Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,462
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$16,118
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,271
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
$73,580
Kept after tax
$57,462
Worth in national money
$55,271
State rank
5
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 $73,580, ranking 5 of 51 states and sitting about 22.06% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 199 among 489 occupations Maryland publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $73,580, tax leaves $57,462 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $55,271 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $72,980.
- Maryland's median for mental health and substance abuse social workers is $73,580, about 22.06% above the national figure and 5 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.
- Position 199 of 489 in Maryland places mental health and substance abuse social workers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After tax, $57,462 remains from the Maryland median of $73,580 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $55,271 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $72,980 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,000 |
| This salary | $73,580 |
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 | $57,462 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,594 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,084 |
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 | $69,129 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,449 |
| 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 $73,580. The published range is $38,100 up to $104,000, 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 $57,462, worked from $73,580. 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 199 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maryland, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,271, the adjusted value of that $73,580 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 199 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,100 to $104,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maryland take-home of $57,462, on $73,580 for work ranking 199 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 199 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maryland, so $55,271 — the adjusted value of that $73,580 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 199 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $38,100 and the top tenth $104,000 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $55,271 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $57,462 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($38,100) and the ninetieth ($104,000) 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 $55,271 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 $57,462 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.