Maryland prevailing wage
State law, federal determinations, and how to find the rate that applies
- Maryland has its own prevailing-wage law (Md. Code, State Fin. & Proc. §§17-201 to 17-226 (threshold: §17-202)), applying to public-works contracts over $250,000, administered by Maryland Dept. of Labor, Division of Labor and Industry — Prevailing Wage Unit.
- The U.S. Department of Labor has 66 active federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations covering 24 Maryland counties as of (latest revision date), each setting county rates by trade for federally funded construction.
- Market context: the average private construction worker in Maryland earned $1,687/week (≈ $42.17/hour) in Q1 2026, rank #15 of 51 states, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - an industry average, not a prevailing-wage rate.
Recent change: 2021 — threshold lowered from $500,000 to $250,000, effective Oct 1, 2021.
Includes school construction; local-government projects covered when state funding is 25% or more.
How to find the required rate
- State or locally funded project: use the rate schedules from Maryland Dept. of Labor, Division of Labor and Industry — Prevailing Wage Unit - official Maryland prevailing-wage portal.
- Federally funded project: find the county in the Maryland determination index and open the official SAM.gov document for your construction type.
- Read the classification line - base rate plus fringe (how to read a determination); compute totals and overtime with the calculator.
Federal determinations at a glance
Building: 24 · Heavy: 25 · Highway: 24 · Residential: 17 - every determination and the counties it covers are listed in the Maryland wage-determination index, each with its full rate schedule mirrored. Service contracts: 29 active SCA determinations for Maryland.
What construction actually pays here
Separate from any required rate: BLS data puts the average private construction wage in Maryland at $1,687/week (+5.7% YoY) in Q1 2026 - details and history on Maryland construction wages.
Learn the system
What a prevailing wage is · The Davis-Bacon Act · Certified payroll · Fringe calculator
Data on this page is from U.S. government public-domain sources - free to reuse with credit and a link to prevailingwageindex.com.