Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,054
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$6,336
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,908
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
$36,390
Kept after tax
$30,054
Worth in national money
$28,908
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Maryland pays this job around $36,390 at the midpoint, 21 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Measured against other jobs in Maryland, this one sits low: 464 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $36,390 the take-home is $30,054. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,908 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $40,260, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cleaners of vehicles and equipment the Maryland median is $36,390, ranking 21 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Cleaners of vehicles and equipment occupies position 464 of 489 in Maryland's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $30,054 for cleaners of vehicles and equipment, from $36,390. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,908. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $40,260 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,130 |
| This salary | $36,390 |
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 | $30,054 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,419 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,425 |
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 | $34,691 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,142 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of cleaners of vehicles and equipment in Maryland earn under $36,390 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $56,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maryland's $30,054, worked from $36,390. 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 464 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,908 uses one figure for the whole of Maryland. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 464.
- Figures are distribution medians for cleaners of vehicles and equipment in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $56,130; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Maryland take-home of $30,054, on $36,390 for work ranking 464 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 464 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,908, worked from $36,390, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Maryland address, on work sitting at 464 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $40,260 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $56,130 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $28,908 of national purchasing power.
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, $30,054 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 $40,260. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $56,130) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maryland rather than a national figure.
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 $28,908 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 $30,054 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.