Budget Explorer · State of Maryland

Where the money comes from, and where it goes

Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for Maryland's state government, on the same Census classification used for all fifty states and every city and county in the Library. Transfers to local governments and school districts are broken out, since for most states they are the single largest line. Latest year: FY ending Jun 30, 2024.

Audited actuals · Census classification · 6.16M residents

Total revenue

$60.8B

$9,869 per resident

Total spending

$63.7B

$10,337 per resident

Spending per resident

$10,337

67th percentile of 50

Debt outstanding

$25.7B

$4,175 per resident · 75th percentile of 50

Own-source share

66%

59th percentile of 50

Capital share

7%

55th percentile of 50

Where the money comes from

$60.8B total

Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.

  • Property tax$995M2%
  • General sales tax$6.85B11%
  • Selective sales taxes$5.70B9%
  • Income taxes$15.5B25%
  • License & other taxes$1.75B3%
  • Federal aid$20.4B33%
  • State & local aid$158M0%
  • Charges & fees$4.41B7%
  • Interest, fines, other$4.20B7%
  • Utility revenue$69M0%
  • Liquor & insurance trust$832M1%

Own-source share of general revenue 66% · federal aid 34% · property tax is 3% of taxes

Where it goes

$63.7B total

Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.

  • Public welfare$21.6B34%
  • Transfers to other governments$12.1B19%
  • Education$10.3B16%
  • Transportation$5.56B9%
  • General government$4.53B7%
  • Public safety$3.56B6%
  • Health & hospitals$2.71B4%
  • Environment & housing$1.92B3%
  • Interest on debt$1.12B2%
  • Culture & recreation$222M0%
  • Other$5.4M0%
Show top functions with operating vs. capital ▸
FunctionCategoryOperatingCapitalTotal
Public welfarePublic welfare$21.6B$12M$21.6B
Higher educationEducation$5.94B$697M$6.64B
TransitTransportation$1.89B$523M$2.42B
HealthHealth & hospitals$2.13B$34M$2.17B
Corrections (institutions)Public safety$1.59B$40M$1.63B
HighwaysTransportation$823M$793M$1.62B
General (unallocable)General government$1.34B$119M$1.45B
K-12 educationEducation$745M$615M$1.36B
Financial administrationGeneral government$1.09B$64M$1.16B
Police protectionPublic safety$1.11B$29M$1.14B
Judicial & legalGeneral government$960M$18M$978M
Toll highwaysTransportation$41M$914M$955M
Higher education (auxiliary)Education$860M$66M$925M
Natural resourcesEnvironment & housing$529M$348M$877M

Trend · 3 fiscal years

Nominal dollars. The Census Bureau cautions that single-government series are edited only for aggregates — read direction, not decimals.

Revenue

-2% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$62.1B$60.8B

Spending

+10% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$58.1B$63.7B

Debt outstanding

+1% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$25.4B$25.7B

How it compares · the 50 states

Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.

MeasureMarylandCohort medianPercentileHigher means
Spending per resident$10,337$9,466
67th
more spent per resident
Revenue per resident$9,869$9,800
51st
more raised per resident
Taxes per resident$4,995$4,114
75th
heavier own-tax load
Debt per resident$4,175$3,139
75th
more borrowed per resident
Own-source share of revenue66%64%
59th
less dependent on aid
Federal aid share of revenue34%35%
43rd
more exposed to federal cuts
Capital share of spending7%7%
55th
more building, less operating
Interest share of spending2%1%
79th
more spend servicing debt
Debt ÷ annual revenue0.42×0.29×
75th
more leveraged
  • Census classification categories, not this government's own budget structure. Figures are audited actuals for the fiscal year shown, not the adopted budget.
  • The Census Bureau edits unit-level data only to produce state and national aggregates and advises against reading it as a precise time series for any single government; treat year-over-year moves under ~5% as noise.
  • Employee-retirement-system revenue is excluded (published separately by Census). Utility and insurance-trust revenue are shown separately from general revenue.
  • Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (Individual Unit public-use files), unit 240000227750 (Maryland). Retrieved 2026-09-07. Classification manual.

Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.

For how this shapes what Maryland and its cities can deliver — preemption posture, revenue authority, the binding constraint — see the Maryland state profile.

The Civic Infrastructure Diagnostic Framework’s structural elements — the four cluster labels, the six capacity dimensions, and the binding-constraint framing — are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Anyone may use or adapt them with attribution. Tool implementation and full article text © 2026 JTV Advisory LLC.