Tax
Tax Bracket Estimator
Find your federal tax bracket, see how much of your income lands in each one, and why a raise never leaves you with less.
Uses 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction, before any credits (like the child tax credit). Social Security, Medicare and state tax aren’t included.
Heads up: the 2026 federal figures in this tool (the standard deduction and the brackets) are still waiting on our CPA’s check against the IRS tables. Read the results as approximate until this note is gone.
Where each dollar of taxable income lands
| Rate | Income in it | Tax on it |
|---|---|---|
| 10%$0 to $12,400 | $12,400 | $1,240 |
| 12%$12,400 to $50,400 | $38,000 | $4,560 |
| 22%$50,400 to $105,700 | $1,500 | $330 |
| 24%$105,700 to $201,775 | $0 | $0 |
What this means
You’re in the 22% bracket, but you don’t pay 22% on everything. Your $51,900 of taxable income is taxed in slices, each at its own rate, which comes to $6,130: 8.5% of your gross. That smaller number is what federal income tax actually costs you.
The myth that a raise can “push you into a higher bracket and leave you with less” isn’t how it works. A $1,000 raise here adds about $220 in federal income tax and leaves you $780 of it. Only the dollars past a bracket line are taxed at the higher rate; the ones below it don’t change. You have $53,800 of room before the next line.
This is an estimate before credits, not tax advice. Credits come off the tax itself, so a household with the child tax credit will owe less than this.
Build on it
These are estimates to help you think, not personalized legal, tax, or investment advice, and not a promise of any result.
This calculator finds your federal tax bracket and shows what it actually means in dollars. Enter your income, what comes out before tax, and your deductions, and it lays out every bracket you reach: how much of your income lands in each one and the tax on that slice, plus your effective rate, the share of your pay that federal income tax really takes.
Why it matters: the bracket is the most misunderstood number in personal finance. People turn down overtime, raises and promotions because they think crossing a line means paying the higher rate on everything. It doesn't. Only the dollars past the line pay the higher rate, and seeing the slices is the fastest way to stop that myth from costing you money.
How to use it
Enter your year's income
Gross income for the year, from all your jobs plus any other ordinary income like side work or interest. Use the number before anything comes out, not your take-home.
Add what comes out before tax
Traditional 401(k) or 403(b) contributions, HSA money and pre-tax health premiums all lower your taxable income. Roth contributions don't, so leave those out.
Pick standard or itemized
Leave itemized deductions at zero and the calculator uses the standard deduction for your filing status. If you itemize (mortgage interest, state taxes, charity), enter the total and it uses whichever is bigger, just like your return does.
Behind the numbers
Brackets are slices, not a single rate
Your income is split into slices. The first slice is taxed at the lowest rate, the next slice at the next rate, and so on. Your bracket is just the rate on your top slice. Everything below it is still taxed at the lower rates, no matter how much you earn.
Marginal vs. effective
Your marginal rate is what your next dollar is taxed at: use it to think about overtime, a raise or a 401(k) contribution. Your effective rate is the tax divided by your income: use it to understand what federal income tax actually costs you. The effective rate is always lower.
Deductions come off the top
Pre-tax contributions and the standard or itemized deduction come off before the brackets are applied, and they come off your top slice. That's why a pre-tax 401(k) dollar saves you tax at your highest rate.
The math behind it
Start with gross income and subtract pre-tax deductions. Subtract the larger of the standard deduction for your filing status or your itemized deductions. What's left is taxable income. Then walk up the brackets: tax the first slice at the lowest rate, the next slice at the next rate, and stop when you run out of income. Add up the slices for your tax. Divide by gross for your effective rate.
Worked example
A single filer earning $72,000 with $4,000 going into a 401(k), using this year's federal figures: $68,000 minus the standard deduction leaves $51,900 taxable. The first $12,400 is taxed at 10% ($1,240), the next $38,000 at 12% ($4,560), and the last $1,500 at 22% ($330). Total: $6,130. That's the 22% bracket, but an effective rate of about 8.5% of gross. A $1,000 raise would add $220 of federal income tax and leave $780 of it in the paycheck. (The federal figures behind this example are still waiting on our CPA's check against the IRS tables; read them as approximate.)
Your bracket prices your next dollar
To estimate the tax on extra income (overtime, a side job, a raise), multiply it by your bracket rate. To estimate what a pre-tax 401(k) dollar saves you, do the same thing. Use the effective rate only when you want the big-picture share of your pay.
Common questions
Will a raise put me in a higher bracket and lower my take-home pay?
No. Only the part of the raise that lands above the bracket line is taxed at the higher rate. The rest of your income is taxed exactly as before. You always keep most of a raise. The calculator shows how much of a $1,000 raise you keep at your income.
What tax bracket am I in?
It depends on your taxable income (income after pre-tax deductions and the standard or itemized deduction) and your filing status. Enter your numbers above and the calculator shows your bracket, how much room is left before the next one, and your effective rate.
Why is my effective rate so much lower than my bracket?
Because most of your income is taxed in the lower slices, and the deduction means part of it isn't taxed at all. Someone in the 22% bracket often pays well under 10% of their gross in federal income tax. Social Security, Medicare and state tax are separate and not included here.
Does this include tax credits?
No. This is federal income tax before credits. Credits like the child tax credit come off the tax itself, so if you get one, your actual bill is lower than this. The Paycheck calculator shows the full picture of what comes out of each check.
Go deeper
The calculator gives you a number. The Taxes Brick teaches you what to do with it, in plain English. And if you’re not sure where to start, the free BrickScore Assessment checks your whole foundation in about 5 minutes.
first the number, then the move