What is the Maryland state income tax rate in 2026?
Maryland taxes income in 10 brackets from 2.00% to 6.50% in 2026; the top rate starts at $1,000,000 of taxable income for a single filer and $1,200,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Example: a married couple, both 70, with $40,000 of Social Security, a $30,000 private pension and $30,000 of IRA withdrawals ($100,000 in all; the pension and IRA money split evenly between them) owes $423 of Maryland income tax (0.4% of their income) and $5,087 of federal tax; a single 62-year-old with $24,000 of Social Security, an $18,000 pension and $18,000 of IRA withdrawals ($60,000 in all) owes $2,262 to Maryland and $4,111 federal. The schedule, how Maryland treats each kind of retirement income, and its local taxes follow.
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly |
|---|---|---|
| 2.00% | $0 to $1,000 | $0 to $1,000 |
| 3.00% | $1,000 to $2,000 | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| 4.00% | $2,000 to $3,000 | $2,000 to $3,000 |
| 4.75% | $3,000 to $100,000 | $3,000 to $150,000 |
| 5.00% | $100,000 to $125,000 | $150,000 to $175,000 |
| 5.25% | $125,000 to $150,000 | $175,000 to $225,000 |
| 5.50% | $150,000 to $250,000 | $225,000 to $300,000 |
| 5.75% | $250,000 to $500,000 | $300,000 to $600,000 |
| 6.25% | $500,000 to $1,000,000 | $600,000 to $1,200,000 |
| 6.50% | over $1,000,000 | over $1,200,000 |
How Maryland taxes retirement income in 2026
| Standard deduction or personal exemption | $3,400 single, $6,850 married filing jointly, $6,850 head of household. Personal exemption per exemption (one single, two joint), set by income: $3,200 up to $100,000 of income (up to $150,000 joint and head of household); $1,600 up to $125,000 of income (up to $175,000 joint and head of household); $800 up to $150,000 of income (up to $200,000 joint and head of household); $0 above. (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules) |
|---|---|
| Social Security | Social Security benefits are fully exempt: none of the federally taxable amount enters the state base. (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules) |
| Pensions, annuities and IRA/401(k) withdrawals | Pension and annuity distributions (IRA distributions do not qualify and are taxed in full): up to $40,600 excluded per taxpayer ($81,200 on a joint return) at age 65 or older. (Comptroller of Maryland; rules) |
| Age 65 and older | At age 65 or older: $1,000 is subtracted from the base ($2,000 for a married couple filing jointly when both qualify), against any income. (Comptroller of Maryland; rules) |
| Capital gains | Net long-term gain is taxed as ordinary income. An extra 2% of net capital gain when income exceeds $350,000. Short-term gains are ordinary income. (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules) |
Local income taxes in Maryland:
- Every Maryland county and Baltimore City (24 in all) taxes its residents' Maryland taxable income at 2.25% to 3.30%, so retirement income is reached exactly as far as the state reaches it. (Comptroller of Maryland)
The Maryland figures on this page include a county tax at 3.12%, the average of the county rates weighted by population; your own county's rate changes the figure.
Your whole 2026 return in Maryland, federal and state together, ends in a refund or an amount owed: 2026 tax return calculator (free) → What five typical retiree households owe or get back in Maryland and every other state: the 2026 tax return study.
Figures for 2026 from QuantCalc’s open tax engine (federal 2.6.1, state 1.28.0), for a full-year resident. An estimate, not tax advice: credits, itemized deductions and rules this page does not ask about change a real return. Every Maryland rule with its official sources: Maryland rules and sources.
In QuantCalc's 51-state planner study — one married couple, both 60, $2M, $80,000 a year to spend after tax, 10,000 paths per jurisdiction — the median path in Maryland pays $293,936 of federal and state income tax and Medicare IRMAA over 30 years, $130,740 of it Maryland state income tax, $131,339 more than in the 16 jurisdictions that charge this couple no state tax. That ranks #50 of 51 by lifetime tax (1 = lowest). The plan succeeds in 80.98% of paths. State tax is part of the optimization here — the playbook below shows the federal-state-ACA stack.
The MD verdict
For a retiree planning withdrawals in 2026, Maryland is one of the higher-burden states for retirees, especially on traditional pre-tax withdrawals. County income tax adds 2.25-3.30% on top of the state rate, plus a $5M estate tax and a 10% inheritance tax on bequests to anyone outside close family (spouse, lineal heirs and siblings are exempt). Sources: Register of Wills: Maryland inheritance tax.
Maryland allows a retirement-income exclusion of up to $81,200 for a couple from age 65. A traditional→Roth conversion does not draw on it, so converted dollars are taxed in full at the state rate even for a household that is otherwise sheltered.
Worked example: $30k Roth conversion in Maryland
Consider a married couple age 58 in Maryland with $75,000 of wages (their MAGI), both on ACA Marketplace coverage. They want to convert $30,000 from a traditional IRA to a Roth. The Maryland state tax on that conversion is $2,361 — 7.9% of the amount converted; the figure includes Maryland's county income tax at the engine's default county rate. Federal income tax adds another $3,600 — the whole conversion is taxed in the federal 12% bracket. And because the conversion pushes their MAGI to $105,000 — over the 400% FPL cliff of $84,600 — they lose their full ACA premium tax credit, $12,340 a year at Maryland's average benchmark Silver premium. Total cost of the $30,000 conversion: $18,301, or an effective 61.0% marginal rate. Each Maryland tax figure for a conversion on this page is QuantCalc's state tax engine run on the couple's whole 2026 Maryland return twice, without the conversion and with it, with every amount split evenly between the two spouses, so Maryland's own brackets, deductions, exemptions and credits are all applied. The federal-state-ACA stack matters in Maryland.
Cost breakdown
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax (12% bracket) | $3,600 |
| Maryland state income tax | $2,361 |
| ACA premium tax credit clawback | $12,340 |
| Total cost on $30,000 conversion | $18,301 (61.0% effective) |
Scenario B (high-tax): cliff-protective $15k conversion in Maryland
A Maryland couple aged 58 with $66K of wages (their MAGI), both on a Silver-tier Marketplace plan converts only $15,000, which keeps their MAGI at $81,000, under the $84,600 400% FPL cliff. Staying under it matters because crossing it in Maryland layers state tax, federal tax, AND the loss of the whole premium tax credit ($11,742 a year for this couple at $81,000) on top of each other. State tax on $15k: $1,181 — 7.9% of the amount converted; the figure includes Maryland's county income tax at the engine's default county rate. Federal income tax added: $1,800 (the whole conversion is taxed in the federal 12% bracket). PTC preserved. Total: $2,981, an effective rate of 19.9%. In a high-tax state, the optimization is small annual conversions over many years — never a single 'big year' if Marketplace coverage is in play.
What the planner's Monte Carlo says about Maryland
QuantCalc Research ran one married couple through QuantCalc's retirement planner in each of the 51 jurisdictions: both 60, $2,000,000 ($1,400,000 traditional, $600,000 Roth), a 60/40 portfolio, $80,000 a year to spend after tax for 30 years, no Social Security, 10,000 paths each. The planner's federal and state tax engines price every year, and it picks the withdrawals and Roth conversions. Here is Maryland beside the lowest- and highest-tax results:
| Metric | Maryland | No state tax (16 jurisdictions) | Oregon (highest) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median lifetime tax, federal + state + IRMAA (30y) | $293,936 | $162,597 | $309,718 |
| State income tax (30y, sum of yearly medians) | $130,740 | $0 | $146,914 |
| State income tax in the first year (age 60) | $6,122 | $0 | $5,838 |
| 30-year success rate | 80.98% | 84.05% | 80.61% |
| Median balance at 90 | $1,835,682 | $2,153,150 | $1,801,272 |
| Rank by lifetime tax (of 51, 1 = lowest) | #50 | #1 | #51 |
Across all 51 jurisdictions the success rate runs from 80.61% to 84.05%: for this couple the state changes the tax bill far more than the odds of the money lasting. Dollars are today's dollars. Source: QuantCalc 51-State Retirement Monte Carlo (v2026.3, re-run 2026-10-12) — 510,000 planner paths, methodology and dataset released CC-BY-4.0. Every jurisdiction's row uses the same household and the same market paths; only the state of residence changes.
How Maryland treats capital gains in retirement
Net long-term gain is taxed as ordinary income. An extra 2% of net capital gain when income exceeds $350,000. Short-term gains are ordinary income. Ordinary income in Maryland is taxed at up to 6.50% in 2026. That stacks on top of federal LTCG (0%/15%/20%) and the 3.8% NIIT for high earners. (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules)
Why the ACA cliff hits hard in Maryland
The 400% federal-poverty-level cliff is federal, not state-specific — but its dollar impact depends on the benchmark Silver-plan premium in your county. Maryland's Marketplace pricing and your household composition determine the size of the subsidy at risk. A couple aged 58 with MAGI of exactly $84,600 still has $11,384 a year of premium tax credit at Maryland's average benchmark Silver premium, and all of it is on the line. With the 2021–2025 enhanced credit expired, $1 of additional MAGI above 400% FPL eliminates the entire credit.
For 2026 the 400% FPL threshold is:
Roth conversion strategy for Maryland
The MD-specific playbook depends on tier:
- Identify your cliff distance. Compute MAGI from all income sources (wages, capital gains, interest, dividends, traditional withdrawals). Find your headroom under 400% FPL. Use the live cliff widget above for a quick check.
- Stay under the cliff if you can. In Maryland at 6.50%, the marginal cost of going over the cliff is federal tax + state tax + full PTC clawback. The break-even conversion size is smaller than in tax-free states.
- If you must go over, convert big. Once you've crossed the cliff, additional conversion dollars only cost federal + state tax (no incremental PTC loss). A "rip the bandage" conversion year can be efficient if you have many traditional dollars to move.
- Coordinate with capital gains and the 0% LTCG bracket. Net long-term gain is taxed as ordinary income. An extra 2% of net capital gain when income exceeds $350,000. Short-term gains are ordinary income. Ordinary income in Maryland is taxed at up to 6.50% in 2026. That stacks on top of federal LTCG (0%/15%/20%) and the 3.8% NIIT for high earners. (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules)
- Plan ahead for IRMAA. The IRMAA Medicare premium surcharge has a 2-year lookback. A Maryland resident in their early 60s converting today will see IRMAA implications at 65. See RMD + IRMAA calculator for the lookback math.
State tax basics for Maryland retirees
| Question | Maryland |
|---|---|
| State income tax | 6.50% top marginal |
| Number of brackets | 10 |
| Social Security taxed | No |
| 401(k) / Traditional IRA taxed | Yes |
| Retirement-income exclusion (couple) | $81,200 from age 65 |
| Roth conversion draws that exclusion | No |
| State estate / inheritance tax | Yes |
| Retirement-friendliness tier | high tax |
| Notable feature | county income tax adds 2.25-3.30% on top of the state rate, plus a $5M estate tax and a 10% inheritance tax on bequests to anyone outside close family (spouse, lineal heirs and siblings are exempt) |
| 30-yr planner success rate | 80.98% |
| Median 30-yr tax, federal + state + IRMAA (rank) | $293,936 (#50/51) |
Model your full Maryland retirement scenario
Free Monte Carlo (100 paths per run; 10,000 with PRO) with state-specific tax engine, ACA cliff, Roth conversion optimizer, IRMAA lookback — free, no signup.
Run a free simulation →What a year-end move does to your Maryland and federal tax in 2026
Each move changes three bills at once: the federal return, the Maryland return and, for anyone on Medicare, the IRMAA surcharge the 2026 income sets for 2028. Example: a married couple, both 72, with a $40,000 pension, $50,000 of Social Security, a $30,000 IRA withdrawal and $10,000 of long-term gains already realized in 2026, the pension, the IRA money and the conversion split evenly between them on the state return. Each row is that year with one move made, against the same year without it (negative = less tax).
| Move (by December 31, 2026) | Federal tax | Maryland tax | IRMAA in 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convert $25,000 to a Roth IRA | $3,165 | $1,703 | $0 |
| Send $10,000 of the IRA withdrawal to charity as a QCD | −$1,200 | −$312 | $0 |
| Harvest a $5,000 loss against the year's gains | $0 | −$156 | $0 |
An estimate from QuantCalc’s open tax engine (federal 2.6.1, state 1.28.0) for the 2026 tax year. Not tax advice: your return depends on facts this page does not ask about, so check a move with your tax preparer or custodian before acting. IRMAA uses the 2026 tiers for two people on Medicare; the 2028 tiers are not published yet. How the engine computes each line, with its official source: federal, Maryland.
Related calculators and reading
- All-states retirement tax comparison — see Maryland alongside the other 50 jurisdictions.
- Maryland minimum wage 2026 — the hourly rate, scheduled increases and take-home pay after tax, from the official sources.
- State Retirement Tax Data 2026 — the per-jurisdiction rate, exclusion and Social Security figures behind this page, as CSV and JSON.
- Maryland side by side with another state's retirement taxes: Maryland vs Florida · Maryland vs Virginia.
- ACA Subsidy Cliff Optimizer — find the largest Roth conversion that keeps you under 400% FPL.
- Roth Conversion Optimizer — bracket-fill vs. fixed-amount strategy comparison.
- RMD + IRMAA Calculator — Medicare premium surcharge based on 2-year-old MAGI.
- Safe Withdrawal Rate Calculator — sequence-of-returns-aware withdrawal planning.
- Research: 51-State 30-year Monte Carlo (2026) — full ranking and dataset.
- Research: Monte Carlo ACA Cliff 2026 — 80,000-path study of the cliff cost.
FAQ
What is the Maryland state income tax rate in 2026?
Maryland taxes income in 10 brackets from 2.00% to 6.50% in 2026; the top rate starts at $1,000,000 of taxable income for a single filer and $1,200,000 for a married couple filing jointly. The full schedule and Maryland's deductions are on this page (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules).
How much state income tax does a retiree pay in Maryland?
It depends on the kind of income. In 2026, a married couple, both 70, with $40,000 of Social Security, a $30,000 private pension and $30,000 of IRA withdrawals ($100,000 in all; the pension and IRA money split evenly between them) owes $423 of Maryland tax, and a single 62-year-old with $24,000 of Social Security, an $18,000 pension and $18,000 of IRA withdrawals ($60,000 in all) owes $2,262. Federal tax comes on top: $5,087 and $4,111.
Does Maryland tax Social Security benefits?
No. Social Security benefits are fully exempt: none of the federally taxable amount enters the state base. (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules)
Does Maryland tax pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals?
Pension and annuity distributions (IRA distributions do not qualify and are taxed in full): up to $40,600 excluded per taxpayer ($81,200 on a joint return) at age 65 or older. (Comptroller of Maryland; rules)
Does Maryland have local income taxes?
Yes. Every Maryland county and Baltimore City (24 in all) taxes its residents' Maryland taxable income at 2.25% to 3.30%, so retirement income is reached exactly as far as the state reaches it. (Comptroller of Maryland)
Does Maryland tax Roth conversions?
Yes. A $30,000 conversion by a couple aged 58 with $75,000 of wages adds $2,361 of Maryland tax — 7.9% of the amount converted; the figure includes Maryland's county income tax at the engine's default county rate — on top of federal tax and any ACA subsidy clawback. Each Maryland tax figure for a conversion on this page is QuantCalc's state tax engine run on the couple's whole 2026 Maryland return twice, without the conversion and with it, with every amount split evenly between the two spouses, so Maryland's own brackets, deductions, exemptions and credits are all applied.
What is Maryland's 30-year Monte Carlo retirement success rate?
In QuantCalc's 51-state planner study, one married couple (both 60, $2M, 60/40, $80,000 a year to spend after tax, 10,000 paths) succeeds in 80.98% of paths in Maryland; across all 51 jurisdictions the rate runs from 80.61% to 84.05%. The median path pays $293,936 of federal and state income tax and IRMAA over 30 years, $130,740 of it Maryland state income tax.
What is the ACA cliff in Maryland for 2026?
The ACA premium-tax-credit cliff is a federal threshold, not state-specific. For a household of two in 2026, it sits at 400% of the federal poverty level — $84,600. Crossing it by even $1 of MAGI eliminates the full subsidy now that the 2021-2025 enhanced credit has expired.
Is Maryland a good state to retire for tax purposes?
Maryland is one of the higher-burden states for retirees, especially on traditional pre-tax withdrawals. County income tax adds 2.25-3.30% on top of the state rate, plus a $5M estate tax and a 10% inheritance tax on bequests to anyone outside close family (spouse, lineal heirs and siblings are exempt). In our planner study it ranks #50 of 51 by median lifetime tax (1 = lowest).
Does Maryland have a state estate or inheritance tax?
Yes — Maryland has a state-level estate or inheritance tax in addition to the federal estate tax. Plan transfers accordingly.
How does Maryland tax capital gains?
Net long-term gain is taxed as ordinary income. An extra 2% of net capital gain when income exceeds $350,000. Short-term gains are ordinary income. Ordinary income in Maryland is taxed at up to 6.50% in 2026. That stacks on top of federal LTCG (0%/15%/20%) and the 3.8% NIIT for high earners. (Maryland General Assembly (Annotated Code of Maryland); rules)
Last updated 2026-11-05. State income tax figures reflect the 2026 schedule published by Maryland's tax authority. ACA poverty-level figures: the 2025 HHS poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and DC ($15,650 for one person, plus $5,500 for each additional person; 90 FR 5917), which set 2026 Marketplace coverage. Premium tax credit estimates use Maryland's average benchmark Silver premium. Monte Carlo numbers from the QuantCalc 51-state planner study (v2026.3, re-run 2026-10-12, CC-BY-4.0). This page is educational. Not tax, legal, or financial advice — consult a qualified advisor.