Maryland County Income Tax Rates for 2026: All 23 Counties Plus Baltimore City

The Basics

What Are the Maryland County Income Tax Rates?

Maryland is one of a small number of states where the county sets a local income tax rate that stacks on top of the state rate. Every Maryland resident owes both. For 2026, the county rate ranges from 2.25% in Worcester County to 3.30% in Dorchester and Kent counties. Anne Arundel County and Frederick County use graduated bracket schedules instead of a single flat rate, so their effective rate depends on taxable income and filing status.

The rate you pay is tied to where you live on the last day of the tax year, not where you work. A Baltimore County resident who commutes to a Washington, DC, office still owes Baltimore County income tax on all wages. Nonresidents who work in Maryland pay a 2.25% special nonresident rate rather than a county rate, folded into the standard 7.0% nonresident withholding.

The Comptroller of Maryland administers the county tax alongside the state tax on Form 502, Line 28. Counties do not run separate collection systems. Employers withhold at the county rate through Form MW507, and the Comptroller distributes local revenue back to each jurisdiction quarterly.

Full Rate Table

What Is Every County Rate for 2026?

The 2026 local income tax withholding rates below come directly from the Comptroller of Maryland Central Payroll Bureau memo dated February 4, 2026. Anne Arundel and Frederick display Varies because they apply progressive brackets; see the next section for their exact schedules.

Bracket Schedules

How Do Anne Arundel and Frederick Brackets Work?

Anne Arundel County and Frederick County both moved to graduated bracket schedules under 2023 legislation. For 2026, Anne Arundel taxes single filers, married filing separately, and dependent taxpayers at 2.70% on the first $50,000, 2.94% on income from $50,001 through $400,000, and 3.20% on income above $400,000. Joint filers, heads of household, and qualifying surviving spouses apply the same three rates but the middle bracket runs from $75,001 through $480,000, and 3.20% starts above $480,000.

Frederick County uses four brackets. Single filers and separate filers pay 2.25% on the first $25,000, 2.75% from $25,001 through $50,000, 2.96% from $50,001 through $150,000, and 3.20% on income above $150,000. Joint filers, heads of household, and qualifying surviving spouses pay 2.25% up to $25,000, 2.75% up to $100,000, 2.96% up to $250,000, and 3.20% on income above $250,000.

Both counties still tax residents on Maryland taxable income after subtractions and exemptions, so the graduated rate sits on top of the state calculation. Filing status affects where each bracket break falls, so a mid-year change in status can shift your effective local rate at year end.

Which Rate Applies

Which County Rate Applies to Your Paycheck?

The county code recorded on your Form MW507, Employee Maryland Withholding Exemption Certificate, drives the rate your employer uses. It also drives the rate the Comptroller applies to your annual return. If you moved during the year, you file with the county where you lived on December 31 unless a different Maryland county was your primary residence for a longer part of the year.

Absent a valid MW507 with a county code, the Central Payroll Bureau defaults to the highest local rate of 3.30% for 2026 until the employee submits a corrected form. Nonresidents of Maryland use a 7.0% combined rate that already contains the 2.25% special nonresident charge collected in place of a county rate.

Domicile is the standard: your permanent home. Temporary work assignments, deployments, and college attendance in a different county do not automatically change your county code. If you dispute the county on your pay stub, submit a new MW507 with the correct two letter code (for example, MG for Montgomery, BA for Baltimore County, AA for Anne Arundel, FR for Frederick).

How It Is Collected

How Do Counties Actually Collect the Money?

Every Maryland county piggybacks on the state return, so there is no separate county form. On Form 502, Line 28 calculates the local tax by multiplying county taxable income by the flat rate (or applying the Anne Arundel or Frederick bracket schedule). The Comptroller collects the money and distributes it back to your county on a quarterly cycle.

Employers withhold the combined state plus county rate as one line on the pay stub, printed as STATE TAX on the standard Central Payroll Bureau layout. The county portion of the withholding rate matches the county code on the MW507. The state portion follows Maryland eight graduated brackets, which for 2026 top out at a new 6.5% rate on income above $1,000,000 for single filers and above $1,200,000 for joint filers.

Quarterly estimated payments follow the federal estimated tax schedule: April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year. Self employed residents send one estimated check that covers both the state and the county portion, and the Comptroller allocates the local share to the correct county at year end.

Baltimore County Single Filer Earning $75,000

County income tax calculation using the flat 3.20% Baltimore County rate for 2026

What Changed

What Changed in the 2026 County Rates?

Two flat-rate counties changed their local rate for calendar year 2026 compared with 2025. Allegany County moved to 3.20% from a prior lower rate, and Kent County moved to 3.30%, matching Dorchester as the joint highest flat rate for the year. The remaining twenty flat rate counties held their prior year rates for 2026.

Anne Arundel and Frederick each republished bracket schedules. Anne Arundel raised the middle bracket rate applied to income between $50,001 and $400,000 for single filers (and between $75,001 and $480,000 for joint filers) beginning with tax years starting after December 31, 2024. Frederick kept the same four bracket structure it has used since 2023 with the 3.20% break point unchanged.

Statewide, the top state income tax rate rose to a new 6.5% bracket on income above $1,000,000 (single) or $1,200,000 (joint) starting January 1, 2026, under the 2025 legislative session tax alert issued by the Comptroller of Maryland. Confirm both the state schedule and your specific county rate on the Comptroller Local Income Tax Rates page before running payroll or filing.

Combined Burden

How Do Combined State and County Rates Compare?

Maryland state rates run 2.00% at the bottom to 6.50% at the top for 2026, applied through eight graduated brackets. Adding a county rate pushes the combined marginal rate anywhere from 4.25% to 9.80%, depending on income and residence. The examples below use the 4.75% state bracket that covers most middle income single filers between $3,001 and $100,000.

• Worcester County resident at $60,000 single: 4.75% state + 2.25% local = 7.00% marginal
• Garrett County resident at $60,000 single: 4.75% state + 2.65% local = 7.40% marginal
• Baltimore County resident at $60,000 single: 4.75% state + 3.20% local = 7.95% marginal
• Kent County resident at $60,000 single: 4.75% state + 3.30% local = 8.05% marginal

Federal income tax sits on top. A Baltimore County resident at $60,000 who files single is in the 12% federal marginal bracket, which puts the total marginal rate at roughly 19.95% before FICA. A Worcester County resident at the same income pays about 19.00% marginal, a gap of nearly a full point that compounds meaningfully over a career.

Movers and Nonresidents

How Does Withholding Work for Movers and Nonresidents?

Employees who move between Maryland counties should submit a new MW507 the day their address changes. The Central Payroll Bureau treats the county code on the most recent MW507 as authoritative and shifts the local portion at the next pay run. If a mid-year address change is not reported, the Comptroller reconciles at year end when the return is filed and the resident county for the majority of the year controls.

Nonresidents of Maryland who work in Maryland do not pay a specific county rate. They pay the 7.0% nonresident combined rate, which folds in the 2.25% special nonresident charge the state levies in place of a county tax. This special charge covers state services that nonresident earners benefit from while working inside Maryland.

Reciprocity applies to residents of the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia who work in Maryland but earn only wages, salaries, and commissions. Under those agreements, their home state taxes the wages and Maryland does not withhold, provided the employee submits Form MW507 with the correct reciprocity indicator. This is general information, not tax advice.