Virginia Paycheck Calculator

How Virginia State Taxes Work

Virginia runs four brackets: 2, 3, 5 and 5.75 percent, and the same ranges apply to every filing status. The catch is how low the top threshold sits. Anything over $17,000 of taxable income is taxed at 5.75 percent, so a full-time paycheck spends most of its life in the top bracket. What actually decides your bill are the subtractions: an $8,750 standard deduction for single filers ($17,500 married filing jointly) in 2026, plus $930 for yourself, $930 for a spouse and $930 per dependent. Under the 2026 budget legislation those deduction amounts rise to $9,200 and $18,400 in 2027, so this page's figures are the floor, not the ceiling.

Run the numbers on a $55,000 single income and the shape becomes clear: Virginia taxable income lands around $45,300, the tax comes to about $2,348, and the effective state rate on gross pay is 4.27 percent, well under the 5.75 headline. Your federal income tax line still takes the bigger bite, and unlike a handful of states, Virginia doesn't let you deduct it from state taxable income.

What Gets Taken Out of Your Virginia Paycheck

Every Virginia paycheck carries federal income tax, Social Security at 6.2 percent and Medicare at 1.45 percent, the same FICA math as everywhere else, with Social Security capped at the $184,500 wage base for 2026. Virginia state tax rides on top at an effective 3.5 to 4.5 percent for most middle incomes. If your employer offers health insurance or a 401(k), those pre-tax deductions come out before taxes are figured, which lowers every line that follows.

Here's the good news line: no Virginia city or county charges an income tax on wages, so there's no local line on your stub no matter where in the state you work. That's a real contrast with Maryland's county taxes across the Potomac. Virginia also holds reciprocity agreements with DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, so if you live in Virginia and commute across those lines, your employer generally withholds Virginia tax only. The commuter details, along with employer rules, live in our Virginia paystub generator guide.

Hourly and Salary Paychecks Use the Same Math

An hourly wage just gets annualized first. Virginia's minimum wage runs $12.77 an hour from January 2026, well above the federal $7.25, with a $2.13 cash wage for tipped workers whose tips make up the rest. At $20 an hour, 40 hours a week is $800, about $41,600 a year, and a single filer at that rate with biweekly checks nets about $1,309 per check in 2026. Overtime past 40 hours pays time and a half ($30 an hour in that example), and every extra dollar runs through the same tax lines. Tips, bonuses and commissions count as wages too.