Social and Human Service Assistants in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,234
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$8,976
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,776
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
$47,210
Kept after tax
$38,234
Worth in national money
$36,776
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Maryland's middle earner gets $47,210, putting the state 13 of 51 — about 2.79% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Maryland this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 369. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $47,210 the take-home is $38,234. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $36,776 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $51,200, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For social and human service assistants, Maryland sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $47,210, ranking 13 of 51 and running about 2.79% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation Maryland reports, social and human service assistants ranks 369 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $38,234 for social and human service assistants, from $47,210. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,776. ⚠️ 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 $51,200 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,890 |
| This salary | $47,210 |
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 | $38,234 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,113 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,503 |
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 | $44,872 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,446 |
| 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 social and human service assistants in Maryland earn under $47,210 and half over. The published range runs $36,990 at the tenth percentile to $68,890 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 $38,234, worked from $47,210. 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 369 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,776 uses one figure for the whole of Maryland. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 369.
- Figures are distribution medians for social and human service assistants in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,990 to $68,890; 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 $38,234, on $47,210 for work ranking 369 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 369 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,776, worked from $47,210, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Maryland address, on work sitting at 369 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 $51,200 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 $36,990 and the top tenth $68,890, 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 $36,776 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $38,234.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $51,200. 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 ($36,990 to $68,890) 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 $36,776 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 $38,234 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.