Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,718
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$9,132
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,242
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
$47,850
Kept after tax
$38,718
Worth in national money
$37,242
State rank
14
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 $47,850, ranking 14 of 51 states and sitting about 4.18% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Maryland reports figures for, this is number 354.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $47,850, tax leaves $38,718 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $37,242 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $49,350, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maryland's median for medical secretaries and administrative assistants is $47,850, about 4.18% above the national figure and 14 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, medical secretaries and administrative assistants sits at 354 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, $38,718 remains from the Maryland median of $47,850 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $37,242 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $49,350 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,750 |
| This salary | $47,850 |
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 | $38,718 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,627 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,567 |
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 | $45,474 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,523 |
| 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 $47,850. The published range is $38,070 up to $61,750, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maryland's $38,718, worked from $47,850. 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 354 of 489.
- Two cautions on $37,242, the adjusted value of that $47,850 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 354 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,070 to $61,750. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maryland take-home of $38,718, on $47,850 for work ranking 354 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 354 of 489 in the state.
- This $37,242 adjusted figure, worked from $47,850, 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 354 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 354 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 $49,350, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,070 at the bottom tenth to $61,750 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $37,242 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Maryland then takes its own share, leaving $38,718.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $49,350. 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 ($38,070 to $61,750) 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 $37,242 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 $38,718 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.