Protective Service Workers, All Other in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,445
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$10,335
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,827
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
$52,780
Kept after tax
$42,445
Worth in national money
$40,827
State rank
13
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 $52,780, ranking 13 of 51 states and sitting about 24.07% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Maryland reports figures for, this is number 317.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $52,780, tax leaves $42,445 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $40,827 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $56,610, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maryland's median for protective service workers, all other is $52,780, about 24.07% above the national figure and 13 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, protective service workers, all other sits at 317 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, $42,445 remains from the Maryland median of $52,780 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $40,827 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $56,610 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,570 |
| This salary | $52,780 |
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 | $42,445 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,589 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,058 |
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 | $50,112 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,118 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of protective service workers, all other in Maryland earn under $52,780 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $88,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $42,445, from $52,780, 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 317 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $40,827, the adjusted value of that $52,780 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 317 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for protective service workers, all other in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $88,570; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Maryland is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $42,445 from $52,780. 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 317 of 489 locally.
- This $40,827 adjusted figure, worked from $52,780, 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 317 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 317 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 $56,610, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $88,570 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $40,827 of national purchasing power.
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, $42,445 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 $56,610. 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 ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($88,570) 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 $40,827 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 $42,445 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.