"In the 22% bracket" is not what your tax looks like.
Federal brackets are stair-step, not flat. Move the income slider and watch each bracket light up only as your dollars reach it — the bracket above the one you're in costs nothing on the dollars that didn't get there.
Pairs with The Paycheck calculatorEach slice fills only as your dollars reach it — empty slices on the right cost nothing.
Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 federal brackets); standard deduction by filing status.
Tax owed, by bracket
Each rate applies only to the dollars inside that bracket's slice — the lower brackets keep their cheaper rates even after you cross above them.Federal income tax only — your state and FICA (Social Security + Medicare) are separate. Assumes the standard deduction; itemizers above the standard see a lower taxable income. For full payroll math including FICA and state withholding, run the Paycheck calculator.
Marginal vs effective Two rates, both real — and one is much lower.
Your marginal rate is the rate the next dollar you earn would be taxed at — the bracket you're currently sitting in. Your effective rate is the average rate across all your dollars, including the ones that got taxed at the lower brackets below. For most W-2 earners, the effective rate is 4–10 percentage points lower than the marginal one.
- Marginal matters for decisions. If you're deciding whether to defer another $1,000 into a Traditional 401(k), it's the marginal rate that determines your tax savings.
- Effective matters for totals. If you're asking "how much of my paycheck goes to federal tax?", that's the effective rate — never your top bracket.
- Both are below the headline. Most Americans never reach the 35% or 37% brackets, even on six-figure incomes. The 22% bracket runs all the way to $105,700 of taxable income (single) — that's a salary near $122K before the next jump.
Think of the brackets as a row of buckets. Income flows in from the left, filling the 10% bucket first. Only when that bucket overflows does the 12% bucket start to fill. Your top bucket — the one with room left in it — is your marginal bracket.
What this leaves out Federal income tax is the biggest piece, but not the only one.
This tool shows federal income tax only — the brackets and standard deduction. Real take-home math has two other layers worth knowing about, because both come off your paycheck before you ever see the federal-income-tax line.
- FICA — 7.65% off the top. Social Security (6.2% up to a wage base of $184,500) and Medicare (1.45% on all wages, plus another 0.9% above $200K single). Flat, not bracketed.
- State income tax. Varies widely. Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and a handful of others have none. California stacks up to 13.3% on top of federal at higher incomes.
- Itemized deductions. If your itemized total (mortgage interest, state and local taxes capped at $10K, charitable giving, medical above 7.5% of AGI) exceeds the standard deduction, you reduce your taxable income further than this tool shows.
- Above-the-line subtractions. Traditional 401(k), HSA, and pre-tax health insurance come out before the gross-to-taxable math runs. The Paycheck calculator handles those.
Caveats Where this estimate is rough.
- 2026 brackets. Updated each year via IRS Rev. Proc. Past-year math used past-year numbers — don't back-test current brackets against last year's W-2.
- Standard deduction by default. If you itemize above the standard, your taxable income is lower than this tool shows. Subtract the difference manually from the gross input as a quick approximation.
- Federal only. No state tax, no FICA, no AMT, no NIIT (3.8% on investment income for higher earners), no additional Medicare surtax. The Paycheck calculator covers FICA and state.
- MFS edge cases. Married filing separately has additional limitations (no Roth IRA contribution if AGI > $10K when living with spouse, no student loan interest deduction, etc.) not modeled here.