What Registered Nurses earn in Baltimore city, MD
According to the latest federal wage data for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area, the median pay for Registered Nurses in Baltimore city, MD is $99,550 a year, or $47.86 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $74,189 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Baltimore city, MD.
The mean wage is $99,100, which is 0.5% below the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 30,930 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 Registered Nurses in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $77,600 a year ($37.31 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $125,020 or more ($60.11 an hour). That is a gap of $47,420 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $83,690 at the 25th percentile and $108,030 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Registered Nurses in Baltimore city, MD is $47.86. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $99,550, and the same salary is $8,296 a month before taxes or about $3,829 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $35.67 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
The local median of $99,550 sits below the Maryland employment-weighted average of $100,869. The shortfall is $1,319 a year, or 1.3%, so Baltimore city, MD is a lower-paying market for this job than the state as a whole. Within Maryland, the highest median we track for this job is $102,710 in Montgomery County, MD.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, Registered Nurses earn an employment-weighted average of $99,368 across the contiguous United States, so $99,550 in Baltimore city, MD is essentially average. 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, Registered Nurses ranks number 113 by median pay, ahead of about 80% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Financial Managers at $157,990 a year, which is $58,440 more than the median for Registered Nurses.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $99,550 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $25,361 a year, which leaves $74,189, or $6,182 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $25 goes to taxes and $75 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 25.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $83,800. 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 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $13,350, an effective 13.4% of gross pay, well below the 22% 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 $6,172 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,443. FICA totals $7,616, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Maryland
Maryland income tax on this salary is $4,396 a year, or 4.4% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 33% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $366 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 $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 10.5%, compared with the 13.4% 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 $74,189 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Baltimore city, MD is $1,625 a month, or $19,500 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,006 a month. For Registered Nurses, a one-bedroom absorbs 26.3% of take-home pay and 19.6% 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 3.5% of gross pay for Registered Nurses 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
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $26,996 a year, 36% of take-home pay. That leaves $47,193 a year, or $3,933 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 47.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Registered Nurses 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 $99,550 that ceiling is $2,489 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,625 is $864 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.25 an hour; the median for Registered Nurses is $47.86, which is 53% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $35.67 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 10.5 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 $54,657.
How fast you can save
At $3,933 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Registered Nurses pay in Baltimore city, MD
What is the hourly wage for Registered Nurses in Baltimore city, MD?
The median is $47.86 per hour, based on $99,550 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $37.31 at the 10th percentile to $60.11 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Registered Nurses in Baltimore city, MD?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $99,550 becomes $74,189 a year. That is $6,182 a month, $2,853 every two weeks or $1,427 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Registered Nurses in Baltimore city, MD?
Total taxes are $25,361 a year, an effective rate of 25.5%: $13,350 federal income tax, $7,616 FICA and $4,396 Maryland income tax.
Is pay for Registered Nurses in Baltimore city, MD above the Maryland average?
No. The local median of $99,550 is -1.3% versus the Maryland average of $100,869, a difference of $1,319 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Registered Nurses salary in Baltimore city, MD?
A one-bedroom costs $1,625 a month against take-home pay of $6,182, which is 26.3% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,489 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Registered Nurses in Baltimore city, MD?
About $3,933 a month ($47,193 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 Registered Nurses is $47.86.
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.