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Maryland Paycheck Calculator

Reviewed Sep 29, 2026 IRS Pub 15-T 2026, Maryland Comptroller How we verify

Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. General information; laws vary by state. Terms of use

Maryland paycheck calculator for tax year 2026: take-home pay and what the employer pays, per paycheck and per year. Maryland withholds state tax on a bracket schedule that starts at 4.75% and tops out at 6.5%, plus a county or Baltimore City income tax set by where the employee lives, after a standard deduction of $3,400 and $3,200 for each exemption on Form MW507 (2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (effective January 2026, revised December 2025); Maryland Code, Tax-General Article, section 10-105 (State income tax rates)). Figures checked on September 29, 2026; the result is an estimate, not tax advice.

Take-home pay and employer cost

How the pay is set
USD per paycheck

Federal Form W-4

Step 2: two jobs or a working spouse
Other Form W-4 entries and pre-tax deductions (optional)Defaults used: every amount 0
USD per year
USD per year
USD per year
USD per paycheck
USD per paycheck
USD per paycheck

Maryland: Form MW507

Local tax follows where the employee lives, not where the job is. An employee who lives in another state and works in Maryland picks nonresident.
Other Maryland Form MW507 entries (optional)Defaults used: Single rate (single, married filing separately, or dependent); 1 exemption
The joint rate is for employees who expect to file a joint return or qualify as head of household.
exemptions
With no Form MW507 on file the employer withholds as if one exemption were claimed. High earners claim fewer, as the worksheet on the form explains.
USD per paycheck
Optional. An extra dollar amount agreed with the employer on Form MW507.

Example: $2,000.00 gross pay per paycheck, paid every two weeks (26 paychecks a year), single, with the default MW507 entries below

Take-home pay

$1,552.03 per paycheck

$40,352.78 per year

Employee lines
LinePer paycheckPer year
Gross pay$2,000.00$52,000.00
Federal income tax withholding$156.15$4,059.90
Social Security$124.00$3,224.00
Medicare$29.00$754.00
Maryland state income tax withholding$82.94$2,156.44
Maryland local income tax withholding (Montgomery County)$55.88$1,452.88
Take-home pay$1,552.03$40,352.78

What the employer pays

$2,217.00 per paycheck

$56,241.00 per year

Employer lines
LinePer paycheckPer year
Gross pay$2,000.00$52,000.00
Social Security (employer match)$124.00$3,224.00
Medicare (employer match)$29.00$754.00
Federal unemployment (FUTA)$12.00$42.00
State unemployment (new-employer rate)$52.00$221.00
Total employer cost$2,217.00$56,241.00

Sources: IRS Pub 15-T 2026 and Maryland Comptroller, checked September 29, 2026. Estimate for tax year 2026. Not tax advice.

What you type stays in this browser: the numbers are computed on this page, and we never receive or store them. A result link holds only the numbers and choices of the form.

How Maryland taxes a paycheck

The calculator applies the IRS Publication 15-T percentage method and, for Maryland, the Percentage method of withholding, 2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (state schedule from 4.75% plus the local rate chart of the county of residence) of the Comptroller of Maryland, in effect for wages paid from January 1, 2026. Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 a year and Medicare 1.45% of all wages (plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000 a year), and the employer pays Social Security and Medicare again at the same rates (Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide). The oldest Maryland document behind these figures was checked on September 29, 2026.

Maryland folds state and local income tax into a single withholding figure. The Comptroller publishes a chart for each local rate, and every chart combines the state brackets with that local rate. The employer takes wages for the period, subtracts the standard deduction allowance and the value of the exemptions for the period, and reads the combined withholding from the chart for the county where the employee lives. The standard deduction for this purpose is $3,400 a year, and each exemption is worth $3,200 (2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (effective January 2026, revised December 2025)).

The state part ignores the low brackets of the tax return and starts at 4.75%. Higher brackets apply above certain income levels, and the legislature added new top brackets in the previous year's session, reaching 6.5% on the highest incomes. The joint rate schedule, used by married couples filing jointly and heads of household, has wider brackets. Form MW507 tells the employer the number of exemptions; with no form on file the employer applies the default exemption count set by the guide (2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (effective January 2026, revised December 2025); Maryland Code, Tax-General Article, section 10-105 (State income tax rates)).

Every county and Baltimore City levy their own income tax, and Maryland collects it through the same paycheck. The most common local rate is 3.2%, charged in half of the local areas, Baltimore City among them; Dorchester and Kent charge 3.3%, the highest local rate for the year, and the other counties charge less, except Anne Arundel and Frederick, whose rate depends on income. The charts come in a set of fixed local rates, so a county whose rate falls between charts is withheld at the next higher chart. Anne Arundel and Frederick use income brackets for their local tax, so their rate depends on the size of the income (2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (effective January 2026, revised December 2025)).

Someone who lives in another state and works in Maryland pays no county tax, but the paycheck still carries a special nonresident tax at the lowest local rate. Pre-tax retirement plan deferrals and cafeteria plan premiums come out before any of this, because Maryland follows the federal definition of wages. Maryland family and medical leave insurance has been enacted but contributions start only next January, so nothing is taken for it from paychecks this year.

The employer's side in Maryland

A Maryland employer withholds state and local tax together from the same taxable wages, so the county of residence of each employee must be kept current in payroll. The employer cost is state unemployment insurance, paid to the Maryland Department of Labor on a short wage base per employee at the new employer rate until the account earns its own rate. Family and medical leave contributions, split between employer and employee, begin next January.

Every employer also owes federal unemployment tax (FUTA): 6% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages a year. With the full 5.4% credit for state unemployment tax paid on time, the net rate is 0.6%, at most $42 per employee a year (IRS Topic no. 759, Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return).

In Maryland, a new employer pays state unemployment tax at 2.6% on the first $8,500 of each employee's wages a year (U.S. DOL, Office of Unemployment Insurance: Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, effective July 2026). Later the rate follows the employer's own record, so the line in the result is the starting cost, not a fixed one.

Payday and final pay rules in Maryland

  • How often wages are paid: Employers must set regular pay periods and pay each employee at least once every 2 weeks or twice each month (bi-weekly or semi-monthly); administrative, executive or professional employees may be paid less frequently. Maryland payday law (DOL WHD State Payday Requirements table), checked September 27, 2026
  • Final pay after a firing: When employment ends, the employer must pay all wages due for work performed before termination on or before the day the employee would have been paid had the employment not ended. Md. Code, Labor and Employment § 3-505(a), checked September 24, 2026
  • Final pay after a resignation: When employment ends, the employer must pay all wages due for work performed before termination on or before the day the employee would have been paid had the employment not ended. Md. Code, Labor and Employment § 3-505(a), checked September 24, 2026

The full Maryland rules, with each law quoted: Maryland employment rules. The date a final paycheck is due for a given last day: final paycheck calculator.

Worked examples

Three pay levels for a single filer paid every two weeks, with the default entries of the form, computed with the same code as the calculator.

Gross pay per paycheckFederal income tax per paycheckSocial Security and Medicare per paycheckMaryland deductions per paycheckTake-home pay per paycheckEmployer cost per paycheck
$1,200.00$60.15$91.80$75.22$972.83$1,330.20
$2,500.00$216.15$191.25$178.57$1,914.03$2,771.25
$5,000.00$766.69$382.50$379.57$3,471.24$5,542.50

At $2,500.00 per paycheck the employee takes home $49,764.78 per year, and the employer spends $70,235.50 per year on that job before benefits.

Full time at the Maryland minimum wage of $15.00 per hour (Maryland minimum wage law (DOL WHD state minimum wage table, updated July 1, 2026), checked September 27, 2026), 40 hours per week, is $1,200.00 per paycheck every two weeks: $972.83 per paycheck take-home, and $1,330.20 per paycheck for the employer.

Method and sources

Federal figures used on every Pay Desk page:

  • Per paycheck and per year. Per paycheck is one paycheck early in the year, before any yearly wage base is reached; per year is the full year at this pay with every wage base applied (Social Security, unemployment tax and any capped state contribution).
  • Forms W-4 from before 2020. Not covered: the federal line follows Worksheet 1A for the 2020 and later form.
  • Tax year 2027. When this page was checked (September 29, 2026) the IRS had not published the 2027 withholding tables (IRS page of forms and publications posted before release), so the calculator stays on tax year 2026.
  • What it leaves out. Local taxes the form does not ask for, workers' compensation insurance, benefits the employer pays, and supplemental pay such as bonuses.

Questions people ask

Why is Maryland withholding higher than the state rate alone?

Because each paycheck also carries the county or Baltimore City income tax. The state part starts at 4.75% and the local part is added on the same taxable wages (2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (effective January 2026, revised December 2025)).

Which county rate applies if I live and work in different counties?

The county where you live. Maryland local income tax follows residence, so the county of the job does not matter.

I live in another state and work in Maryland. Is county tax withheld?

No county tax, but a special nonresident tax at the lowest local rate is withheld along with the state tax, unless your home state has a reciprocal agreement with Maryland.

How many exemptions can I claim on Form MW507?

Usually an exemption each for yourself, your spouse and every dependent, each worth $3,200 a year. Above certain income levels the value of an exemption shrinks, and the worksheet on the form reduces the count (2026 Maryland Employer Withholding Guide (effective January 2026, revised December 2025)).

Is Maryland FAMLI taken out of paychecks this year?

No. Maryland family and medical leave contributions begin next January; until then no FAMLI amount is withheld.

Where this goes next

ToolHourly to salary calculatorRulebookMaryland employment rulesTemplateOffer letter template with the pay in writing

General information, not legal advice. Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. This page is for general information only and isn’t legal, financial or tax advice. Laws vary by state and change; check the official source or talk to a qualified professional about your situation. Report an error