Pennsylvania Paycheck Calculator

The lowest-looking rate that taxes your first dollar

Pennsylvania's 3.07% is among the lowest state income tax rates in the country, and the figure is misleading on its own. Pennsylvania allows no standard deduction and no personal exemption. The rate applies to your compensation from the first dollar you earn.

That single design choice changes the comparison entirely. A state charging 3.8% against a large standard deduction can cost a middle earner less than Pennsylvania's 3.07% against none. Comparing flat states by headline rate is exactly the mistake Pennsylvania punishes.

Local Earned Income Tax is almost universal

Most Pennsylvania municipalities and school districts levy a local Earned Income Tax on wages, withheld from your paycheck alongside the state tax. For much of the state it adds around a percent, frequently more, and it is not optional or unusual — it is the norm.

Philadelphia operates its own wage tax outside the standard EIT system, at one of the highest municipal rates in the country, with a resident rate and a lower non-resident rate. For a Philadelphia resident, the city wage tax exceeds the state income tax.

An uncapped employee unemployment contribution

Pennsylvania is one of the few states that withholds an employee unemployment contribution, and unusually it applies to all gross wages with no wage base cap. It is a small percentage, but unlike Social Security it never switches off partway through the year.

Your stub therefore carries federal income tax, Social Security to the annual cap, Medicare with the high-earner surcharge, the 3.07% state tax, the employee UC contribution, and in most locations a local EIT.

Pennsylvania does not tax retirement income

Pennsylvania excludes qualified retirement income from state tax — pensions, and distributions from 401(k) and IRA accounts taken after retirement age. It is one of the most generous treatments of retirement income anywhere.

But there is a catch specific to Pennsylvania that catches people out: 401(k) contributions are not deductible for Pennsylvania income tax purposes, even though they are for federal. You pay the 3.07% on the money going in, and Pennsylvania does not tax it coming out. It is effectively Roth treatment at state level, and it means a pre-tax deferral saves you your federal marginal rate but not the state rate.

How Pennsylvania taxes your paycheck

Pennsylvania has a flat 3.07% state income tax. Use the calculator above to estimate your take-home pay after all withholdings.

Every US paycheck also has federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to the annual wage base), and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% on high earners) withheld. Your taxable income is your gross pay minus pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) and pre-tax health premiums.

Pennsylvania levies a flat 3.07% state rate, but many municipalities add a local Earned Income Tax. Philadelphia's resident wage tax is among the highest; select it above to include it.