Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,933
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$13,397
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,952
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
$65,330
Kept after tax
$51,933
Worth in national money
$49,952
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maryland is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $65,330, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 8.76% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Maryland reports figures for, this is number 223.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $65,330 the take-home is $51,933. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $49,952 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $69,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maryland ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for security and fire alarm systems installers, at $65,330 — about 8.76% 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.
- In Maryland's occupational distribution, security and fire alarm systems installers sits at 223 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $51,933 for security and fire alarm systems installers, from $65,330. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,952. ⚠️ 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 $69,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,680 |
| This salary | $65,330 |
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 | $51,933 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,673 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,310 |
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 | $61,920 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,631 |
| 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 security and fire alarm systems installers in Maryland earn under $65,330 and half over. The published range runs $47,200 at the tenth percentile to $93,680 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 $51,933, worked from $65,330. 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 223 of 489.
- Two cautions on $49,952, the adjusted value of that $65,330 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 223 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for security and fire alarm systems installers in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,200 to $93,680; 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 $51,933, on $65,330 for work ranking 223 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 223 of 489 in the state.
- This $49,952 adjusted figure, worked from $65,330, 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 223 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 223 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $69,100 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,200 and the top tenth $93,680, so most people doing this work in Maryland sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $49,952 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Maryland adds its own income tax on top — which is why $51,933 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $69,100. 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 ($47,200 to $93,680) 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 $49,952 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 $51,933 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.