Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$67,296
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$21,274
24.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,729
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
$88,570
Kept after tax
$67,296
Worth in national money
$64,729
State rank
4
of 51 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 $88,570, ranking 4 of 51 states and sitting about 29.73% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Maryland reports figures for, this is number 126.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $88,570 the take-home is $67,296. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $64,729 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $89,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maryland's median for librarians and media collections specialists is $88,570, about 29.73% above the national figure and 4 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, librarians and media collections specialists sits at 126 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $67,296 for librarians and media collections specialists, from $88,570. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,729. ⚠️ 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 $89,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,910 |
| This salary | $88,570 |
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 | $67,296 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,139 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,478 |
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 | $83,107 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,711 |
| 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 $88,570. The published range is $57,380 up to $123,910, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $67,296 take-home in Maryland comes from $88,570. 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 126 of 489.
- Two cautions on $64,729, the adjusted value of that $88,570 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maryland. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 126 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for librarians and media collections specialists in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $57,380 to $123,910. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $67,296, from $88,570, 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 126 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- This $64,729 adjusted figure, worked from $88,570, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 126 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 126 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $57,380 at the bottom tenth to $123,910 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $64,729 — 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 $67,296 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($57,380) and the ninetieth ($123,910) 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 $64,729 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 $67,296 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.