How much income tax do I pay in the USA?
Short answer
Federal income tax runs through seven marginal brackets from 10 to 37 percent, applied only to income within each band after the standard deduction. Payroll taxes add 7.65 percent for Social Security and Medicare. State income tax ranges from zero in nine states to over 13 percent in California.
Verified · 4 cited sources
The federal system is marginal: moving into a higher bracket never reduces take-home pay, because only the income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate. The standard deduction — which most filers take — removes a substantial first slice of income from federal tax entirely, and both brackets and the deduction are inflation-adjusted every year, which is why specific figures go stale quickly.
Payroll taxes are separate and flat: employees pay 6.2 percent for Social Security up to an annual wage cap and 1.45 percent for Medicare with no cap, matched by the employer, with an additional Medicare surtax on high earners. Self-employed people pay both halves as self-employment tax, though half of it is deductible.
State income tax is the wildcard. Nine states — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming — levy no broad personal income tax, while top rates elsewhere run from under 3 percent to over 13 percent in California. Some cities, including New York City, levy their own income tax on top.
States without income tax raise revenue elsewhere — Texas has among the highest property taxes in the country — so the honest comparison between states is total state and local burden, not the presence of one tax.
Withholding through your W-4 approximates the liability across the year, and filing the annual return by April 15 settles the difference as a refund or a payment.
- Seven federal brackets, 10 to 37 percent, applied marginally
- Standard deduction removes the first slice of income; adjusted annually
- Payroll taxes: 6.2% Social Security (capped) + 1.45% Medicare (uncapped), matched by the employer
- Nine states levy no broad income tax; California's top rate exceeds 13 percent
- File by April 15 to settle withholding against actual liability
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Sources & provenance
Facts verified
- 1.Federal income tax rates and brackets OfficialInternal Revenue ServiceUsed for: Seven marginal brackets and annual adjustment
- 2.Topic: Social Security and Medicare taxes OfficialInternal Revenue ServiceUsed for: FICA rates, the wage cap and the additional Medicare tax
- 3.Self-employment tax OfficialInternal Revenue ServiceUsed for: Both halves payable when self-employed and the deduction for half
- 4.State individual income tax rates ResearchFederation of Tax AdministratorsUsed for: State rates and the nine no-income-tax states
Bracket structure, FICA rates and the state list come from the IRS and Federation of Tax Administrators sources cited. Specific bracket thresholds, the standard deduction and the Social Security wage cap change every year and are deliberately not quoted — check IRS.gov. The observation that no-income-tax states raise revenue elsewhere is our emphasis.
Facts on this page are taken from the sources listed above — U.S. federal agencies, state governments, regulators and official statistical releases. Comparisons, judgments and "which option suits whom" conclusions are AI-assisted analysis written over those sources; they are marked in the text and listed as an AI-analysis entry in the sources, not attributed to any authority. Rates, thresholds, fees and processing times change, often at the start of a calendar or tax year; figures are current as of the review date shown and should be confirmed with the responsible agency before you rely on them. A great deal of American law is state law — where a rule differs by state, this site says so.