Live in New York, work in Maryland
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Maryland takes
$2,486
on wages earned there
New York takes
$157
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,643
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itNew York charges more, so its credit covers everything Maryland takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the New York 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
- New York is the dearer of these two states, and that works in your favor here. Whatever Maryland takes out of your pay comes straight back off your New York bill. The total lands at $2,643, which is exactly what you would owe with a job at home. Do not mistake that for being untaxed by Maryland — it takes $2,486, and New York simply covers it.
- Counting only the larger flows, 7 states send workers into Maryland. New York comes in at number 7 with 6,830 jobs, so this crossing is common enough to be routine for payroll departments there.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Maryland takes its non-resident share first — $2,486 at the reference salary — and New York, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,643, identical to what an earner living and working in New York would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- Maryland draws commuters of this scale from 7 states, and New York ranks number 7 among them with 6,830 jobs. A work state pulling from that many directions tends to have a well-established non-resident filing routine, which is a practical convenience rather than a tax saving.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,453
- Yours$58,140
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.6% | $3,453 |
| Yours77.52% | $58,140 |
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
| Maryland takes, on wages earned there | $2,486 |
|---|---|
| New York charges its residents | $2,643 |
| Less the credit New York gives | $2,486 |
| Total state tax | $2,643 |
| If you also worked in New York | $2,643 |
| 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
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Maryland is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for New York residents.
- The figures take the simple case: one job, in Maryland, worked in person. Money from several states makes the credit a proportion instead of a cap. Working remotely from New York can pull you under a different rule entirely, depending on the state.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of New York and Maryland takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- 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 Maryland or New York carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Maryland and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, New York limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Maryland portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Maryland 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 New York to Maryland 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 Maryland'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 New York and Maryland?
Not twice over. Both states have a claim — Maryland because you earn the money there, New York because you live there — but New York gives you credit for what Maryland took. The credit stops at what New York would have charged on its own, so what you actually pay is the bigger of the two bills. Here that comes to $2,643 for the year.
Does working in Maryland cost me anything extra?
Nothing extra, on this route. You end the year owing $2,643, exactly what you would owe if the job were in New York. 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 New York and Maryland?
Usually yes, and it catches people out. New York wants a return because you live there. Maryland usually wants one too, because you earned money inside it — even in the cases where you end up owing it nothing. Filing in a state and paying it are separate things, and the return is often what proves you do not owe.
What if I work from home in New York some days instead of going to Maryland?
It depends on the state, and the answer is not the one most people expect. You might assume a day worked at your kitchen table in New York is taxed by New York. Usually that is right, and your Maryland share shrinks to the days you were actually there. But a few states tax days you work at home as though you had been in the office, unless your employer required you to be elsewhere. It is worth checking which kind Maryland is before assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Maryland on a source basis, New York 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, $2,643 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. New York's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Maryland's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,643. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Maryland.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. New York requires a resident return reporting all income; Maryland 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 New York fall outside Maryland'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 Maryland throughout.