Easily estimate take home pay after income tax so you can have an idea of what to possibly expect when planning your budget
Summary
Enter your employment income into our paycheck calculator above to estimate how taxes in Pennsylvania, USA may affect your finances. You'll then get your estimated take home pay, an estimated breakdown of your potential tax liability, and a quick summary down here so you can have a better idea of what to possibly expect when planning your budget.
This calculator also works as an income tax calculator for Pennsylvania, as it shows you how much income tax you may have to pay based on your salary and personal details.
To learn more about Pennsylvania, its income tax, and tax brackets, so that you can get a deeper understanding of how your budget and finances may be affected, scroll down to our detail section below!
How Your Pennsylvania Paycheck Works
Your paycheck doesn't have to be a mystery. Let's take a look at how it works.
One of the first things you need to know is that Pennsylvania, also known as the Keystone State, has a flat income tax rate of 3.07%, which means that everyone pays the same percentage of their income to the state regardless of how much they earn. This is different from many other states that have progressive rates that increase with income levels.
You may also have to pay local income tax in Pennsylvania, depending on where you live and work. These are imposed by counties, municipalities, and school districts. Taking all these together, there are over 2,900 jurisdictions that have local income taxes, which are also known as earned income taxes (EIT). The EIT rates vary by location, but they are usually between 0.5% and 3.75%.
Another thing you need to know is that Pennsylvania has a reciprocal agreement with six neighboring states: Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
This means that if you live in one of these states but work in Pennsylvania, you can file an exemption form with your employer and avoid paying Pennsylvania income tax on your wages. Instead, you will pay income tax to your home state.
The same also applies in the opposite direction. If you live in Pennsylvania but work in one of these states, you can file an exemption form with your employer and avoid paying income tax to that state. Instead, you will pay income tax to Pennsylvania.
In addition to state and local income taxes, you will also have federal income tax withheld from your paycheck.
The amount of federal income tax depends on your filing status, income level, and other factors. You can adjust your federal withholding by filling out a Form W-4 and submitting it to your employer.
Form W-4 allows you to specify your personal and financial situation so that your employer can calculate how much tax to withhold from your paycheck. You should be careful to fill this form out properly so as to avoid underpaying or overpaying your taxes throughout the year.
Besides income taxes, there are other withholdings that may affect your Pennsylvania paycheck.
These include Social Security and Medicare, together called the FICA taxes, which are mandatory federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, disabled people and their dependents. The Social Security tax rate is 6.2% and the Medicare tax rate is 1.45%.
These two taxes are applied to a certain amount of your income each year, which is called the wage base. For 2023, the Social Security wage base is $160,200 and the Medicare wage base is unlimited. This means that you will pay Social Security tax on up to $160,200 of your income and Medicare tax on all of your income. High earners are also subject to a 0.9% Medicare surtax.
Other withholdings that may affect your Pennsylvania paycheck are voluntary contributions that you choose to make, such as retirement savings plans, health insurance premiums, flexible spending accounts and charitable donations.
Pre-tax contributions will reduce your taxable income and as a result, lower your tax liability. On the other hand, contributions that are made post-tax will not lower your tax liability and instead only lower your take home pay.
Aside from state income tax, Pennsylvania also includes a small state unemployment insurance tax that is calculated based on your income up to certain limits.
When you go to file your taxes at the end of the tax year, unfortunately, you won't see any standard deductions or personal exemptions on the state level because there aren't any.
Show Details about Federal Income Tax
