Live in Maryland, work in District of Columbia
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
District of Columbia takes
$0
on wages earned there
Maryland takes
$2,486
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,486
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
cannot be taxedDistrict of Columbia is barred by Congress from taxing anyone who lives outside it. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Maryland bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Commuting into the District from Maryland is unusual in one respect. Almost every state taxes people who work inside it. The District is barred from doing that by Congress, for everyone who lives elsewhere. Your whole bill is Maryland's, and it comes to $2,486 a year.
- More people make this crossing than any other into District of Columbia. About 259,035 jobs there are held by people living in Maryland — the biggest of the 2 routes of this size into the state. Whatever this page says about the tax, it is describing a very well-worn road.
- The District of Columbia cannot tax this commuter, and the reason is not an agreement between neighbors but an Act of Congress. The Home Rule Act forbids the Council from imposing "any tax on the whole or any portion of the personal income, either directly or at the source thereof, of any individual not a resident of the District" — the citation sits beside this page. Maryland therefore taxes these wages alone, at $2,486 for the reference salary, and no resident credit arises because there is no District liability to credit. ⚠️ The same prohibition protects every non-resident, not only Maryland residents — the reciprocity agreements the District holds with Maryland and Virginia sit on top of a bar that already applies.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into District of Columbia, this is the largest single flow: 259,035 jobs held by Maryland residents, ahead of all 2 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in District of Columbia appears twice.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,199
- Yours$58,394
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.27% | $3,199 |
| Yours77.86% | $58,394 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| District of Columbia takes, on wages earned there | $0 |
|---|---|
| Maryland charges its residents | $2,486 |
| Less the credit Maryland gives | $0 |
| Total state tax | $2,486 |
| If you also worked in Maryland | $2,486 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- One thing this page leaves out: city taxes. Some cities charge their own tax on people who work there, and it sits on top of everything above. Philadelphia is the well-known one. New York City only charges its own residents, so commuting in adds nothing. Check whether the city you work in is one that charges, because the District of Columbia state figure is not the whole story if it does.
- These numbers assume the job in District of Columbia is your only income, and that you actually go there to work. Both matter. If you earn money in more than one state, the credit Maryland gives is worked out as a share rather than the simple cap used here. And if you work from home some days, some states have rules that treat those days as worked at the office anyway.
- Every dollar figure here uses a salary of sixty thousand a year. It is a stated benchmark, not a guess at what people on this route earn. Scale them to your own pay. Which state ends up dearer, Maryland or District of Columbia, generally holds at other salaries — though the gap between them can widen or narrow as you cross tax brackets.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether District of Columbia or Maryland carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in District of Columbia and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Maryland limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the District of Columbia portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in District of Columbia rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Maryland to District of Columbia comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in District of Columbia's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Maryland and District of Columbia?
You file in both states, but you do not pay the full amount to both. Maryland credits the tax District of Columbia collected, capped at its own charge on that income. The practical result is one bill at the higher of the two levels: $2,486 for the year.
Does working in District of Columbia cost me anything extra?
Nothing extra, on this route. You end the year owing $2,486, exactly what you would owe if the job were in Maryland. That is not true of every crossing — plenty of them do cost money — but this one does not. What it does cost you is time at tax filing, because two states may each want a return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Maryland and District of Columbia?
Expect two. Living in Maryland means filing there on everything you earn. Working in District of Columbia usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Maryland some days instead of going to District of Columbia?
Normally, days worked at home in Maryland belong to Maryland, and only the days you spend in District of Columbia are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check District of Columbia's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — District of Columbia on a source basis, Maryland on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,486 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Maryland's own charge on this income equals or exceeds District of Columbia's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,486. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in District of Columbia.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Maryland requires a resident return reporting all income; District of Columbia requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Maryland fall outside District of Columbia's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in District of Columbia throughout.