Waiters and Waitresses salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

The figures

The median Waiters and Waitresses in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro area earns $36,170 a year ($17.39 an hour), according to the BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates (full citation in Sources). The middle half of Waiters and Waitresses in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD earn between $31,980 and $47,460 a year. At the ends of the distribution, the lowest-paid 10 percent earn $31,200 or less and the top 10 percent earn $60,650 or more. BLS estimates 19,590 Waiters and Waitresses jobs in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area — 14.442 of every 1,000 jobs in the area, a location quotient of 0.99 (about the same concentration as the nation). That is 0.9% of all Waiters and Waitresses employment in the United States (2,270,910 jobs nationally). By employment, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD is the #23 largest of the 25 covered metro areas for Waiters and Waitresses. In aggregate, Waiters and Waitresses in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD earn about $0.84 billion a year (BLS employment multiplied by the mean wage). At the mean wage, the engine's take-home is $35,074.26 a year, so the aggregate take-home of Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Waiters and Waitresses is about $0.69 billion. BLS reports a relative standard error of 6.2% for this employment estimate. Ranked by median pay, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD stands #13 of the 25 metro areas covered on this site for Waiters and Waitresses. By employment, Waiters and Waitresses is the #9 largest of the 30 covered occupations in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD. Placed against the national distribution for Waiters and Waitresses, the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD median of $36,170 falls between the national median ($35,230) and the national 75th percentile ($47,110). Across all occupations, the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD median is $59,070 a year — Waiters and Waitresses pay is 38.8% below the area's overall median.

Wages in detail

What the wage distribution says

The top 10 percent of Waiters and Waitresses in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD earn 1.9 times what the bottom 10 percent earn ($60,650 against $31,200). The middle half spans $15,480 — from $31,980 to $47,460. Hourly, the 90th percentile ($29.16) is 1.94 times the 10th ($15.00). In the upper half of the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD distribution, the 75th percentile wage of $47,460 takes home $38,423.44 and the 90th percentile wage of $60,650 takes home $48,394.90 — $9,971.46 more net for $13,190 more gross. Against the median take-home of $29,888.40, the top decile keeps 1.62 times as much. The mean wage of $43,030 sits 19.0% above the median: higher-paid Waiters and Waitresses pull the average up in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD. Among the 30 covered occupations in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Waiters and Waitresses ranks #27 by median pay. In the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD wage ladder of covered occupations, Waiters and Waitresses sits between Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners at $36,460 and Retail Salespersons at $34,800. Waiters and Waitresses accounts for 1.4% of all employment in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro area. The average covered metro employs 39,482 Waiters and Waitresses; Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD employs 0.5 times that.

Take-home pay on the median wage in Maryland

Single filer, no dependents, no pre-tax contributions, paid biweekly, a full year of W-2 wages in Maryland; city and local taxes are not included:

At the median, $29,888.40 of the $36,170 gross is kept ($1,149.55 per paycheck) — a deduction rate of 17.37%. The deduction rate moves with pay: 16.25% at the 10th percentile, 16.45% at the 25th percentile, 19.04% at the 75th percentile, 20.21% at the 90th percentile. Between the 25th and 75th percentile wages, annual take-home rises by $11,702.98 on a gross rise of $15,480.

The same engine at the other published points of the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD wage distribution:

Across the published distribution, take-home pay runs from $26,131.04 a year at the 10th percentile to $48,394.90 at the 90th — a spread of $22,263.86 of net pay inside one occupation and one metro area.

For scale: across all occupations, the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD median wage of $59,070 takes home $47,200.74 a year ($1,815.41 per paycheck, deduction rate 20.09%). The Waiters and Waitresses median take-home of $29,888.40 sits $17,312.34 (below that area-wide figure.

Run your own numbers

Your own withholding depends on your Form W-4, your benefits and your other income — run your exact figures through the calculator:

Take-home pay for $36,170 in Maryland

Against the national median

Nationally, the median Waiters and Waitresses earns $35,230 a year ($16.94 an hour). The Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD median of $36,170 is $940 (2.7%) above the national median.

The means rank the area the same way: $43,030 a year in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD against $40,060 nationally, a gap of $2,970 (7.4%).

Set against the whole local market, the Waiters and Waitresses 90th percentile of $60,650 is 44% of the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD all-occupations 90th percentile ($138,650), and its 10th percentile of $31,200 is 91% of the area-wide 10th ($34,230).

Sources and method

Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates (released May 15, 2026), retrieved October 27, 2026 — bls.gov/oes. OEWS figures are survey estimates for May 2025, not job offers. Take-home pay is computed by this site's paycheck engine with 2026 federal and state rules; the method, and what the engine does not model, is documented in the paycheck methodology guide. Estimates only — not tax advice.