Software Developers in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$99,606
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$39,074
28.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$95,807
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
$138,680
Kept after tax
$99,606
Worth in national money
$95,807
State rank
7
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for software developers is strong here. Maryland's middle earner gets $138,680, putting the state 7 of 50 — about 1.99% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Maryland. It ranks 27 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $138,680, tax leaves $99,606 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $95,807 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $151,560, since top earners drag the number up.
- For software developers, Maryland sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $138,680, ranking 7 of 50 and running about 1.99% 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.
- Within Maryland, software developers ranks 27 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After tax, $99,606 remains from the Maryland median of $138,680 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $95,807 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $151,560 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Software Developers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $87,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $138,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $222,610 |
| This salary | $138,680 |
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 | $99,606 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $106,054 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,330 |
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 | $129,246 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,892 |
| 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 $138,680. The published range is $87,690 up to $222,610, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $99,606, from $138,680, 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 27 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maryland, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $95,807, the adjusted value of that $138,680 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 27 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for software developers in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $87,690 to $222,610. 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 $99,606 from $138,680. 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 27 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maryland, so $95,807 — the adjusted value of that $138,680 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 27 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 $151,560, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $87,690, the highest tenth $222,610, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $95,807 — 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 $99,606 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $151,560. 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 ($87,690) and the ninetieth ($222,610) 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 $95,807 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 $99,606 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.