The short answer
The federal income tax has seven rates: 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 37 percent. Each applies only to the slice of taxable income inside its bracket, so a raise that crosses into a higher bracket is taxed at the higher rate only on the part above the line. For the 2026 tax year, the return most people file in early 2027, a single filer pays 10 percent on the first $12,400 of taxable income, 12 percent on income up to $50,400 and 22 percent up to $105,700; for married couples filing jointly, those first three brackets end at $24,800, $100,800 and $211,400. Taxable income is what is left after deductions, and the 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for joint filers and $24,150 for heads of household. Your marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar; your effective rate, total tax divided by income, is always lower.
Seven rates, applied in layers
The brackets work like a set of buckets filled in order. The first part of your taxable income fills the 10 percent bucket; once it is full, the next dollars go into the 12 percent bucket, and so on. Only the dollars that land in a bucket are taxed at that bucket's rate.
That is why the phrase "I'm in the 22 percent bracket" says less than it seems. It means your last dollars are taxed at 22 percent. Most of your income was taxed at 10 and 12 percent on the way there. Filing status sets where each bucket ends, which is why a married couple and a single person with the same income can owe quite different amounts.
The brackets for 2026 income
These figures apply to income earned in 2026, which you report on the return due in April 2027. They reflect the inflation adjustments the IRS published for 2026 and the 2025 tax law, which kept the seven rates.
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
| Rate | Single filers | Married filing jointly |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | Up to $12,400 | Up to $24,800 |
| 12% | Over $12,400 up to $50,400 | Over $24,800 up to $100,800 |
| 22% | Over $50,400 up to $105,700 | Over $100,800 up to $211,400 |
| 24% | Over $105,700 up to $201,775 | Over $211,400 up to $403,550 |
| 32% | Over $201,775 up to $256,225 | Over $403,550 up to $512,450 |
| 35% | Over $256,225 up to $640,600 | Over $512,450 up to $768,700 |
| 37% | Over $640,600 | Over $768,700 |
Heads of household have their own brackets, wider than a single filer's at the lower rates; the top rate starts at the same $640,600. The IRS publishes the full tables, including those for married people filing separately, each fall for the year ahead.
Start with taxable income, not your salary
The brackets apply to taxable income, which is smaller than what you earn. From your total income you subtract certain adjustments, such as deductible retirement contributions, and then either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions, whichever is larger.
For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for a single filer, $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly and $24,150 for a head of household. People 65 and older can also claim a separate deduction of up to $6,000 each for 2025 through 2028, which our guide to the senior deduction explains. Workers who receive tips or overtime pay may also be able to deduct part of it under the 2025 law, as our guide to tips and overtime explains. Our guide to the standard deduction covers when itemizing is worth it.
Two returns, worked through
Example (hypothetical): a single filer and a raise
Maya is single and earns $60,000 in wages in 2026. After the $16,100 standard deduction, her taxable income is $43,900. She pays 10 percent on the first $12,400, or $1,240, and 12 percent on the remaining $31,500, or $3,780: $5,020 in all. Her marginal rate is 12 percent, but her tax is about 8.4 percent of her wages.
Then she gets a $10,000 raise. Her taxable income becomes $53,900, crossing into the 22 percent bracket by $3,500. The raise is taxed at 12 percent on its first $6,500 and 22 percent on the last $3,500: $780 plus $770, or $1,550. She keeps $8,450 of the raise before payroll taxes.
A married couple filing jointly with $120,000 in wages works the same way. After the $32,200 standard deduction their taxable income is $87,800: 10 percent on $24,800, or $2,480, and 12 percent on $63,000, or $7,560, for $10,040 in tax, again about 8.4 percent of wages.
Why the lines move every year
The bracket thresholds and the standard deduction rise with inflation each year. Without that, a raise that only kept pace with prices would push part of your income into a higher bracket and raise your tax even though you were no better off.
The change from one year to the next is modest but real. For 2025, a single filer's 10 percent bracket ended at $11,925 and the standard deduction was $15,750; for 2026, those figures are $12,400 and $16,100. Use the table for the year the income was earned, not the year you file.
Credits come after the brackets
The brackets give you a tax figure; credits then reduce it dollar for dollar. A $2,000 credit is worth $2,000 whatever your bracket, which is why credits often matter more to a family's tax bill than which bracket it is in. Deductions work differently: they lower taxable income, so they are worth your marginal rate. A $1,000 deduction saves $120 for someone whose last dollars are taxed at 12 percent and $220 for someone at 22 percent.
Some credits are refundable, meaning they can produce a refund larger than the tax you owed. The Earned Income Tax Credit is the largest of them for working families with lower incomes, and the Child Tax Credit is partly refundable. Our EITC calculator and Child Tax Credit calculator estimate both.
Income the brackets treat differently
- Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed at 0, 15 or 20 percent instead. For a married couple filing jointly in 2026, the 0 percent rate applies to taxable income up to $98,900, and the 15 percent rate up to $613,700.
- Social Security benefits are partly taxable only when your other income passes certain thresholds; our guide to taxes on Social Security explains the test.
- Self-employment income is taxed in the brackets and also carries self-employment tax, as our guide to quarterly estimated payments shows.
Brackets are not the only income line that matters
A raise never lowers your take-home pay through the brackets. But it can still cost you in other ways, because many benefits and credits shrink as income rises: the Earned Income Tax Credit phases out, and programs such as SNAP, Medicaid and Marketplace premium tax credits each measure income in their own way. Payroll taxes sit outside the brackets as well: most employees pay 7.65 percent of wages for Social Security and Medicare from the first dollar, whatever their bracket. Those benefit lines, not the tax brackets, are where a raise can leave a household worse off. Our guide to benefit cliffs shows how to spot them before they arrive.
Common questions
Can a raise lower my take-home pay because of tax brackets?
No. Only the income above a bracket's line is taxed at the higher rate, so a raise always leaves you with more after income tax. A raise can still reduce credits or benefits that phase out as income rises.
What is the difference between my marginal and effective tax rate?
Your marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar of taxable income. Your effective rate is your total income tax divided by your income, and it is lower because most of your income is taxed at the lower rates.
Do states use the same tax brackets?
No. States set their own income taxes, and some have none. A state with an income tax may use a flat rate or its own brackets, deductions and credits, so check your state's tax agency for its figures.
Which brackets apply to the return I file in 2027?
The 2026 brackets, because that return reports income earned in 2026. The IRS adjusts the brackets for inflation each year and publishes the next year's figures in the fall.
Official sources
Check your withholding against your bracket
Knowing your bracket is most useful before the year ends. If a raise, a second job or a change in your household moved you up, compare what has been withheld with the tax the table above suggests, and adjust your Form W-4 if the gap is large. If you receive Social Security, our guide to tax withholding from benefits shows how to have tax taken out of your payments instead.
