The bottom line
US federal income tax for 2026 has seven brackets running from 10% to 37%. You do not pay your top bracket rate on all your income — you pay each rate only on the slice of income that falls inside that bracket. Most filers also pay 7.65% in FICA payroll tax (Social Security + Medicare), capped at $176,100 for the Social Security portion. After the standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 married filing jointly), the typical middle-income household pays an effective rate around 12–18%, far below their marginal rate.
How the brackets work
The 2026 brackets, set by IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, look like this for single filers:
| Rate | Income range |
|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 |
| 12% | $12,400 – $50,400 |
| 22% | $50,400 – $105,700 |
| 24% | $105,700 – $201,775 |
| 32% | $201,775 – $256,225 |
| 35% | $256,225 – $640,600 |
| 37% | $640,600+ |
Married filing jointly roughly doubles each threshold. Head of household sits between single and joint. Married filing separately mirrors single up to the 35% bracket then drops the upper threshold sharply (a deliberate design choice to discourage filing separately as a tax-avoidance strategy).
The math is simple in principle: you walk each bracket from the bottom, multiply the income that falls inside that bracket by the bracket rate, and add up the slices.
The standard deduction comes off first
Before you apply the brackets, you subtract the standard deduction from your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). For 2026:
- Single / married filing separately: $16,100
- Married filing jointly: $32,200
- Head of household: $24,150
If you are 65 or older, blind, or both, additional standard-deduction add-ons apply. For 2026 these are $2,050 (single / HoH) or $1,650 per qualifying spouse (MFJ) — added to your standard deduction.
The big news for 2025 onward is the OBBBA senior bonus deduction, established by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025). Filers age 65+ get an additional $6,000 deduction, available 2025–2028, with a phase-out: 6¢ of bonus lost per dollar of AGI over $75,000 single / $150,000 married filing jointly. For seniors with modest income, this is a meaningful break — for example, a single retiree at $50,000 AGI gets the full $6,000.
Worked example: single filer, $75,000 wages
Maya is single, 30 years old, no children, takes the standard deduction. She has $75,000 in W-2 wages and no other income or pre-tax deductions.
- AGI: $75,000.
- Standard deduction: $16,100.
- Taxable income: $75,000 − $16,100 = $58,900.
Now walk the 2026 single brackets:
| Bracket | Income in band | Tax in band |
|---|---|---|
| 10% on first $12,400 | $12,400 | $1,240 |
| 12% on $12,400 → $50,400 | $38,000 | $4,560 |
| 22% on $50,400 → $58,900 | $8,500 | $1,870 |
| Federal income tax | $7,670 |
FICA on $75,000 of wages:
- Social Security: 6.2% × $75,000 = $4,650 (under the $176,100 wage base, so the full wage is taxed)
- Medicare: 1.45% × $75,000 = $1,088
- Additional Medicare 0.9%: $0 (under the $200,000 single threshold)
Total federal tax: $7,670 + $4,650 + $1,088 = $13,408. Net take-home: $75,000 − $13,408 = $61,592. Effective rate: 17.9%. Marginal rate: 22%.
Notice the difference between her marginal rate (22%) and her effective rate (17.9%). This is the most common confusion in personal tax: marginal rate is what you pay on your last dollar of income; effective rate is what you pay on average. When deciding whether a pre-tax 401(k) contribution is worth it, the comparison is to your marginal rate.
The Child Tax Credit
If Maya had two qualifying children (under 17, US citizen / resident, lived with her more than half the year), she would subtract $2,000 per child from her federal income tax liability. The CTC phases out at $50 per $1,000 of AGI over $200,000 single / $400,000 MFJ — well above Maya's income, so she would get the full $4,000 credit.
Common mistakes
1. Confusing marginal rate with effective rate. “I just got a raise that pushed me into the next bracket — I'm worse off!” No. Only the income above the threshold is taxed at the higher rate; everything below is unchanged. A raise is always a net positive on tax — never a net negative.
2. Treating gross wages as taxable income. Your taxable income is gross minus pre-tax deductions (401(k), HSA, FSA, traditional IRA where applicable) minus the standard deduction (or itemized, if higher). For most filers this is a 20–25% reduction from gross.
3. Forgetting FICA. If you're a W-2 employee, your federal tax bill includes 7.65% FICA on top of income tax, plus an additional 0.9% Medicare on wages above $200,000 (single). If you're self-employed, you pay both the employee and employer portions of FICA — that's 15.3% combined, with a half-SE-tax deduction taking part of the sting away (see the freelancer self-employment guide).
4. Conflating federal and state tax. Federal income tax is what we've covered here. State and local income tax stack on top: 0% in Texas, ~13.3% top rate in California, ~10.9% in New York. Always check what your state adds.
5. Assuming AMT does not apply to you. The Alternative Minimum Tax recaptures certain deductions for high-deduction or ISO-exercise filers. AMT is rare for typical W-2 households but bites unexpectedly when you have large state-tax deductions, big incentive-stock-option exercises, or certain depreciation deductions. If your situation is non-standard, a CPA review is worth more than this guide.
Use the calculator
The companion US Federal Income Tax Calculator walks every line of the math for any income, filing status, and family configuration — including the OBBBA senior bonus phase-out and the additional Medicare surtax. The bracket breakdown table on the result panel shows exactly how your tax was computed.
For a paycheck-period view (annual / monthly / biweekly / weekly), use the US Gross-to-Net calculator. For a comparison across the US, UK, Singapore, and Australia, use the 4-country take-home compare.
What this guide does NOT cover
Some standard tax topics that warrant their own guides or a professional consultation:
- Itemized deductions (mortgage interest, SALT cap, charitable giving)
- The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) — refundable, complex eligibility
- Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) 3.8% on certain unearned income above thresholds
- Long-term capital gains preferential rates (0% / 15% / 20%) and qualified dividend treatment
- The Saver's Credit, education credits, premium tax credit reconciliation
- Self-employment tax (Schedule SE) — see the freelancer guide
- AMT mechanics and triggers
- State and local tax — varies dramatically; consult your state revenue department
For tax decisions involving meaningful money — a year-end Roth conversion, an IRA early withdrawal, an inherited retirement account — bring in a CPA or enrolled agent who can review your full return. The cost of one consultation is almost always less than the cost of a wrong decision.