What Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses earn in Montgomery County, MD
The median pay for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in Montgomery County, MD is $75,860 per year, which works out to $36.47 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the labor market that Montgomery 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 $74,560, which is 1.7% below the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 7,170 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Montgomery County, MD has roughly 1,065,949 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $61,880 a year ($29.75 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $87,470 or more ($42.05 an hour). That is a gap of $25,590 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $65,700 at the 25th percentile and $80,830 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.4 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: $36.47 an hour or $75,860 a year at the median for Montgomery County, MD. Before any deductions, that is $6,322 a month, $2,918 every two weeks and $1,459 each week. After taxes the same job pays $28.20 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses this way: "Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Licensing required."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action"; "Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts"; "Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them"; "Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration".
Job outlook for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 666,900 jobs in 2025 to 686,700 in 2035, a change of +3%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 51,800 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 7.8% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: postsecondary nondegree award. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $64,400 for this occupation; the Montgomery County, MD median of $75,860 is 17.8% above it.
How pay in Montgomery County, MD compares
Compared with the Maryland average
A worker in this occupation in Montgomery County, MD earns $3,335 more than the Maryland average of $72,525, a premium of 4.6%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,335 before tax and roughly $2,578 after tax. Within Maryland, Montgomery County, MD already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses is $66,910 across the contiguous United States. At $75,860, Montgomery County, MD pays $8,950 more, which is 13.4% 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 Montgomery County, MD
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Montgomery County, MD, Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses ranks number 281 by median pay, ahead of about 55% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $119,330 more than the median for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses.
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 Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses earning the Montgomery County, MD median of $75,860, they add up to $17,212. The result is $58,648 of take-home pay a year ($4,887 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $23 goes to taxes and $77 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 22.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $60,110. 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 $8,138, an effective 10.7% 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 $4,703 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,100. FICA totals $5,803, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Maryland
Maryland income tax on this salary is $3,271 a year, or 4.3% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 40% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $273 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 Montgomery County, MD
IRS Statistics of Income data for Montgomery County, MD show an average adjusted gross income of $141,640 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 17.9% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 10.0%, compared with the 10.7% 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 Montgomery County, MD
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Montgomery County, MD: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $58,648 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Montgomery County, MD, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,204 a month ($26,448 a year), and at $2,438 for two bedrooms. For Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, a one-bedroom absorbs 45.1% of take-home pay and 34.9% 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 4.5% of gross pay for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in Montgomery 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
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $33,944 a year in Montgomery County, MD. Subtract that from $58,648 of take-home pay and $24,704 remains, which is $2,059 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 32.6% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Montgomery County, MD
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Montgomery 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 Montgomery County, MD, set beside the Maryland and national medians.
Property taxes in Montgomery County, MD
Homeowners in Montgomery County, MD pay a median of $5,539 a year in real estate taxes, 35% above the Maryland median of $4,093 and 78% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $640,300, the median tax bill is 0.87% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses median of $75,860, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.3% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Montgomery County, MD
Renters in Montgomery County, MD pay a median gross rent of $2,068 a month in the Census survey, 21% above the Maryland median of $1,705. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,204 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 $640,300, 52% above the Maryland median of $419,900. Median household income is $132,450, 28% above the Maryland median of $103,678, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 20.0% of that income.
Commuting in Montgomery County, MD
Workers in Montgomery County, MD who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.9 minutes each way, 3% above the Maryland average of 31.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 28.3% of workers in Montgomery County, MD work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses afford to live in Montgomery 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 $75,860 that ceiling is $1,897 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $308 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses is $36.47, which is 14% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $28.20 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 18.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $36,524.
How fast you can save
At $2,059 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 5 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 10 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses pay in Montgomery County, MD
How much do Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses make per hour in Montgomery County, MD?
The median is $36.47 per hour, based on $75,860 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $29.75 at the 10th percentile to $42.05 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses take home after taxes in Montgomery County, MD?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $75,860 becomes $58,648 a year. That is $4,887 a month, $2,256 every two weeks or $1,128 a week.
How much tax do Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses pay in Montgomery County, MD?
Total taxes are $17,212 a year, an effective rate of 22.7%: $8,138 federal income tax, $5,803 FICA and $3,271 Maryland income tax.
Do Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses earn more in Montgomery County, MD than elsewhere in Maryland?
Yes. The local median of $75,860 is +4.6% versus the Maryland average of $72,525, a difference of $3,335 a year.
Can Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses afford a one-bedroom apartment in Montgomery County, MD?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $4,887, which is 45.1% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,897 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in Montgomery County, MD?
About $2,059 a month ($24,704 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $33,944 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Montgomery County, MD at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses is $36.47.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 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.