Maryland's state income tax takes $3,672 from an $85,000 salary, which is unremarkable — it sits near California and Colorado in the national middle.
Then every single county adds its own income tax on top, at rates from 2.25% to 3.30%, and at a typical 3.20% that is roughly $2,509 more.
Maryland is the only state where the local income tax question has no exceptions. Ohio has townships with no municipal tax. New York has exactly two taxing localities and none anywhere else. In Maryland, every county and Baltimore City levies one, and there is nowhere to live that avoids it.
Ignoring it understates a Maryland tax bill by roughly a third.
A note before you start. This is general education, not tax advice. Federal figures are tax year 2026, from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the Social Security Administration; Maryland's brackets and its county rates come from this site's own sourced 50-state dataset, which cites the Comptroller of Maryland's own Withholding Tax Facts for 2026. Every dollar figure computed by the site's engine is on a single filer taking each jurisdiction's standard deduction with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals unless stated. County income taxes are named here but never included in any total — see section 3.
1. The state tax: ten brackets that mostly do not matter
Maryland has ten brackets, the second-most of any state after Hawaii's twelve. They look impressive and they do less than the count suggests.
| Rate | Starts at (single) | Starts at (joint) |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | $0 | $0 |
| 3% | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 4% | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| 4.75% | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| 5% | $100,000 | $150,000 |
| 5.25% | $125,000 | $175,000 |
| 5.5% | $150,000 | $225,000 |
| 5.75% | $250,000 | $300,000 |
| 6.25% | $500,000 | $600,000 |
| 6.5% | $1,000,000 | $1,200,000 |
Four rate changes happen below $3,000 of taxable income, and then nothing happens until $100,000.
The practical consequence: essentially every Maryland worker below $100,000 is in the 4.75% bracket, and the brackets beneath it are so narrow they are close to decorative. The spread from 5% to 6.5% across the top six brackets is only 1.5 percentage points, spread over income from $100,000 to $1 million.
Maryland's structure looks graduated and behaves almost like a flat 4.75% tax for the large majority of filers.
The deductions
Maryland allows a $3,400 standard deduction for a single filer and a $3,200 personal exemption, both far below the federal $16,100. Joint filers get $6,800 and the same $3,200 exemption.
That combination means Maryland taxable income is substantially higher than federal taxable income on the same salary — which is why a 4.75% rate produces $3,672.
2. What the state takes across incomes
| Salary | Maryland state tax | Marginal rate | Take-home (before county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $1,772 | 4.75% | $36,566 |
| $60,000 | $2,484 | 4.75% | $47,906 |
| $85,000 | $3,672 | 4.75% | $64,956 |
| $120,000 | $5,368 | 5% | $87,883 |
| $175,000 | $8,448 | 5.5% | $122,431 |
The marginal rate is 4.75% at the first three rows, which is most Maryland workers.
Run your own salary against Maryland's brackets3. Every county, and there is no exception
This is the part that changes the answer.
Every Maryland county and Baltimore City levies a local income tax. Not most. Not the urban ones. All of them.
The 2026 range runs from 2.25% in Worcester County to 3.30% in Dorchester and Kent, against a statutory maximum of 3.30% that took effect for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.
Two counties changed for 2026: Allegany rose from 3.03% to 3.20%, and Kent from 3.20% to 3.30%.
The mechanism people get wrong
The local tax is computed on Maryland taxable income, not as a percentage of the state tax.
This is the single commonest error. A 3.20% county rate is not 3.20% of your $3,672 state bill — which would be $117. It is 3.20% of your Maryland taxable income, which on an $85,000 salary is roughly $2,509.
Getting this wrong understates the county tax by a factor of more than twenty.
What it does to the total
| Amount on $85,000 | |
|---|---|
| Maryland state income tax | $3,672 |
| County tax at 3.20% | ≈$2,509 |
| Combined state and local | ≈$6,181 |
The county adds roughly two thirds again on top of the state figure. A Maryland worker's real income tax burden is around 7.2% of gross, not the 4.3% the state figure alone implies.
That combined figure would put Maryland close to Oregon — the most expensive state in the country on state tax alone — which is a very different picture from the mid-table position the state number suggests.
4. Two counties that have no single rate
Anne Arundel and Frederick both use bracketed local rates, which means no flat figure can represent either. This is unusual — most local income taxes anywhere in the country are flat.
Anne Arundel for 2026:
| Maryland taxable net income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $1 – $50,000 | 2.70% |
| $50,001 – $400,000 | 2.94% |
| Above $400,000 | 3.20% |
For married-joint, head-of-household and qualifying surviving spouse filers the same three rates apply at breakpoints of $75,000 and $480,000.
Frederick for 2026:
| Maryland taxable net income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $25,000 | 2.25% |
| $25,001 – $50,000 | 2.75% |
| $50,001 – $150,000 | 2.96% |
| $150,001 and above | 3.20% |
For married-joint, head-of-household and qualifying surviving spouse filers the bands are 2.25% to $25,000, 2.75% to $100,000, 2.96% to $250,000, and 3.20% above $250,000.
If you live in either county, a single quoted rate is wrong for you, and which band you fall in depends on your Maryland taxable income and your filing status.
5. The full picture on $85,000
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $85,000 |
| Federal income tax | −$9,870 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$5,270 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$1,233 |
| Maryland state income tax | −$3,672 |
| Take-home before county tax | $64,956 |
| County tax at 3.20%, not included | ≈−$2,509 |
| Take-home after | ≈$62,447 |
The county line is larger than the difference between most pairs of states in this entire series. It is roughly $209 a month, and it is invisible in every take-home calculator that asks only for your state.
6. Where Maryland really ranks
On the state figure alone, $3,672 places Maryland 28th of the 41 income-tax states — just above California ($3,660) and just below Utah ($3,685).
Add a typical county rate and the picture changes completely:
| State (combined where applicable) | Tax on $85,000 |
|---|---|
| Oregon | $6,864 |
| Maryland (state + 3.20% county) | ≈$6,181 |
| Hawaii | $4,656 |
| Minnesota | $4,257 |
| New York (outside NYC) | $3,993 |
| California | $3,660 |
| Ohio (state only) | $1,621 |
Maryland moves from tenth-ish to second, behind only Oregon. And unlike Ohio or Pennsylvania, where you can live in a township or a low-rate municipality, there is no Maryland county without a local income tax.
This is why Maryland's reputation as a high-tax state is better earned than its state-level rate suggests, and why comparing states on their state rate alone systematically flatters it.
7. Reducing what Maryland takes
Pre-tax deferrals reduce both the state and the county tax. Maryland starts from federal adjusted gross income, so a traditional 401(k) contribution lowers Maryland taxable income — and because the county tax is computed on that same figure, the deferral saves at the combined rate.
A $10,000 deferral at a 4.75% state rate plus a 3.20% county rate saves roughly $795 in Maryland tax, on top of the federal saving. That is a materially better return than in a state with no local layer, and it is one of the few places where the county tax works in your favour.
HSA contributions add the FICA saving on top, through payroll under a cafeteria plan — 7.65% that a 401(k) deferral does not touch.
Check your county's specific rate, and if you are in Anne Arundel or Frederick, which band you fall in. It is published by the Comptroller and appears on your pay stub.
8. Retirement in Maryland
Maryland does not tax Social Security benefits.
It does tax distributions from 401(k), 403(b) and traditional IRA accounts, subject to a pension exclusion available to older taxpayers meeting age and disability conditions, which shelters a capped amount of qualifying retirement income. There is also a separate subtraction available to certain retired public safety personnel.
The county income tax applies to retirement income to the extent the state taxes it, so a retiree in a 3.20% county faces the combined burden on whatever is not excluded.
The shape: Maryland is generous on Social Security, partially generous on other retirement income for those who qualify for the exclusion, and applies the county layer to whatever remains.
9. Moving within Maryland
Because every county levies and the rates differ, moving within Maryland is a tax decision in a way it is not in most states.
The spread from 2.25% (Worcester) to 3.30% (Dorchester, Kent) is 1.05 percentage points. On $85,000 of Maryland taxable income that is roughly $823 a year between the cheapest and most expensive county.
That is real money and it is smaller than most housing differences between counties — the honest framing being that the county rate belongs in a relocation comparison and rarely decides it.
Two practical points:
Your county is determined by where you live, not where you work. Unlike Ohio's municipal system, Maryland's local income tax follows residence. A commuter into Baltimore City pays their home county's rate.
Rates change. Two counties moved for 2026 and the statutory maximum itself moved for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. If you last checked your county's rate a few years ago, it may have moved since.
10. Moving to or from Maryland
Compare combined, not state. Maryland's state figure looks mid-table and its combined figure is near the top. Anyone comparing Maryland to Virginia, Pennsylvania or Delaware on state rate alone is comparing the smaller number — though Pennsylvania and Delaware both have local layers of their own.
Virginia is the natural comparison for the DC suburbs, and it takes $4,073 at $85,000 with no county income tax layer — more than Maryland's state figure, and less than Maryland's combined one. That reverses the usual assumption about which side of the Potomac is cheaper.
DC itself is a separate jurisdiction with its own income tax and its own rates, and neither Maryland's nor Virginia's figures describe it.
Reciprocity exists with several neighbours covering state income tax for commuters, and as everywhere it does not touch local taxes.
11. The DC-area comparison, done properly
Maryland's densest population sits in the Washington DC suburbs, where a worker can plausibly live in Maryland, Virginia or the District — and where the tax comparison is done wrong more often than anywhere else in the country.
At $85,000, on state figures alone:
| State income tax | |
|---|---|
| Virginia | $4,073 |
| Maryland (state only) | $3,672 |
| Maryland (state + 3.20% county) | ≈$6,181 |
On the state number, Maryland looks cheaper than Virginia. It is not. Virginia has no county income tax layer, so its $4,073 is the complete answer. Maryland's $3,672 is roughly 60% of the answer.
Once the county is added, a Montgomery or Prince George's County resident pays around $2,100 more than a Fairfax County resident on the same salary — a reversal of what the state comparison implies, and a substantial annual figure for two people who may work in the same building.
The District is a third jurisdiction with its own graduated income tax and its own rates, and neither Maryland's nor Virginia's figures describe it.
The practical rule for anyone in this metro: there is no valid two-way comparison here. It is a three-way one, and Maryland's must be quoted with its county included or it is simply the wrong number.
12. Why "roughly a third" understates it
The conventional shorthand — that Maryland's county tax adds about a third — comes from comparing rates: a 3.20% county rate against a 4.75% state marginal rate is about two thirds, and against the state's effective rate it looks smaller still.
Run it in dollars and the honest figure is larger. At $85,000:
| Amount | Share of the combined bill | |
|---|---|---|
| State | $3,672 | 59% |
| County at 3.20% | $2,509 | 41% |
| Combined | $6,181 | 100% |
The county is 41% of a Maryland worker's income tax bill. Not a third, and not a rounding item — it is close to half.
Two reasons the shorthand undersells it. The county tax has no equivalent of the state's graduated bottom brackets, so it applies at its full rate to essentially all Maryland taxable income. And it is computed on the same base as the state tax without its own deduction, so nothing shelters it separately.
This is why a Maryland figure quoted without its county is not merely imprecise. It is missing two fifths of the answer, and it is the single largest omission any state-level take-home calculator makes anywhere in the country — because unlike Ohio or Pennsylvania, there is no Maryland resident for whom the omission is zero.
Frequently asked questions
What is Maryland's income tax rate? Ten state brackets from 2% to 6.5%, but four rate changes happen below $3,000 of taxable income and nothing then changes until $100,000 — so most Maryland workers are in the 4.75% bracket. Every county adds 2.25% to 3.30% on top.
How much is take-home pay on $85,000 in Maryland? $64,956 for a single filer before county tax, after $9,870 federal income tax, $6,503 FICA and $3,672 Maryland state tax. At a 3.20% county rate the county takes roughly $2,509 more, bringing take-home to about $62,447.
Which Maryland counties have a local income tax? All of them, plus Baltimore City. There is no county in Maryland where the state figure is the complete answer — which distinguishes it from Ohio, where townships levy none, and New York, where only two localities do.
Is the county tax a percentage of my state tax? No, and this is the commonest error. It is computed on Maryland taxable income. A 3.20% county rate on $85,000 of salary works out to roughly $2,509 on Maryland taxable income, not 3.20% of the $3,672 state bill.
What are the highest and lowest county rates? For 2026, Worcester at 2.25% and Dorchester and Kent at 3.30%, against a statutory maximum of 3.30% effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. Allegany rose to 3.20% and Kent to 3.30% for 2026.
Why do Anne Arundel and Frederick not have a single rate? Both use bracketed local rates rather than a flat one, with bands that differ by filing status. A single quoted figure is false for either, which is why this site does not publish one for them.
Does my county depend on where I work? No — Maryland's local income tax follows residence. A commuter into Baltimore City pays their home county's rate, unlike Ohio's system where work location matters too.
Is a 401(k) contribution worth more in Maryland? Yes. Because the county tax is computed on the same Maryland taxable income the state tax uses, a deferral saves at the combined rate — roughly $795 on a $10,000 deferral at 4.75% state plus 3.20% county, on top of the federal saving.
Does Maryland tax Social Security? No. Maryland fully exempts Social Security benefits. It does tax 401(k), 403(b) and traditional IRA distributions, subject to a pension exclusion available to older taxpayers who meet age or disability conditions, and the county tax applies to whatever the state taxes.
How much does moving between Maryland counties save? The 2026 spread runs from 2.25% in Worcester to 3.30% in Dorchester and Kent — 1.05 percentage points, or roughly $823 a year on $85,000 of Maryland taxable income. Real, and smaller than most housing differences between those counties.
Is Maryland cheaper than Virginia? Not once the county tax is counted. Virginia takes $4,073 at $85,000 with no local income tax layer. Maryland takes $3,672 from the state plus roughly $2,509 from a 3.20% county — about $2,100 more in total. The state-only comparison reverses the real answer.
What to do next
Maryland is the state where the local figure is least optional, because there is no county without one. Find your county's rate and add it to every state figure you see.
- Maryland take-home pay calculator — every deduction separated, with the county tax named rather than guessed.
- Your Paycheck in the USA in 2026 — all fifty states on one salary.
- Take-Home Pay in Pennsylvania — the other state where local tax is nearly universal.
- Maryland rent affordability — what the take-home actually supports.
- 50/30/20 budget calculator — built on take-home rather than salary.
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.
Figures in this article are illustrations computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026, on a single filer taking each jurisdiction's standard deduction with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals unless stated. Federal figures come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the Social Security Administration; Maryland figures from this site's sourced 50-state dataset, citing the Comptroller of Maryland's 2026 Withholding Tax Facts. County income taxes are named but never included in any total; county figures quoted here are illustrative applications of the published rate to Maryland taxable income rather than a full county return. This is general education and not tax advice; for your own situation consult a licensed tax professional.