2026 Federal Tax Brackets, Explained

The IRS adjusts tax brackets for inflation every year. These are the official 2026 figures — and, more importantly, here is how they actually apply to your paycheck, because the single most common tax misunderstanding is thinking your bracket is your tax rate. It isn't.

The 2026 brackets — single filers

Married filing jointly

Brackets are marginal — a worked example

Take a single filer earning $85,000 in 2026. First, the standard deduction of $16,100 comes off the top, leaving $68,900 of taxable income. That lands in the 22% bracket — but only the slice of income inside that bracket is taxed at 22%. The first dollars are still taxed at 10%, the next slice at 12%, and so on.

Run through the brackets, the federal income tax comes to $9,870 — an effective rate of 11.6% on gross pay, nowhere near 22%. This is also why a raise can never "put you in a higher bracket and leave you with less money": only the new dollars get the new rate.

Remember that federal income tax is only one line on your pay stub. Social Security takes 6.2% (up to $184,500 of wages in 2026), Medicare takes 1.45%, and your state may take its own cut — see your state's numbers in our state-by-state calculator.

Sources

IRS — 2026 inflation-adjusted brackets and standard deduction.

Rate	Taxable income from	Up to
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	and up

Rate	Taxable income from	Up to
10%	$0	$24,800
12%	$24,800	$100,800
22%	$100,800	$211,400
24%	$211,400	$403,550
32%	$403,550	$512,450
35%	$512,450	$768,700
37%	$768,700	and up