How Maryland taxes a paycheck
Maryland's state schedule has ten brackets, but the first four are so narrow that 4.75% applies from $3,000 of taxable income, and 5% does not begin until $100,000 for a single filer ($150,000 married). The 2025 budget added two new top brackets, 6.25% above $500,000 and 6.5% above $1 million, the first rate increase since 2012. The standard deduction is 15% of income within a floor and ceiling, reaching a maximum of $3,350 single and $6,700 married, and the personal exemption is $3,200 per person, phasing out above $100,000.
The county tax is the larger half of a Maryland paycheck's state-and-local line. Each of the 23 counties and Baltimore City sets a rate on the same taxable income: 3.2% in Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's and Howard counties among others, 2.25% in Worcester, and every county at least 2.25%. It is collected by the state with the state tax and withheld together, so a Montgomery County resident's combined marginal rate on a $60,000 salary is 4.75% plus 3.2%, about 8%. The calculator excludes the county tax because it depends on residence; it is roughly $1,600 on $60,000 in a 3.2% county.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Maryland?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Maryland pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $2,490 in Maryland state income tax, leaving roughly $47,900 a year or $1,842 every two weeks before county tax. In a 3.2% county the local tax adds about $1,600, bringing the state-and-local share to about 6.8% of gross.
The combined figure matters for anyone comparing Maryland with Virginia or DC. Maryland's state tax alone looks moderate; with the county it is the highest of the three at most salaries.
Maryland compared with its neighbours
Maryland borders Delaware (2.2% to 6.6%), Pennsylvania (flat 3.07% plus local tax of about 1%), West Virginia (2.22% to 4.82%), Virginia (2% to 5.75%) and DC (4% to 10.75%). On a $60,000 single salary the state tax is about $2,490 in Maryland, $2,650 in Delaware, $1,840 in Pennsylvania, $1,970 in West Virginia, $2,640 in Virginia and $2,450 in DC.
Add local taxes and Maryland moves to the top: about $4,090 in a 3.2% county against Pennsylvania's roughly $2,440 with a 1% earned income tax, Virginia's $2,640 with none, and DC's $2,450 with none. The Virginia line through the Washington suburbs is where that difference is felt most; Montgomery and Fairfax counties face each other across the Potomac with a combined rate gap of about three points.
Withholding forms and filing status in Maryland
Maryland employers withhold from Form MW507, which asks for filing status, exemptions and the county of residence, because the county rate is applied in the same withholding calculation. Married couples filing jointly get wider brackets (5% from $150,000 rather than $100,000) and doubled deduction and exemptions, so a one-earner couple on $60,000 pays about $2,100 of state tax against a single filer's $2,490.
Maryland has reciprocal agreements with DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia: residents of those places working in Maryland pay only their home jurisdiction, and Maryland residents working there pay only Maryland (state and county both). Delaware is the exception among the neighbours; Maryland residents working in Wilmington file in both states.