |
| Cecil County | $387,213 | +1.2% | $1,846 | $107,719 | $116,815 |
| Charles County | $451,805 | −1.2% | $2,395 | $135,570 | $137,605 |
| Dorchester County | $272,255 | +1.2% | — | $80,558 | $90,953 |
| Frederick County | $505,026 | −0.1% | $2,238 | $140,657 | $134,438 |
| Garrett County | $339,911 | +1.7% | — | $84,398 | $90,717 |
| Harford County | $423,476 | +1.0% | $1,897 | $131,355 | $133,492 |
| Howard County | $639,961 | +0.2% | $2,396 | $174,263 | $164,991 |
| Kent County | $392,199 | +2.1% | — | $104,630 | $98,499 |
| Montgomery County | $619,247 | −1.1% | $2,334 | $158,399 | $158,537 |
| Prince George's County | $430,494 | −0.8% | $1,940 | $118,434 | $132,262 |
| Queen Anne's County | $530,985 | +2.0% | $2,228 | $130,657 | $127,605 |
| Somerset County | $205,096 | +3.3% | — | $70,366 | $96,643 |
| St. Mary's County | $437,878 | +3.2% | $1,919 | $133,566 | $120,259 |
| Talbot County | $495,616 | −0.2% | $2,239 | $106,439 | $103,254 |
| Washington County | $331,982 | +1.0% | $1,437 | $92,568 | $101,216 |
| Wicomico County | $276,091 | +1.9% | $1,584 | $90,334 | $100,601 |
| Worcester County | $425,877 | −1.7% | $2,125 | $102,724 | $101,926 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
Washington, DC (typical rent $2,456), Philadelphia, PA (typical rent $1,925), Baltimore, MD (typical rent $1,946).
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Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs
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County figures are medians across Maryland's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.