Maryland is the only state where the county you live in changes your income tax bill by four figures a year. Every one of its 23 counties, plus Baltimore City, levies its own income tax on top of the state's — from 2.25% in Worcester County to 3.30% in Kent and Dorchester.
On a $100,000 salary that spread is $981 a year. Same state, same job, same state tax return. Different county line.
Most paycheck calculators apply one Maryland rate to the whole state. This page uses the rate for each of the 24 jurisdictions, including the two counties that charge a graduated rate rather than a flat one.
What each county costs, in dollars
The county tax is charged on your Maryland taxable income — gross pay minus the state standard deduction and personal exemption — not on your gross salary. The figures below are for a single filer taking the standard deduction, tax year 2026.
| County or city | Rate | On $60,000 | On $80,000 | On $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester County | 2.25% | $1,203 | $1,653 | $2,103 |
| Talbot County | 2.40% | $1,283 | $1,763 | $2,243 |
| Garrett County | 2.65% | $1,416 | $1,946 | $2,476 |
| Frederick County | graduated | $1,352 | $1,944 | $2,536 |
| Cecil County | 2.74% | $1,465 | $2,013 | $2,561 |
| Anne Arundel County | graduated | $1,451 | $2,039 | $2,627 |
| Washington County | 2.95% | $1,577 | $2,167 | $2,757 |
| Carroll County | 3.03% | $1,620 | $2,226 | $2,832 |
| Charles County | 3.03% | $1,620 | $2,226 | $2,832 |
| Harford County | 3.06% | $1,636 | $2,248 | $2,860 |
| Allegany County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Baltimore City | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Baltimore County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Calvert County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Caroline County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Howard County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Montgomery County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Prince George's County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Queen Anne's County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| St. Mary's County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Somerset County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Wicomico County | 3.20% | $1,710 | $2,350 | $2,990 |
| Dorchester County | 3.30% | $1,764 | $2,424 | $3,084 |
| Kent County | 3.30% | $1,764 | $2,424 | $3,084 |
Fourteen of the 24 sit at exactly 3.20%, which is the statutory ceiling for a flat local rate. That is why the table looks lopsided: most of Maryland's population lives in a county that charges the maximum.
It is not charged on your gross pay
This is where most estimates go wrong, and it is worth being precise about because the error runs in the taxpayer's favour and therefore never gets questioned.
On a $100,000 salary the county tax is not 3.20% of $100,000. Maryland first subtracts the state standard deduction ($3,350 for a single filer) and the personal exemption ($3,200), leaving $93,450 of Maryland taxable income. The county rate applies to that.
The difference on a $100,000 salary is $210 a year. Small, but it compounds with the next point.
Two counties charge a graduated rate — and almost nothing accounts for it
Anne Arundel County and Frederick County do not charge one rate. They charge a schedule, and the brackets differ by filing status.
Anne Arundel County, 2026:
| Filing status | Rate | On Maryland taxable income |
|---|---|---|
| Single, married filing separately, dependent | 2.70% | $1 – $50,000 |
| 2.94% | $50,001 – $400,000 | |
| 3.20% | over $400,000 | |
| Married filing jointly, head of household, qualifying surviving spouse | 2.70% | $1 – $75,000 |
| 2.94% | $75,001 – $480,000 | |
| 3.20% | over $480,000 |
Frederick County, 2026:
| Filing status | Rate | On Maryland taxable income |
|---|---|---|
| Single, married filing separately, dependent | 2.25% | $1 – $25,000 |
| 2.75% | $25,001 – $50,000 | |
| 2.96% | $50,001 – $150,000 | |
| 3.20% | $150,001 and up | |
| Married filing jointly, head of household, qualifying surviving spouse | 2.25% | $1 – $25,000 |
| 2.75% | $25,001 – $100,000 | |
| 2.96% | $100,001 – $250,000 | |
| 3.20% | $250,001 and up |
Frederick's is the most complex local income tax in the state: four brackets, with the middle two thresholds doubling for joint filers.
The crossover nobody publishes
Because two counties are graduated and the rest are flat, the ranking changes with income. It is not a fixed list of cheap and expensive counties.
Frederick County is cheaper than Garrett County up to a salary of $80,800, and more expensive above it. At exactly $80,800 both cost $1,968. Garrett charges a flat 2.65%; Frederick starts at 2.25% and climbs past it.
The same happens with Anne Arundel and Cecil County, which cross at a salary of about $66,600.
A table of headline rates cannot show this, which is why every list of "Maryland's cheapest counties" is wrong for some readers. The only way to rank them is to compute at your own income.
What changed for 2026
Two jurisdictions moved:
- Allegany County: 3.03% → 3.20%
- Kent County: 3.20% → 3.30%
Everything else held. Anne Arundel and Frederick kept the same graduated schedules they used in 2025.
If you are reading a rate table published before January 2026, those two counties are wrong on it.
If you work in Maryland but live somewhere else
Non-residents pay a flat 2.25% — the lowest local rate in the state, matching Worcester County.
This matters across the Washington and Wilmington commuter belts. A worker living in Virginia, Delaware or Pennsylvania and employed in Montgomery County pays 2.25%, not Montgomery's 3.20%. On $100,000 of Maryland taxable income that is a $888 difference, decided entirely by which side of the line you sleep on.
What moving one county over is actually worth
| Salary | Cheapest county | Most expensive | Annual difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | Worcester $1,203 | Kent $1,764 | $561 |
| $80,000 | Worcester $1,653 | Kent $2,424 | $771 |
| $100,000 | Worcester $2,103 | Kent $3,084 | $981 |
The gap grows with income because it is a percentage of a growing base.
Two honest caveats before anyone reads this as advice. First, the extremes are rural: Worcester is the Ocean City side of the Eastern Shore, Kent is the upper Shore. Neither is a realistic commute to the Baltimore–Washington job market, so the practical spread for most people is narrower — roughly Frederick or Anne Arundel at the low end against 3.20% in the metro counties, which is $350 to $450 a year at $100,000.
Second, county income tax is a small line next to housing. A $981 annual tax saving is about $82 a month, and county-to-county rent and property tax differences in Maryland routinely exceed that in a single month. The tax is worth knowing, and it is not worth moving for.
Where to check your own number
The rate that applies is the one for the county you are a resident of, and it is reported on line 28 of Maryland Form 502. Your employer withholds it alongside state tax, so it appears inside the state tax line on your pay stub rather than as a separate item — which is the main reason so few Maryland residents know they pay it.
Sources and method
Every rate on this page comes from the Comptroller of Maryland, not from a third-party tax summary. Local rates change mid-cycle and aggregator sites lag them.
- County rates, 2026 — Comptroller of Maryland, Maryland Income Tax Rates and Brackets (KB0010014), cross-checked against the Comptroller's 2026 Withholding Tax Facts (COM/RAD-098). Both documents agree on all 24 jurisdictions.
- Anne Arundel and Frederick schedules — notes III and IV to the same rate table.
- State brackets, standard deduction and exemption — Comptroller of Maryland, What's New for the 2026 Tax Filing Season (KB0010023).
- Retrieved 8 September 2026.
Dollar figures are computed, not quoted: gross salary less the state standard deduction and personal exemption, then the county schedule applied to the remainder.
One limitation, stated plainly. Maryland phases the $3,200 personal exemption out between $100,000 and $150,000 of federal AGI for single filers ($150,000 to $200,000 for joint filers), and the exact stepped amounts sit in Instruction 10 of the resident tax booklet, which is not published as a table online. Figures on this page are for salaries at or below $100,000, where the exemption is unreduced and the arithmetic is exact. Above that, treat any county-tax figure — here or anywhere else — as an estimate until the instruction table is applied.
This page is a calculation, not tax advice.