What Cashiers earn in Baltimore city, MD
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $33,760: the median annual pay for Cashiers in Baltimore city, MD. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $16.23 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $34,670, which is 2.7% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 22,300 people working in this occupation across the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Baltimore city, MD has roughly 573,243 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Cashiers in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $31,200 a year ($15.00 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $38,390 or more ($18.46 an hour). That is a gap of $7,190 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $31,340 at the 25th percentile and $35,650 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.2 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $16.23 an hour or $33,760 a year at the median for Baltimore city, MD. Before any deductions, that is $2,813 a month, $1,298 every two weeks and $649 each week. After taxes the same job pays $13.45 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Baltimore city, MD compares
Compared with the Maryland average
Pay for Cashiers in Baltimore city, MD is in line with the statewide figure: $33,760 locally against an employment-weighted Maryland average of $34,011, a difference of only $251 (0.7%). Within Maryland, the highest median we track for this job is $35,470 in Montgomery County, MD.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cashiers is $32,032 across the contiguous United States. At $33,760, Baltimore city, MD pays $1,728 more, which is 5.4% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Baltimore city, MD
Among the 552 occupations with published wages in Baltimore city, MD, Cashiers ranks number 543 by median pay, ahead of about 2% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Financial Managers at $157,990 a year, which is $124,230 more than the median for Cashiers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Cashiers earning the Baltimore city, MD median of $33,760, they add up to $5,776. The result is $27,984 of take-home pay a year ($2,332 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.1%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $18,010. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,923, an effective 5.7% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,093 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $490. FICA totals $2,583, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Maryland
Maryland income tax on this salary is $1,271 a year, or 3.8% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 66% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $106 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Baltimore city, MD
IRS Statistics of Income data for Baltimore city, MD show an average adjusted gross income of $68,757 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.9% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.7%, compared with the 5.7% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Baltimore city, MD
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Baltimore city, MD: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $27,984 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Baltimore city, MD, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,625 a month ($19,500 a year), and at $2,006 for two bedrooms. For Cashiers, a one-bedroom absorbs 69.7% of take-home pay and 57.8% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 10.2% of gross pay for Cashiers in Baltimore city, MD. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Maryland residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,887 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $634, for $2,521 in total. Gasoline in Maryland averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,539.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $26,996 a year in Baltimore city, MD. Subtract that from $27,984 of take-home pay and $988 remains, which is $82 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 2.9% of gross pay, a thin cushion that one unexpected expense could erase.
Can Cashiers afford to live in Baltimore city, MD?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $33,760 that ceiling is $844 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,625 is $781 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.25 an hour; the median for Cashiers is $16.23, which is 48% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $13.45 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 27.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,006 a month means $1,003 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,464 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $8,452.
How fast you can save
At $82 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 122 months (10.2 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 244 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cashiers pay in Baltimore city, MD
How much do Cashiers make per hour in Baltimore city, MD?
The median is $16.23 per hour, based on $33,760 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $15.00 at the 10th percentile to $18.46 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Cashiers take home after taxes in Baltimore city, MD?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $33,760 becomes $27,984 a year. That is $2,332 a month, $1,076 every two weeks or $538 a week.
How much tax do Cashiers pay in Baltimore city, MD?
Total taxes are $5,776 a year, an effective rate of 17.1%: $1,923 federal income tax, $2,583 FICA and $1,271 Maryland income tax.
Do Cashiers earn more in Baltimore city, MD than elsewhere in Maryland?
It is about the same. The local median of $33,760 is within 0.7% of the Maryland average of $34,011.
Can Cashiers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Baltimore city, MD?
A one-bedroom costs $1,625 a month against take-home pay of $2,332, which is 69.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $844 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Cashiers in Baltimore city, MD?
About $82 a month ($988 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,996 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Baltimore city, MD at the 30% guideline?
$31.25 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,500 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cashiers is $16.23.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Maryland rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.