Worcester County is Maryland's only oceanfront county, and its homes show it. Near Ocean City, West Ocean City and the barrier-island areas, many houses sit on pilings with a run of entrance stairs before you even reach the front door. Inland in Snow Hill, Berlin and Pocomoke City, the stairs are more often inside older single-family homes and farmhouses.
Those two kinds of houses create different stair problems, and they call for different lifts. This page covers what we see across the county's 8 towns, including Ocean Pines, Bishopville and Newark, and which local and state programs are worth a phone call before you pay out of pocket.
The county's land runs from sea level to 49 feet, and storms like the 1933 hurricane and the 1962 Ash Wednesday Nor'easter shaped how people build near the water. The result is a lot of elevated construction in flood-prone zones around Ocean City. For someone with weak knees or balance trouble, the outside stairs up to the living level become the main barrier.
An outdoor stair lift is built for weather exposure and mounts to the exterior steps. If the entrance stairs turn at a landing, a curved outdoor rail can follow them. Where a wheelchair user needs to get up, a platform lift is usually the better fit, since a seat lift still requires a transfer at the top and bottom.
Away from the resort strip, Snow Hill, Berlin and Pocomoke City have older, traditional single-family homes, and the county has numerous properties on the National Register of Historic Places from the colonial and 19th-century Eastern Shore era. Staircases in older homes are often narrow or turn partway up, which tends to point toward a curved lift. We measure the width and the turns before quoting anything.
Split-level homes bring a different puzzle: several short flights instead of one long one. Sometimes only one flight matters, for example the one to the bedrooms, and a straight lift on that run solves the daily problem. Townhouses usually have a single straight staircase, which is the simplest and most common install.
Ocean City's multi-story beach condos, along with the county's walk-up apartments and low-rise buildings, often have shared stairways. A lift in a common stairwell usually needs the building owner or association to sign off, so start that conversation early.
Inside a unit with its own interior stairs, the choice is the same as in a house: straight if the run is straight, curved if it turns. If you are a renter, ask the property owner before scheduling a measurement.
Worcester County has 37,117 residents, and 29.9% of them are 65 or older. The median resident age is 50.5. With 73.7% of residents owning their homes, many people here want to stay in a house they already own rather than move.
If that includes you or a parent, the VA grants below may be worth checking before buying a lift outright.
Ability to pay varies a lot here. The county's median household income is $55,487, and 10.1% of residents live below the poverty line, with the rural inland towns generally under more strain than the resort economy. That makes it worth calling a few offices before you decide.
The best first call for most families is the Maryland Access Point referral line at (410) 632-9915, since a referral there comes before most public in-home or home-modification services. Be aware that none of the programs listed below names stair lifts as a covered item, and two of them, the VA HISA grant and the state DME Re-Use Program, do not cover them. A low-interest loan through mdTAP is one financing route to ask about, and veterans can reach the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs Eastern Shore Service Center in Salisbury at (800) 446-4926.
The county's Area Agency on Aging, offering information, referral and access to Medicaid long-term care for older adults and adults with disabilities; its listing does not mention stair lifts or home modifications. Call the Maryland Access Point line at (410) 632-9915, or the MAC, Inc. office at (410) 742-0505.
A referral to Chesapeake Housing Mission, which builds ramps and installs grab bars, handrails and roofs for seniors who cannot afford the work; stair lifts are not mentioned. Referral goes through Maryland Access Point at (410) 632-9915.
A Medicaid benefit for people with full Maryland Medicaid who need a nursing-facility level of care but live in the community; it lists accessibility adaptations among its services but does not name stair lifts. Call (410) 767-1739.
Below-market loans from $500 to $70,000 for Marylanders with a disability or family members borrowing for them, including unsecured home-modification loans up to $20,000; stair lifts are not named as an example. Call (800) 832-4827.
Free reused equipment such as walkers, shower chairs, wheelchairs and hospital beds for any Marylander with an illness, injury or disability; stair lifts are not part of its equipment list. Call (410) 767-1100.
A federal grant of up to $126,526 (FY2026 maximum) for veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities to buy, build or modify a permanent home for accessibility; stair lifts are not itemized by name.
A federal grant of up to $25,350 (FY2026 maximum) for veterans or qualifying family members with disabilities such as loss or loss of use of both hands; it covers accessibility modification but does not itemize stair lifts.
Helps adapt a family member's home where a veteran is temporarily living, up to $50,961 if SAH-eligible or $9,100 if SHA-eligible (FY2026 maximums); stair lifts are not itemized by name.
A lifetime grant of up to $6,800 or $2,000 for medically necessary structural alterations for veterans in VA health care. It does not cover stair lifts: stair glides and porch lifts are explicitly excluded as removable equipment.
A monthly cash supplement added to a VA pension for veterans who need help with daily activities, are substantially bedridden, live in a nursing home or have severe vision loss; it is not tied to a purchase and the source does not confirm stair lift coverage.
Older adults
909 Progress Circle, Salisbury, 21804
Veterans
Lower Shore One-Stop Job Market, Suite 1, 917 Mt. Herman Road, Salisbury, 21804
Yes, outdoor stair lifts are built for exterior stairs like the entrance steps on homes raised on pilings near Ocean City. If the stairs turn at a landing, a curved outdoor rail can follow them, and a platform lift is an option for wheelchair users.
Not through HISA, which explicitly excludes stair glides and porch lifts. The SAH, SHA and TRA grants cover accessibility modifications but do not name stair lifts, so ask about them directly. The Eastern Shore Service Center in Salisbury can be reached at (800) 446-4926.
The Chesapeake Housing Mission program reached through the Commission on Aging lists ramps, grab bars, handrails and roofs, and stair lifts are not mentioned. Referral goes through Maryland Access Point at (410) 632-9915.
The mdTAP Low-Interest Loan Program offers unsecured home-modification loans up to $20,000 to Marylanders with a disability, or to a family member borrowing for them. Stair lifts are not named as an example, so confirm with mdTAP at (800) 832-4827.
Community First Choice and the mdTAP loan program have no age restriction. The DME Re-Use Program also serves any Marylander regardless of age, though it does not provide stair lifts.
MAC, Inc. serves Worcester County from 909 Progress Circle, Salisbury, 21804, at (410) 742-0505. For referrals to in-home or home-modification services, call Maryland Access Point at (410) 632-9915.
Tell us about the stairs in your home and we will explain which lift fits, what it costs and how installation works.
