Retail Salespersons in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,389
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$6,121
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,268
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
$35,510
Kept after tax
$29,389
Worth in national money
$28,268
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maryland is 19 of 51 states for retail salespersons, with a middle wage of $35,510. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Maryland this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, retail salespersons ranks 473. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $35,510, tax leaves $29,389 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $28,268 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $37,950, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maryland ranks 19 of 51 for retail salespersons at $35,510. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Maryland reports, retail salespersons ranks 473 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After tax, $29,389 remains from the Maryland median of $35,510 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $28,268 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $37,950 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,130 |
| This salary | $35,510 |
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 | $29,389 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,712 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,337 |
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 | $33,863 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,036 |
| 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 retail salespersons in Maryland earn under $35,510 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $46,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maryland's $29,389, worked from $35,510. 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 473 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maryland, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,268, the adjusted value of that $35,510 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 473 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for retail salespersons in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $46,130; 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.
- The Maryland take-home of $29,389, on $35,510 for work ranking 473 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 473 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maryland, so $28,268 — the adjusted value of that $35,510 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 473 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 $37,950, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $46,130 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $28,268 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, $29,389 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 $37,950. 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 ($31,200 to $46,130) 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 $28,268 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 $29,389 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.