Healthcare Social Workers in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,338
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$17,102
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,075
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
$76,440
Kept after tax
$59,338
Worth in national money
$57,075
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Maryland pays healthcare social workers a middle wage of $76,440, ranking 13 of 51 states and sitting about 12.61% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Maryland reports figures for, this is number 178.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $76,440, tax leaves $59,338 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $57,075 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $72,140.
- Maryland's median for healthcare social workers is $76,440, about 12.61% above the national figure and 13 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Maryland's occupational distribution, healthcare social workers sits at 178 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.
- After tax, $59,338 remains from the Maryland median of $76,440 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $57,075 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $72,140 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Healthcare Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,340 |
| This salary | $76,440 |
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 | $59,338 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,606 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,350 |
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 | $71,796 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,127 |
| 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 $76,440. The published range is $40,210 up to $96,340, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $59,338, from $76,440, 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 178 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,075 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 178.
- Reported values are medians; for healthcare social workers in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,210 to $96,340. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Maryland is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $59,338 from $76,440. 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 178 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,075, worked from $76,440, 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 178 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 $72,140, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $40,210 at the bottom tenth to $96,340 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 $57,075 rather than its face figure.
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 $59,338 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $72,140. 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 ($40,210) and the ninetieth ($96,340) 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 $57,075 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 $59,338 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.