Rockville local tax guide
Who pays Rockville's local tax
Montgomery County residents owe 3.2% on all Maryland taxable income, whether their job is at the county offices downtown, a biotech firm on the Interstate 270 corridor, or across the river in Virginia. Frederick County residents who drive down Interstate 270 to Rockville pay Frederick County's rates, not Montgomery's. Virginia and D.C. residents who work in Rockville and keep no Maryland home for 183 days or more claim exemption from Maryland withholding on Form MW507.
Montgomery County's tax for Rockville residents
Rockville, an incorporated city of about 68,000, collects property taxes but cannot levy its own income tax. The income tax on Rockville paychecks is Montgomery County's 3.2%, applied to Maryland taxable income and collected by the state on Form 502.
Maryland shares part of the county income tax paid by residents of incorporated cities with those cities, so some of what Rockville residents pay supports city services. The rate itself is the same as in unincorporated Bethesda or Germantown.
Worked example: $75,000 in Rockville
For a single filer earning $75,000, Maryland taxable income is $68,400 after the state's standard deduction and $3,200 personal exemption. State tax is $3,197 and Montgomery County adds $2,189. After $7,670 of federal income tax, $4,650 of Social Security, and $1,088 of Medicare, take-home lands at $56,207.
The same worker with no local income tax would keep $58,395, a difference of $2,189. Because the base is taxable income rather than salary, the county's bite is 2.92% of a $75,000 salary and 3.11% of $150,000, where it reaches $4,666. A worker commuting into Rockville from outside Montgomery County shows $0 of Montgomery tax here.
Virginia and the Interstate 270 corridor
Many Rockville residents cross the American Legion Bridge to jobs in Tysons or Reston. Under Maryland and Virginia's reciprocity, a Maryland resident who commutes daily to Virginia does not pay Virginia income tax on those wages, but owes Maryland and Montgomery County tax at home. Ask the Virginia employer to withhold for Maryland.
Going north, commuters from Frederick County keep Frederick's whole-income rates even though they work in Rockville. Moving from Frederick to Rockville would raise the county bill by $164 at $75,000.
Rockville against other Maryland cities
Rockville and Silver Spring share Montgomery County's rate, and so do Columbia's Howard County and Baltimore City. Annapolis residents pay $298 less at $75,000. Compare on the Silver Spring calculator, the Frederick calculator, or the Maryland state page.
Tips for Rockville paychecks
Virginia employer? Get Maryland withholding
If your job is in Virginia and Virginia tax is not owed, make sure the employer withholds Maryland and Montgomery County tax so you do not owe a lump sum in April.
List Montgomery County on MW507
The county field on Form MW507 tells payroll which local rate to add. A blank or outdated entry can under-withhold.
Federal workers: TSP lowers county tax
Traditional Thrift Savings Plan contributions reduce Maryland taxable income, saving Montgomery County's 3.2% as well as state and federal tax.