Urban and Regional Planners in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$67,296
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$21,274
24.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,729
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
$88,570
Kept after tax
$67,296
Worth in national money
$64,729
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for urban and regional planners is strong here. Maryland's middle earner gets $88,570, putting the state 15 of 51 — about 0.84% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Maryland reports figures for, this is number 125.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $88,570, tax leaves $67,296 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $64,729 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $96,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- For urban and regional planners, Maryland sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $88,570, ranking 15 of 51 and running about 0.84% 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.
- In Maryland's occupational distribution, urban and regional planners sits at 125 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, $67,296 remains from the Maryland median of $88,570 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $64,729 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $96,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Urban and Regional Planners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $140,980 |
| This salary | $88,570 |
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 | $67,296 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,139 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,478 |
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 | $83,107 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,711 |
| 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 $88,570. The published range is $62,920 up to $140,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $67,296, from $88,570, 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 125 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 $64,729, the adjusted value of that $88,570 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 125 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for urban and regional planners in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,920 to $140,980. 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 $67,296 from $88,570. 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 125 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maryland, so $64,729 — the adjusted value of that $88,570 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 125 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 $96,740 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $62,920 at the bottom tenth to $140,980 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 $64,729 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, $67,296 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 $96,740. 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 ($62,920) and the ninetieth ($140,980) 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 $64,729 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 $67,296 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.