Virginia Paycheck Calculator

Virginia uses four marginal brackets for 2026: 2% on the first $3,000 of taxable income, 3% on the next $2,000, 5% on the next $12,000, and 5.75% on everything above $17,000. Because the top bracket starts so low, most full-time workers in Virginia pay 5.75% on a meaningful share of their income, even though their overall effective rate stays well below that headline number.

$8,750 for single filers and those married filing separately, and $17,500 for married filing jointly, for tax year 2026 — up from $8,500 and $17,000 in 2025. These are Virginia's own figures, separate from the federal standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 married for 2026), and are applied independently against Virginia taxable income before the bracket calculation.

No. Unlike some neighboring states, Virginia does not authorize cities or counties to levy their own local income tax on wages, so the state tax figure this calculator produces is the complete state-and-local income tax picture for every Virginia resident, regardless of which city or county they live in. Virginia localities do levy their own personal property and real estate taxes, but those are unrelated to payroll withholding.

No — this is a key difference from federal and many other states' schedules. Virginia's four bracket rates and dollar thresholds (2% up to $3,000, 3% up to $5,000, 5% up to $17,000, 5.75% above that) are identical whether a taxpayer files single or married filing jointly. Only the standard deduction changes by filing status, not the brackets themselves.

Not automatically. The $8,750/$17,500 amounts for 2026 reflect an increase enacted by the Virginia General Assembly that is scheduled to sunset after tax year 2026 absent further legislation, reverting toward the much lower pre-2019 deduction amounts ($3,000 single / $6,000 married) unless lawmakers extend it. This calculator uses the confirmed 2026 figures and will need updating if the sunset takes effect or is extended.

Yes, but the cap is federal, not a Virginia rule. Social Security tax is 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 for 2026, after which no more Social Security tax is withheld for the rest of the year regardless of state. Medicare's 1.45% has no cap at all, and earners above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly) pay an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on the excess.

No. A bill proposing a new 7% bracket on Virginia taxable income above $600,000 was introduced but did not become law for 2026 — Virginia's rate schedule remains the same four brackets, 2% through 5.75%, that applied in prior years. The only enacted 2026 change was a higher standard deduction, not a new bracket.

Yes. Virginia has reciprocity agreements with the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia — relevant to the many Northern Virginia residents who commute across the Potomac for work. A Virginia resident who commutes daily to DC or Kentucky and earns only wages there pays tax to Virginia alone, not the work jurisdiction. For Maryland, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia, the exemption requires spending 183 days or fewer there in the year, keeping no permanent residence there, and earning only wage income from that state. Employees claiming the exemption should file Form VA-4 with their employer so Virginia tax is withheld instead of the other state's.

This calculator estimates statutory withholding on regular wages using Virginia's 2026 brackets and standard deduction — it does not account for Virginia-specific credits (such as the low-income tax credit), pre-tax deductions like a 401(k) or health premiums, or additional income sources that would change total taxable income. Your actual return may differ from this estimate for any of those reasons.