Maryland Salary Paycheck Calculator 2026

MD standard deduction applied: $2,700 (2026 single filer cap under the Maryland Comptroller Employer Withholding Guide). MW507 exemptions reduce Maryland taxable wages by $3,200 each. Federal filing status maps to single in the 2026 IRS brackets (head-of-household uses single brackets in this widget — recompute in the full calculator for the HoH-specific federal ladder). Pre-tax 401(k), HSA, and Section 125 premiums reduce Maryland-taxable wages before the state ladder and county rate apply. Delta rows compare against the baseline (single, 1 exemption, no pre-tax deductions, no MW507 Line 2 extra) at the same gross salary, county, and pay frequency.

Estimated 2026 Maryland take-home pay for a single filer with no pre-tax 401(k), HSA, or Section 125 deductions. Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's, and Howard all sit at the top of the Maryland county income tax range at 3.20%, so a resident of any of these four jurisdictions earning the same gross salary sees the same net paycheck after federal, Maryland state (2%–5.75%), the 3.20% county tax, and FICA.

MW507 delta assumptions: "With MW507" = single filer claiming 1 personal exemption ($3,200) plus the $2,700 MD standard deduction. "No MW507" = MD default withholding (Single, 0 exemptions, no MD standard deduction on the certificate) per the Comptroller's Employer Withholding Guide, so both the 2%–5.75% state ladder and the 3.20% county rate apply to gross MD wages. Federal, Social Security ($184,500 wage base), and Medicare are identical across both scenarios — the delta is entirely Maryland state + county tax. Per-period figures divide the annual amount by 26 (biweekly). Additional exemptions, extra withholding, 401(k)/HSA contributions, or health premiums shift the delta further — use the calculator above for a personalized number.

Maryland is one of the only states where a county (or Baltimore City) income tax is withheld from every paycheck alongside the 2%–5.75% state rate under Md. Tax-General §10-103. Withholding is driven by your county of residence on the last day of the tax year — not the county where you work — via the MW507 on file with your employer. Two Marylanders earning the same $80,000 gross can see a difference of roughly $760 per year in take-home pay purely from the 2.25%–3.20% county spread.

Rates reflect 2026 Maryland Comptroller withholding tables. County tax is calculated on the same Maryland taxable income as the state 2%–5.75% tax and appears as a single combined "MD tax" line on most paystubs. Confirm your exact rate on the Comptroller of Maryland's Local Tax Rates chart.

Maryland is one of the only states in the country where the county (or Baltimore City) income tax follows the employee, not the employer. Withholding is set by your county of residence on the last day of the tax year under Md. Tax-General §10-103 — the county where the office, warehouse, or client site sits does not matter for a Maryland-resident W-2 employee. This trips up commuters constantly, especially in the Baltimore–Washington corridor where a 15-minute drive can cross three county lines.

Form MW507 (Employee's Maryland Withholding Exemption Certificate) is Maryland's equivalent of the federal Form W-4. Every Maryland employee files one with their employer on hire (and any time their situation changes). It's the single form that tells payroll how much Maryland state income tax (2%–5.75%) and Maryland county income tax (2.25%–3.20%) to withhold from each paycheck.

MW507 is an employer form — you submit it to payroll, not to the Comptroller. Keep a copy for your records and pair it with the federal Form W-4, which controls federal withholding on the same paycheck.

Three quick questions on residency, county changes, and current employer withholding — the checker returns a verdict (required, recommended, or optional), the legal reasoning, and the next steps so you know exactly whether to file (or refile) MW507 with payroll.

A quick, printable checklist for filing (or refiling) Maryland Form MW507 so state and county withholding on your next paycheck matches your actual situation.

1. Step 1
   Download the current form
   Get the latest MW507 PDF from the Comptroller of Maryland (link in the MW507 resource block above). Do not reuse an old year's copy — the personal exemption amount and instructions update annually.
2. Step 2
   Enter your county of residence
   Write the county (or "Baltimore City") on the top line. This drives your 2.25%–3.20% county rate. Do not put your employer's county here.
3. Step 3
   Complete the Personal Exemption Worksheet
   Count exemptions for yourself, spouse (if not separately claimed), and dependents. Enter the total on line 1. Each 2026 exemption is worth $3,200 off Maryland taxable wages.
4. Step 4
   Add extra withholding (line 2)
   Enter a flat dollar amount to add to every paycheck if you have side income, want a bigger refund, or need to cover last year's balance due.
5. Step 5
   Check the right exemption box (if any)
   Lines 3–8 cover: exempt from federal because you're exempt from MD (line 3), non-resident with MD employer (line 4 — reciprocity for PA/VA/WV/DC), military spouse under MSRRA (line 7), or student/other exempt status. Only check one.
6. Step 6
   Sign, date, and hand to payroll
   MW507 is an employer form — you give it to your HR / payroll office, not the Comptroller. Keep a copy for your records and confirm the county code and exemption count on your next pay stub.
7. Step 7
   Verify on your next paycheck
   On the first check after filing, confirm the MD state + county tax line matches your new setup. Re-run the calculator above with the same salary and 401(k)/HSA to sanity-check the withholding.
8. Step 8
   Refile whenever life changes
   Marriage, divorce, new child, moving counties, gaining a second job, or losing reciprocity eligibility — file a new MW507 within 10 days. Exempt filers must refile every year by February 15.

Employers must retain each MW507 for at least three years and may be required to send copies to the Comptroller for high-exemption or full-exempt filings. If your employer refuses to update withholding after you submit MW507, request a written explanation and — if unresolved — contact the Comptroller of Maryland's Compliance Division.

When do the MW507 numbers on this page actually apply — and when should you reconcile them against your true year-end Form 502 liability? Click a month or the Q4 catch-up window to see the answer, plus the MW507 action and reconciliation check for that step.

1. Jan
2. Feb
3. Mar
4. Apr
5. May
6. Jun
7. Jul
8. Aug
9. Sep
10. Oct
11. Q4catch-up

Estimated payment dates track Maryland Form 502D (Apr 15, Jun 15, Sep 15, Jan 15 next year). Payroll cutoffs for MW507 changes vary by employer — plan for a ~10 business-day lag before a MW507 update lands on your paycheck. This timeline is informational and not a substitute for advice from a Maryland-licensed tax professional.

Pick the life events that apply to you — marriage, divorce, birth, moving counties, new job, moving out of Maryland to DC/PA/VA/WV, retirement — and the widget builds a sorted timeline with the exact refile deadline, the MW507 line to update, and the payroll consequence of missing it.

The most common questions Maryland employees ask about Form MW507 — with short, standalone answers so payroll changes take effect on the very next paycheck.

One sample Maryland household — a single filer, Baltimore City resident, $75,000 gross salary, biweekly (26 pays), no pre-tax 401(k)/HSA/Section 125 — run through five common MW507 configurations. Federal, Social Security, and Medicare are identical across scenarios; the only thing changing is Maryland state + county withholding vs. the year-end MD liability on Form 502.

Withholding is modeled as MD state + county tax on (gross − standard deduction − exemptions × $3,200), plus any MW507 Line 2 extra per-check amount × 26 pays. The true year-end liability is computed from the same MD brackets and 3.20% county rate on your actual entitled exemptions — a refund appears when annual withholding exceeds liability, and a balance due appears when it falls short. Actual Form 502 results also depend on federal itemization, MD subtractions/additions, credits (Earned Income, Child Care, 529), and any estimated payments made during the year.

Maryland has active income-tax reciprocity agreements with the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia under Md. Tax-General §10-402. A commuter who lives in one of those jurisdictions and works in Maryland can file Form MW507 with the reciprocity exemption box checked so the Maryland employer stops withholding Maryland state and county income tax entirely — the paycheck is then taxed only by the state (or DC) of residence. The example below uses a single filer earning $75,000 per year, no pre-tax deductions, and 2026 rates.

"Without reciprocity" assumes Maryland state (2%–5.75%) + Maryland average county rate (~2.85%) withheld — the default when MW507 is not filed. "With reciprocity" assumes Maryland withholding is fully stopped and only the home-state (or DC) income tax applies. Federal income tax and FICA (6.2% + 1.45%) are identical in both columns. DC's tax is an approximation of ~5.5% effective on $75k; PA excludes the ~1% local EIT; all figures are annual estimates for a single filer with no pre-tax deductions.

Reciprocity applies to wages only. Maryland-source self-employment income, rental income, or gambling winnings still require a Maryland non-resident return. If your employer refuses to stop Maryland withholding after MW507 is filed, request a corrected W-2 and file Maryland Form 505 to reclaim the withheld tax.

Maryland has income tax reciprocity with Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. A qualifying commuter files Form MW507 with the reciprocity box checked so a Maryland employer stops withholding Maryland state and county tax entirely — only the home-state tax applies to Maryland-source wages. Use the FAQ below to check eligibility and mirror it in the calculator above.

Every number on this page — the quick take-home table, the MW507 vs. no-MW507 delta, the worked example, and the reconciliation timeline — comes out of the same twelve-step engine. Read it top-to-bottom to see exactly what the calculator does with your W-2 wages, MW507 exemptions, and county-of-residence rate.

1. 1

   Start with W-2 gross wages

   We start with your gross wages for the pay period from the calculator above — an annual salary or an hourly rate × hours × weeks. Bonuses, RSU vests, and commissions are treated as ordinary wages for MD state + county tax (Maryland does not have a separate supplemental rate), even though they use the federal 22% supplemental rate at the federal layer.

   gross_annual = salary  OR  hourly_rate × hours_per_week × 52

2. 2

   Subtract pre-tax deductions

   Traditional 401(k)/403(b), HSA, and Section 125 health/dental/vision premiums are pre-tax for federal, Maryland state, and Maryland county income tax. Traditional 401(k) contributions still owe FICA; Section 125 and HSA payroll contributions do not.

   fed_taxable_gross = gross_annual − trad_401k − hsa − section125

3. 3

   Apply the federal standard deduction

   We use the 2026 IRS standard deduction from Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and the OBBBA update: $16,000 single / MFS, $32,000 MFJ, $24,000 Head of Household. Itemized deductions and W-4 Step 4(b) other-deductions are not modeled — override with MW507 Line 2 extra withholding if you itemize meaningfully.

   federal_taxable = max(0, fed_taxable_gross − federal_std_deduction)

4. 4

   Compute federal income tax on 2026 brackets

   The seven 2026 IRS brackets (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, 37%) apply to federal_taxable. W-4 Step 3 credits (Child Tax Credit / other dependents) reduce this line dollar-for-dollar; W-4 Step 4(c) extra withholding is added at the end. Effective vs. marginal rate reporting comes from this step.

   federal_tax = brackets(federal_taxable, filing_status) − step3_credits + step4c

5. 5

   Withhold FICA against the wage bases

   Social Security = 6.2% on wages up to the 2026 $184,500 wage base (indexed annually by SSA). Medicare = 1.45% on all wages, plus an additional 0.9% Additional Medicare on wages above $200,000 (single) / $250,000 (MFJ). FICA applies to 401(k) contributions but not HSA or Section 125.

   fica = 0.062 × min(gross, 184500) + 0.0145 × gross + 0.009 × max(0, gross − 200000)

6. 6

   Apply the Maryland standard deduction

   Maryland's standard deduction is 15% of MD AGI, capped: for 2026 the single/MFS cap is $2,700 and the MFJ/HoH cap is $5,450, with a $1,800 (single) / $3,600 (joint) floor. The calculator uses the capped amount for salaries above ~$36k, which covers every scenario shown in the worked-example tables above.

   md_std_ded = clamp(0.15 × md_agi, floor, cap)

7. 7

   Subtract MW507 exemptions (Line 1)

   Each MW507 personal exemption removes $3,200 from Maryland taxable wages. Line 1 typically holds 1 exemption for a single filer with no dependents, plus 1 per dependent claimed on federal Form 1040. Over-claiming exemptions is the most common cause of the balance-due scenario in the worked example.

   md_taxable = max(0, md_agi − md_std_ded − 3200 × mw507_line1)

8. 8

   Apply the Maryland state bracket ladder (2%–5.75%)

   The 2026 MD single-filer bracket ladder: 2% up to $1,000, 3% to $2,000, 4% to $3,000, 4.75% to $100,000, 5% to $125,000, 5.25% to $150,000, 5.5% to $250,000, 5.75% above $250,000. Married Filing Jointly uses widened top brackets; the calculator applies the ladder matching your filing status from the input at the top of the page.

   md_state_tax = md_bracket_ladder(md_taxable, filing_status)

9. 9

   Apply your county-of-residence rate

   Maryland is one of the few states where the county (or Baltimore City) income tax follows the resident, not the employer (Md. Tax-General §10-103). The calculator picks the rate from your county selection above — 2026 rates range from roughly 2.25% on some Eastern Shore counties up to 3.20% for Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's, and Howard. The rate is applied to the same MD taxable base as Step 8, then added on the same paycheck.

   county_tax = county_rate × md_taxable

10. 10

    Add MW507 Line 2 extra withholding (if any)

    MW507 Line 2 is a flat additional MD withholding per pay period — applied after Steps 8 and 9, before the per-period division. This is the primary lever for the "Refund typically appears" and "Q4 catch-up" scenarios in the reconciliation timeline above.

    md_withheld_period = md_state_tax/periods + county_tax/periods + mw507_line2

11. 11

    Subtract post-tax deductions

    Roth 401(k) contributions, garnishments, voluntary post-tax benefits, and MW507 Line 2 extra all reduce net take-home but do not lower taxable wages. Local wage taxes (e.g., Newark payroll tax on NJ pages, NYC PIT on NY pages) are modeled on their state pages — Maryland has no city wage tax on top of the county rate.

    net_annual = gross_annual − federal_tax − fica − md_state_tax − county_tax − post_tax_items

12. 12

    Divide by pay frequency for per-check net

    The pay-frequency toggle above divides net_annual by 52 (weekly), 26 (biweekly), 24 (semi-monthly), or 12 (monthly). Annual tax is unchanged — only the per-check math moves. Real-world Social Security and any 401(k) contribution can "stop" mid-year once you hit the wage base or IRS deferral limit, shifting the last few checks upward.

    net_per_period = net_annual ÷ periods_per_year

This methodology is informational — an estimate for planning, not a substitute for MW507, IRS Form W-4, Form 502, or advice from a Maryland-licensed tax professional. Rates, brackets, and wage bases are updated annually per the sources above.

Quick definitions of the Maryland payroll terms that show up on this page and on your paystub. Each entry is a short, standalone answer designed for featured snippets and AI overviews.