Chefs and Head Cooks in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,106
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$12,484
20.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,233
Maryland costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maryland — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$61,590
Kept after tax
$49,106
Worth in national money
$47,233
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maryland is 26 of 51 states for chefs and head cooks, with a middle wage of $61,590. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Maryland reports figures for, this is number 257.
- Maryland is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $61,590 the take-home is $49,106; in national-average money that behaves like $47,233. The average comes to $65,930, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maryland ranks 26 of 51 for chefs and head cooks at $61,590. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Maryland's occupational distribution, chefs and head cooks sits at 257 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Take-home for chefs and head cooks in Maryland, on $61,590, is $49,106; deflated by the state's price level, $47,233. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $65,930 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chefs and Head Cooks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,330 |
| This salary | $61,590 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Maryland | $49,106 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,937 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $58,402 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,180 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,590 as a midpoint for Maryland, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,310 and the ninetieth is $100,330 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maryland's $49,106, worked from $61,590. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 257 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maryland, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,233, the adjusted value of that $61,590 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 257 of 489 in the state.
- The Maryland median of $61,590 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,310 to $100,330. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Maryland take-home of $49,106, on $61,590 for work ranking 257 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 257 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maryland, so $47,233 — the adjusted value of that $61,590 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 257 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $65,930, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,310 at the bottom tenth to $100,330 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Maryland costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $47,233 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Maryland's own levy, $49,106 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Maryland is $65,930. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($38,310) and the ninetieth ($100,330) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Maryland's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $47,233 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $49,106 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maryland income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.