How much does it cost to replace a 50 gallon water heater in Maryland?

The two Maryland averages

These are market numbers. They are not our prices. In Greenbelt, HomeAdvisor puts the average at $1,322, with jobs running from $450 at the low end to $2,537 at the high end. In Columbia, HomeAdvisor puts the average at $1,084 and the typical range at $841 to $1,350.

What moves a 50 gallon job in Maryland

Fuel comes first. A gas tank brings a flue, a gas shutoff and a flex connector into the job. An electric tank needs none of them.

In Montgomery and Prince George's counties, WSSC Water rules make gas work licensee work, and that covers water heaters. Ask whoever you hire for their WSSC license number. In Prince George's the building permit comes from DPIE as well.

The heater you have now went in under a code twenty years older than today's. The new one may need an expansion tank because there's a pressure reducing valve on the line, a pan and drain line because it sits over a finished room, or a relief valve line run to the right place. Whatever applies goes on the estimate as its own line.

Then there's getting it out. A full 50 gallon tank can't be carried, so it gets drained first, and a basement stair with a turn in it or a closet in a townhouse takes longer than an open utility room. If the old tank had been leaking a while, the floor or platform under it may be soft, and we'll show you before the new one goes down.

How we put a price on it

We don't give water heater prices over the phone. A plumber looks at the heater, the vent and the space, and the written estimate comes by text within 24 to 48 hours with a link to approve it. Nothing gets disconnected until you do.

The estimate names the tank by make, model and size and lists every code item. The permit and hauling the old tank away are in it. Our workmanship warranty runs 60 to 90 days depending on the job. The tank's own warranty comes from the manufacturer, and we'll tell you who registers it.

If you've already bought a tank, we confirm before it goes in that it fits the closet or room, matches the vent and runs on the fuel the house has. Once it's in, our Water Heater Plan covers a yearly flush, an anode rod check and a test of the temperature and pressure valve. Ask us about it.

Where these numbers come from

We read both HomeAdvisor pages in October 2026, the Greenbelt page and the Columbia page. Each gives a city average from HomeAdvisor's project cost data, neither prints the year the data comes from, and we copied the numbers exactly as they appear.

We couldn't find a source that prices a 50 gallon tank in Maryland by itself. A Baltimore figure from a contractor software site had $0 on its labor line, so we didn't use it, and we don't treat other contractors' prices as market data. The Water Heater Plan price is from our own published plans. The estimate texts and the warranty are how we run every job.