What are the 2026 federal income tax brackets?

Seven rates: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. For a single filer the 10% band runs to $12,400 of taxable income and the 37% rate begins above $640,600. The full schedule for every filing status is in the table on this page.

If I move into a higher bracket, is all my income taxed at that rate?

No — and this is the most costly misunderstanding in personal finance. Only the income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate. On $120,000, a single filer reaches the 24% bracket, but their effective rate is only 14.6%. A raise never reduces your take-home pay.

Is the standard deduction subtracted before the brackets apply?

Yes. For 2026 it is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for joint filers. You subtract it from your wages first, and the brackets apply to what is left. That is why a single filer earning $16,100 or less owes no federal income tax at all.

Do tax brackets change every year?

The rates have been stable, but the dollar thresholds are adjusted for inflation annually, which is why the same salary drifts into a slightly lower effective rate each year if your pay is flat. The IRS publishes the adjustments each autumn for the following year.

Federal Income Tax Brackets 2026 — and Why They Are Misunderstood

The United States uses a progressive income tax: your income is sliced into bands and each slice is taxed at its own rate. There are seven rates for 2026, and the dollar thresholds move with inflation each year.

The 2026 brackets

These apply to taxable income — after your standard or itemised deduction.

Federal income tax brackets, tax year 2026
Rate	Single	Married	Separate	Head of household
10%	$0 – $12,400	$0 – $24,800	$0 – $12,400	$0 – $17,700
12%	$12,400 – $50,400	$24,800 – $100,800	$12,400 – $50,400	$17,700 – $67,450
22%	$50,400 – $105,700	$100,800 – $211,400	$50,400 – $105,700	$67,450 – $105,700
24%	$105,700 – $201,775	$211,400 – $403,550	$105,700 – $201,775	$105,700 – $201,750
32%	$201,775 – $256,225	$403,550 – $512,450	$201,775 – $256,225	$201,750 – $256,200
35%	$256,225 – $640,600	$512,450 – $768,700	$256,225 – $384,350	$256,200 – $640,600
37%	$640,600 and above	$768,700 and above	$384,350 and above	$640,600 and above

The standard deduction comes first

Before any bracket applies, you subtract your deduction. For 2026:

Single: $16,100
Married filing jointly: $32,200
Married filing separately: $16,100
Head of household: $24,150

Roughly nine in ten filers take the standard deduction rather than itemising, because it now exceeds what most households could itemise.

Worked example: $120,000, single filer

This is the calculation that dispels the bracket myth. Gross pay of $120,000, minus the $16,100 standard deduction, leaves $103,900 of taxable income:

How $103,900 of taxable income is taxed band by band
Rate	Band	Income in band	Tax
10%	$0 – $12,400	$12,400	$1,240
12%	$12,400 – $50,400	$38,000	$4,560
22%	$50,400 – $105,700	$53,500	$11,770
Total federal income tax			$17,570

This filer is "in the 24% bracket" — that is their marginal rate, and it is what an extra dollar of salary would be taxed at. But their effective federal rate is only 14.6% of gross pay. The 24% applies to the last $53,500 and nothing more.

The practical consequence: a raise can never reduce your take-home pay. Moving into a higher bracket only means the portion above the threshold is taxed more heavily. You keep more in absolute terms, always.

What the brackets do not include

Federal income tax is only part of your withholding. On top of the figures above you also pay Social Security and Medicare — 7.65% combined for most earners, applied to gross wages with no standard deduction — plus any state and local income tax. Your true marginal rate is all of these stacked together, which is the figure the calculator reports.