Surgical Technologist Salary in Maryland (2026) - $64,780/yr
Maryland pays surgical technologists a mean of $64,780/yr (+3% vs national mean $63,060, BLS OEWS May 2024, SOC 29-2055). DC-suburb metros pay the highest in the state. High cost-of-living (index 120) reduces real purchasing power to roughly $53,983, below the national real-terms benchmark. Federal employment via NIH and military hospitals lifts the top of the range.
Maryland Metro Area Pay
| Metro Area | Mean Annual | Mean Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick (MD) | $71,200 | $34.23 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | $63,840 | $30.69 |
| Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville | $68,930 | $33.14 |
| Hagerstown-Martinsburg | $57,210 | $27.50 |
| Salisbury | $56,420 | $27.12 |
Metro estimates: BLS OEWS May 2024 metropolitan cross-tab, SOC 29-2055. Bethesda/Silver Spring pay reflects DC-metro labor competition + federal employer presence.
Maryland Highlights
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Hospital (the #1 academic medical center in the US for adult and pediatric specialty rankings) is the dominant employer at the top of the pay range, especially for transplant, neurosurgery, and cardiac specialty CST roles. University of Maryland Medical Center (Shock Trauma, the original civilian trauma center model) pays competitively for trauma CST coverage with strong call-pay differentials. MedStar Health operates Union Memorial and Franklin Square in Baltimore.
DC suburbs (Montgomery + Prince George County): NIH Clinical Center (federal pay scale, GS-7 to GS-11 surgical tech band), Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (federal civilian + uniformed), and Suburban Hospital (Johns Hopkins-affiliated) drive the highest state metro band. Federal positions add locality pay of approximately 33% on the DC-Baltimore Combined Statistical Area scale.
Licensure: Maryland does not require state-specific surgical technologist licensure. CST through NBSTSA is the standard. Maryland state income tax (top rate 5.75% plus county add-on of 2.25 to 3.2%) reduces effective take-home meaningfully compared to neighboring Virginia or DC at the same nominal pay.