Counter and Rental Clerks in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,398
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$7,092
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,162
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
$39,490
Kept after tax
$32,398
Worth in national money
$31,162
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maryland is 24 of 51 states for counter and rental clerks, with a middle wage of $39,490. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Maryland this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, counter and rental clerks ranks 430. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $39,490, tax leaves $32,398 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $31,162 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $46,400, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maryland ranks 24 of 51 for counter and rental clerks at $39,490. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Maryland reports, counter and rental clerks ranks 430 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After tax, $32,398 remains from the Maryland median of $39,490 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $31,162 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $46,400 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Counter and Rental Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,730 |
| This salary | $39,490 |
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 | $32,398 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,910 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,734 |
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 | $37,608 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,515 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maryland earn less than $39,490. The published range is $33,080 up to $71,730, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,398 take-home in Maryland comes from $39,490. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 430 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,162 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 430.
- Reported values are medians; for counter and rental clerks in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,080 to $71,730. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,398, from $39,490, assumes a single Maryland filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 430 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,162, worked from $39,490, 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 430 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $46,400, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $33,080, the highest tenth $71,730, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $31,162 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, $32,398 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 $46,400. 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 ($33,080) and the ninetieth ($71,730) 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 $31,162 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 $32,398 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.