What Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists earn in Baltimore County, MD
The median pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, MD is $74,620 per year, which works out to $35.88 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area, the labor market that Baltimore County, MD belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $83,910, which is 12.4% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 5,920 people working in this occupation across the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Baltimore County, MD has roughly 850,796 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $45,450 a year ($21.85 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $137,970 or more ($66.33 an hour). That is a gap of $92,520 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $58,240 at the 25th percentile and $96,420 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 3.0 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 Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, MD is $35.88. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $74,620, and the same salary is $6,218 a month before taxes or about $2,870 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $27.81 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists this way: "Research conditions in local, regional, national, or online markets. Gather information to determine potential sales of a product or service, or plan a marketing or advertising campaign. May gather information on competitors, prices, sales, and methods of marketing and distribution. May employ search marketing tactics, analyze web metrics, and develop recommendations to increase search engine ranking and visibility to target markets."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand"; "Prepare reports of findings, illustrating data graphically and translating complex findings into written text"; "Measure and assess customer and employee satisfaction"; "Forecast and track marketing and sales trends, analyzing collected data".
Job outlook for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 952,700 jobs in 2025 to 1,019,000 in 2035, a change of +7%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 82,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 8.6% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $78,760 for this occupation; the Baltimore County, MD median of $74,620 is 5.3% below it.
How pay in Baltimore County, MD compares
Compared with the Maryland average
The local median of $74,620 sits below the Maryland employment-weighted average of $81,984. The shortfall is $7,364 a year, or 9.0%, so Baltimore County, 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 $87,160 in Montgomery County, MD.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $81,560 across the contiguous United States. At $74,620, Baltimore County, MD pays $6,940 less, which is 8.5% below 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 County, MD
Among the 552 occupations with published wages in Baltimore County, MD, Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists ranks number 230 by median pay, ahead of about 58% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $168,520 a year, which is $93,900 more than the median for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $74,620 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 $16,786 a year, which leaves $57,834, or $4,820 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $22 goes to taxes and $78 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 22.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $58,870. 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 $7,865, an effective 10.5% 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 $4,626 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,082. FICA totals $5,708, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Maryland
Maryland income tax on this salary is $3,212 a year, or 4.3% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 41% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $268 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 County, MD
IRS Statistics of Income data for Baltimore County, MD show an average adjusted gross income of $95,693 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.6% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.4%, compared with the 10.5% 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 County, MD
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Baltimore County, MD: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $57,834 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Baltimore County, MD is $1,625 a month, or $19,500 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,006 a month. For Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists, a one-bedroom absorbs 33.7% of take-home pay and 26.1% 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 4.6% of gross pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, 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, 47% of take-home pay. That leaves $30,839 a year, or $2,570 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 41.3% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Baltimore County, MD
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Baltimore County, MD: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Baltimore County, MD, set beside the Maryland and national medians.
Property taxes in Baltimore County, MD
Homeowners in Baltimore County, MD pay a median of $3,736 a year in real estate taxes, 9% below the Maryland median of $4,093 and 20% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $349,300, the median tax bill is 1.07% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists median of $74,620, a tax bill of that size would equal 5.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Baltimore County, MD
Renters in Baltimore County, MD pay a median gross rent of $1,627 a month in the Census survey, 5% below the Maryland median of $1,705. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,625 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $349,300, 17% below the Maryland median of $419,900. Median household income is $91,768, 11% below the Maryland median of $103,678, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.2% of that income.
Commuting in Baltimore County, MD
Workers in Baltimore County, MD who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.0 minutes each way, 10% below the Maryland average of 31.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 16.5% of workers in Baltimore County, MD work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists afford to live in Baltimore County, MD?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $74,620 that ceiling is $1,865 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,625 is $240 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 Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $35.88, which is 15% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $27.81 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.5 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 $38,303.
How fast you can save
At $2,570 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists pay in Baltimore County, MD
What is the hourly wage for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, MD?
The median is $35.88 per hour, based on $74,620 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $21.85 at the 10th percentile to $66.33 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, MD?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $74,620 becomes $57,834 a year. That is $4,820 a month, $2,224 every two weeks or $1,112 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, MD?
Total taxes are $16,786 a year, an effective rate of 22.5%: $7,865 federal income tax, $5,708 FICA and $3,212 Maryland income tax.
Is pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, MD above the Maryland average?
No. The local median of $74,620 is -9.0% versus the Maryland average of $81,984, a difference of $7,364 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists salary in Baltimore County, MD?
A one-bedroom costs $1,625 a month against take-home pay of $4,820, which is 33.7% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,865 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Baltimore County, MD?
About $2,570 a month ($30,839 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 County, 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 Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $35.88.
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.