Dental Assistant Salary in Maryland: What Dental Assistants Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$41,600
Median (50th)
$48,620
75th percentile
$58,820
National median
$48,070
BLS OEWS (SOC 31-9091), May 2025
What does a dental assistant make in Maryland?
The median dental assistant in Maryland earns $48,620 a year ($23.38 an hour), which is $550 above the national median of $48,070, and more than in nearby Pennsylvania ($47,930) and Delaware ($47,600) but less than in District of Columbia ($60,580). The mean is $50,720.
That ranks 19th of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental assistant median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Maryland
The middle half of Maryland dental assistants earn $41,600 to $58,820. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $35,560, $1,570 below the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $61,710, $540 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Maryland
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Maryland's 2024 price level at 105.0 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 5.0% above the national average, and housing (index 121.1) runs 21.1% above.
Converted to national average prices, the $48,620 median is worth about $46,320 — $1,750 below the national median of $48,070.
How many dental assistants work in Maryland
BLS counts about 6,560 dental assistant jobs in Maryland, 1.7% of the 387,790 nationwide, or 2.373 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dental assistants hold a 5% smaller share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 0.95).
Dental Assistant Salary by City in Maryland
Across the 4 Maryland metro areas where BLS publishes a dental assistant median, pay runs from $46,690 in Hagerstown to $48,410 in Baltimore, a spread of $1,720.
All dental roles by metro: Baltimore · Hagerstown · Lexington Park · Salisbury
Who's hiring dental assistants in Maryland now
DentistryHires has 66 open dental assistant listings in Maryland from 32 employers, the most of them in Waldorf (7).
56 post hourly pay, from $16 to $35 an hour; 2 post a salary from $40,000 to $50,000 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Assistant Regulatory Context in Maryland
Dental assistant practice in Maryland is regulated by the Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners.
Scope of practice — what a dental assistant may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Maryland Compares
Other dental salaries in Maryland
- Dentist salary in Maryland: median $168,500, $119,880 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Hygienist salary in Maryland: median $107,830, $59,210 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Maryland: median $47,850, $770 below the dental assistant median
- Orthodontist salary in Maryland: median $361,030
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.