Section 8 Housing in Maryland
39,883 active Housing Choice Vouchers across 4 markets. Rent limits, housing authorities, waitlist status, and voucher rights for every metro in Maryland.
Voucher-friendly listings in Maryland
2 listingsCan a landlord refuse Section 8 in Maryland?
Maryland has source-of-income protections for covered housing in Maryland. Coverage, property exemptions and current court decisions matter; a voucher refusal may be unlawful. Check the source and coverage notes below or ask the civil-rights agency or legal aid about the property.
HOME Act, Md. Code, State Gov't §§ 20-701(j), 20-704, 20-705
State law names Housing Choice Vouchers as a protected source of income. File with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. Coverage exceptions: For voucher income only: rooms in the owner's principal residence, and apartments in an owner-occupied dwelling with five or fewer rental units.
View statute →Informational only, not legal advice. Laws change, so verify current status before acting on a rejection or making a leasing decision.
Local voucher discrimination laws in Maryland
Maryland protects voucher holders statewide. These cities and counties also have their own ordinance, which can add a local agency to complain to.
- Baltimore CityBaltimore City source-of-income protection and Maryland HOME Act
- Howard CountyHoward County Human Rights Ordinance (2019)
Source: PRRAC, Appendix B: State, Local, and Federal Laws Barring Source of Income Discrimination (updated March 2026), plus the ordinances linked above. Informational only, not legal advice.
Landlord and investor tools for Maryland
RentalCalcsFree calculators and guides from RentalCalcs, built by the VoucherMatch team, for landlords deciding whether to accept vouchers.
- Section 8 rent analyzerHUD rent benchmarks and modeled comparisons for Maryland ZIP codes. Confirm adopted amounts with the agency.
- Compare HUD benchmarks with market rent in MarylandExplore modeled ZIP comparisons; these do not establish an approved rent or agency payment.
- Average rent in MarylandMarket rent versus HUD fair market rent by city and bedroom count.
- How Section 8 rent is calculatedFair market rent, payment standards and rent reasonableness, step by step.
- Section 8 landlord math for 2026What the payment standard changes mean for cash flow this year.
Maryland metro guides
In-depth, source-cited guides: waitlist status, voucher-friendly neighborhoods, and who to call if you are turned away.
All Section 8 markets in Maryland
Sorted by active voucher count. Each metro page has HUD Fair Market Rent by bedroom, the housing authorities that administer vouchers there, and waitlist status.
Section 8 by county in Maryland
County pages show the local voucher count, housing authorities, and metro rollup. Useful when you are looking at a specific address.
- Baltimore City27,996 vouchers
- Prince Georges County8,854 vouchers
- Montgomery County8,589 vouchers
- Anne Arundel County3,594 vouchers
- Washington County1,713 vouchers
- Saint Marys County1,604 vouchers
- Harford County1,291 vouchers
- Howard County1,184 vouchers
- Carroll County1,093 vouchers
- Frederick County957 vouchers
- Charles County934 vouchers
- Cecil County678 vouchers
- Calvert County480 vouchers
- Wicomico County404 vouchers
- Talbot County268 vouchers
- Queen Annes County176 vouchers
- Allegany County
- Baltimore County
- Caroline County
- Dorchester County
- Garrett County
- Kent County
- Somerset County
- Worcester County
Section 8 in Maryland: common questions
- Can a landlord refuse Section 8 in Maryland?
- Maryland has source-of-income protections for covered housing in Maryland. Coverage, property exemptions and current court decisions matter; a voucher refusal may be unlawful. Check the source and coverage notes below or ask the civil-rights agency or legal aid about the property.
- Which Maryland cities and counties have their own voucher discrimination law?
- Baltimore City and Howard County have a local source-of-income ordinance on file. The ordinance and its citation are listed on this page.
- How many Section 8 vouchers are there in Maryland?
- HUD data shows about 39,883 Housing Choice Vouchers across the 4 Maryland markets we track, administered by 30 housing authorities statewide.
- How do I apply for Section 8 in Maryland?
- You apply to a local housing authority, not to the state or to HUD. Each of Maryland's housing authorities runs its own waitlist and opens it on its own schedule, and applying is always free. Pick your metro or county on this page to see the housing authorities that serve it and their current waitlist status.
Find Section 8 apartments in Maryland
VoucherMatch connects voucher holders with landlords who accept Section 8, and it is free for renters. The administering housing authority must approve the actual unit, rent and household assistance calculation.

