Tax Bracket Calculator 2026: Federal Income Tax

How to use the calculator

Filing status: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately or head of household.
Total income: wages and other ordinary taxable income for the year, such as interest or self-employment profit. Use taxable wages (box 1 of your W-2), which already exclude pre-tax 401(k) contributions.
Adjustments: above-the-line deductions that lower your adjusted gross income (AGI), such as deductible traditional IRA or HSA contributions.
Deduction: the standard deduction is filled in for your status. Choose itemized only if your itemized deductions are larger, and enter their total.

How the calculator works

AGI = income − adjustments
Taxable income = AGI − deduction

Taxable income is then split across the 2026 brackets the IRS published, and each slice is taxed at its own rate.

Rate	Single	Married filing jointly	Head of household
10%	up to $12,400	up to $24,800	up to $17,700
12%	to $50,400	to $100,800	to $67,450
22%	to $105,700	to $211,400	to $105,700
24%	to $201,775	to $403,550	to $201,750
32%	to $256,225	to $512,450	to $256,200
35%	to $640,600	to $768,700	to $640,600
37%	above	above	above

Married filing separately uses the single thresholds except that the 35% bracket ends at $384,350. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 (single or separate), $32,200 (joint) and $24,150 (head of household).

Marginal rate is the rate that would apply to your next dollar of taxable income. If your taxable income lands exactly on the top of a bracket, that's already the higher rate. Effective rate = tax ÷ total income. Next bracket starts in shows how much more taxable income is still taxed at your marginal rate before the following bracket begins.

Worked examples

1. Single, $85,000

Taxable income is $85,000 − $16,100 = $68,900.

Bracket	Income taxed	Tax
10%	$12,400	$1,240
12%	$38,000	$4,560
22%	$18,500	$4,070

Total tax is $9,870. The marginal rate is 22%, but the effective rate is only 11.61%. The next $36,800 of taxable income would still be taxed at 22%; beyond that, the rate is 24%.

2. Married filing jointly, $150,000

With $10,000 of adjustments, AGI is $140,000 and taxable income $107,800. Tax is $13,140, an effective rate of 8.76%, with $7,000 taxed at 22%.

3. Head of household, $60,000

After the $24,150 standard deduction, taxable income is $35,850 and the tax is $3,948 (6.58% effective, 12% marginal).

Does a raise push all your income into a higher bracket?

No. A single filer earning $66,500 has exactly $50,400 of taxable income, the top of the 12% bracket, and owes $5,800. The calculator shows a 22% marginal rate here, because the next dollar would be taxed at 22%, even though none of the $50,400 is. A $1,000 raise to $67,500 brings the tax to $6,020: only that $1,000 is taxed at 22%, so you keep $780 of it. Under the brackets alone, earning more never leaves you with less after tax.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between marginal and effective tax rate?

Your marginal rate is the rate on your next dollar of taxable income, which is what an extra dollar of income or deduction is worth. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total income, the average you pay overall. It's always lower than the marginal rate once income passes the first bracket.

Should I itemize or take the standard deduction?

Take whichever is larger. The calculator uses whatever you choose, so compare both. For a single filer at $85,000, $20,000 of itemized deductions would lower the tax from $9,870 to $9,012.

Does this include tax credits?

No. Credits such as the child tax credit reduce the tax itself, dollar for dollar, after the bracket calculation. Subtract any credits you expect from the result.

What about capital gains and Social Security tax?

Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends have their own lower rates and aren't modeled here, so leave them out of income. Social Security and Medicare (FICA) are separate payroll taxes; if you're self-employed, our self-employment tax calculator covers them.

Is anything else left out?

Yes: state and local income tax, the alternative minimum tax, the additional standard deduction for age 65 or older or blindness ($1,650 in 2026, or $2,050 if unmarried), and the newer deductions added by the One Big Beautiful Bill, such as the senior deduction. Any of these can change your actual bill.

Sources

This calculator estimates federal income tax on ordinary income for tax year 2026 and is not tax advice. Your actual tax depends on credits, other income types and rules not modeled here; check IRS guidance or a tax professional.

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