Optometrists in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$116,671
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$49,169
29.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$112,221
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
$165,840
Kept after tax
$116,671
Worth in national money
$112,221
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maryland is one of the better-paying states for optometrists. The middle earner takes $165,840, which ranks 2 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 21.43% above the national middle.
- Within Maryland this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 10 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Maryland is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $165,840 the take-home is $116,671; in national-average money that behaves like $112,221. The average lands at $148,910, below the middle of the range.
- Maryland ranks 2 of 51 states publishing a median for optometrists, at $165,840 — about 21.43% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Maryland publishes a median for, optometrists sits 10 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for optometrists in Maryland, on $165,840, is $116,671; deflated by the state's price level, $112,221. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $148,910 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $165,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $215,420 |
| This salary | $165,840 |
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 | $116,671 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $124,618 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,019 |
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 | $154,213 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$22,775 |
| 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 $165,840. The published range is $50,560 up to $215,420, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $116,671 take-home in Maryland comes from $165,840. 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 10 of 489.
- Two cautions on $112,221, the adjusted value of that $165,840 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 10 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for optometrists in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,560 to $215,420. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $116,671, from $165,840, 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 10 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 51 for it.
- This $112,221 adjusted figure, worked from $165,840, 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 10 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 10 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $148,910, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $50,560 and the top tenth $215,420 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $112,221 rather than its face figure.
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, $116,671 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.
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 $148,910. 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 ($50,560) and the ninetieth ($215,420) 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 $112,221 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 $116,671 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.