Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,722
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$12,038
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,902
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
$59,760
Kept after tax
$47,722
Worth in national money
$45,902
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maryland is one of the better-paying states for payroll and timekeeping clerks. The middle earner takes $59,760, which ranks 17 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.57% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Maryland, this sits in the middle: 275 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $59,760 the take-home is $47,722. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $45,902 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $59,580, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Maryland ranks 17 of 51 states publishing a median for payroll and timekeeping clerks, at $59,760 — about 2.57% 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.
- Payroll and timekeeping clerks ranks 275 of 489 occupations in Maryland by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $47,722 for payroll and timekeeping clerks, from $59,760. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,902. ⚠️ 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 $59,580 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,140 |
| This salary | $59,760 |
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 | $47,722 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,197 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,754 |
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 | $56,680 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,959 |
| 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 $59,760. The published range is $31,750 up to $82,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $47,722, from $59,760, 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 275 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $45,902, the adjusted value of that $59,760 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 275 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for payroll and timekeeping clerks in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,750 to $82,140. 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 $47,722 from $59,760. 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 275 of 489 locally.
- This $45,902 adjusted figure, worked from $59,760, 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 275 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 275 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,750, the highest tenth $82,140, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $45,902 of national purchasing power.
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 $47,722.
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 ($31,750) and the ninetieth ($82,140) 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 $45,902 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 $47,722 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.