Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$81,598
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$28,912
26.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,486
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
$110,510
Kept after tax
$81,598
Worth in national money
$78,486
State rank
6
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Maryland pays this job a middle wage of $110,510, ranking 6 of 50 states and sitting about 8.43% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Maryland. It ranks 69 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Maryland is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $110,510 the take-home is $81,598; in national-average money that behaves like $78,486. The average comes to $114,240, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maryland's median for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers is $110,510, about 8.43% above the national figure and 6 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Maryland, geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers ranks 69 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Take-home for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Maryland, on $110,510, is $81,598; deflated by the state's price level, $78,486. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $114,240 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $110,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $185,220 |
| This salary | $110,510 |
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 | $81,598 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,574 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,604 |
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 | $103,437 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,648 |
| 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 geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Maryland earn under $110,510 and half over. The published range runs $63,250 at the tenth percentile to $185,220 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $81,598, from $110,510, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 69 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maryland, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $78,486, the adjusted value of that $110,510 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 69 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $63,250 to $185,220; 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.
- Take-home for Maryland is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $81,598 from $110,510. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 69 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maryland, so $78,486 — the adjusted value of that $110,510 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 69 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 $114,240 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $63,250, the highest tenth $185,220, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Maryland run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $78,486 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Maryland adds its own income tax on top — which is why $81,598 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $114,240. 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 ($63,250) and the ninetieth ($185,220) 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 $78,486 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 $81,598 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.