NORTH DAKOTA PAYCHECK CALCULATOR

North Dakota has one of the lightest state income tax burdens anywhere in the country, and it’s not close. A 2023 reform built a 0% bracket into the state’s tax structure that covers taxable income all the way up to $48,475 for a single filer, well above what many workers actually earn after the standard deduction. Above that, only two more brackets exist: 1.95%, then 2.5% on taxable income above $244,825. For most North Dakota workers, that means only a sliver of their paycheck ever gets taxed by the state at all, and the sliver that does is taxed at a rate under 2%.

What actually comes out of a North Dakota paycheck: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and North Dakota’s own lightweight state tax. North Dakota doesn’t run a separate state standard deduction, instead, its taxable income figure starts directly from your federal taxable income, so the federal standard deduction effectively carries over. There’s no city or county income tax anywhere in North Dakota, Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks all use the same statewide brackets. If you’re comparing offers, check the South Dakota paycheck calculator for a zero-income-tax neighbor, or the Minnesota paycheck calculator and Montana paycheck calculator for two higher-tax comparisons nearby.

Federal Tax on a $70,000 Salary: The Worked Example

Here’s exactly how the calculator above lands on the federal number for a single filer earning $70,000 in 2026.

Step	Detail	Amount
Gross salary	Starting point	$70,000
Minus standard deduction	Single filer, 2026	-$16,100
Federal taxable income		$53,900
10% bracket	$0 – $12,400	$1,240
12% bracket	$12,400 – $50,400	$4,560
22% bracket	$50,400 – $53,900	$770
Total federal tax	Effective rate: 9.4% of gross	$6,570

North Dakota’s state math uses that exact same $53,900 taxable income figure, since North Dakota’s own taxable income starts directly from the federal number. Just $5,425 of it, the amount above the $48,475 zero-rate threshold, ever gets taxed at all.

How North Dakota’s Zero Bracket Applies on a $70,000 Salary

Step	Detail	Amount
Federal taxable income	Carries over directly	$53,900
0% bracket	$0 – $48,475	$0
1.95% bracket	$48,475 – $53,900	$106
Total North Dakota state tax	Effective rate: 0.15% of gross	$106

That’s not a typo: on a $70,000 salary, North Dakota’s state income tax comes to roughly $106 for the entire year, a fraction of what almost any other state with an income tax would charge. Only someone earning well into six figures would ever feel North Dakota’s 2.5% top bracket in a meaningful way.

North Dakota vs Neighboring States at $70,000 (Single)

Figures below use each state’s own 2026 deduction structure and published rates, same $70,000 gross salary, single filer, before local taxes or credits.

State	Income Tax Type	State Tax Owed	Estimated Net Pay
South Dakota	No income tax	$0	$58,075
North Dakota	Three-tier, 0%-2.5%	$106	$57,969
Montana	Two-bracket, 4.7%-5.65%	~$2,851	~$55,224
Minnesota	Progressive, 5.35%-9.85%	$3,237	$54,838

Montana’s figure is a close estimate built from its published 2026 rates rather than a full line-by-line bracket walk, so treat it as directional. North Dakota’s state tax bill here comes within $106 of South Dakota’s zero-tax result, a gap so small it barely registers against federal tax and FICA.

Where Your Paycheck Money Actually Goes

Follow a $70,000 North Dakota salary from gross to net, in the order it actually leaves your check. Federal income tax comes off first, calculated on taxable income after the federal standard deduction: $6,570 gone before anything else. Social Security takes a flat 6.2% next, applying to the full salary since it’s well under the $184,500 wage base for 2026: that’s $4,340. Medicare follows at 1.45% with no cap at all, adding $1,015. North Dakota’s own state tax comes last, and on this salary it’s barely noticeable: just $106, since the first $48,475 of taxable income sits in the 0% bracket entirely. Add it all up and $12,031 leaves the paycheck before it’s yours, landing you at $57,969 for the year, or about $2,230 every two weeks on a standard biweekly schedule, among the highest take-home percentages of any state that technically still has an income tax.

How North Dakota Built Its Near-Zero Tax Bracket

North Dakota’s income tax has quietly become one of the lightest in the country through a series of reforms rather than a single dramatic cut. The state moved to a simplified structure years ago, then a 2023 reform expanded the 0% bracket significantly, pushing the zero-rate threshold up to cover a much wider band of income than before.

Bracket	Single Filer Threshold	Rate
Lowest	$0 – $48,475	0%
Middle	$48,475 – $244,825	1.95%
Top	Above $244,825	2.5%

North Dakota’s Office of State Tax Commissioner adjusts these thresholds for inflation each year, typically confirming final figures in late fall for the coming tax year. No rate changes have been announced for 2026 as of this writing, so the structure above is expected to carry forward with only routine inflation adjustments to the dollar thresholds.

North Dakota’s Tax Burden vs National Averages

Tax Type	North Dakota	National Picture
Income tax	Three-tier, 0%-2.5%	Among the lightest income tax burdens of any state that still has one
Sales tax (avg. combined)	6.89%	Close to the national average
Property tax (effective rate)	0.92%	Roughly in line with the national average
Estate / inheritance tax	None	Matches most states

North Dakota ranks 11th overall on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, and unlike many states near the top of that ranking, it doesn’t get there by having no income tax at all, it gets there by having one that barely touches an ordinary paycheck. The state raises the bulk of its revenue through other sources entirely, oil and gas production taxes chief among them given North Dakota’s Bakken shale output, which is a big part of why lawmakers have had room to keep expanding the income tax’s zero-rate bracket rather than relying on wage earners to fund the state budget.

Retirees in North Dakota

North Dakota treats retirees well on the income tax side, though largely as a byproduct of how light the overall system already is. Social Security benefits are fully exempt from state income tax for every filer regardless of income. Combined with the generous 0% bracket covering the first $48,475 of taxable income, many retirees drawing a combination of Social Security, a modest pension, and retirement account withdrawals find little or nothing owed to the state at all. Private pensions, 401(k) and IRA distributions are technically subject to North Dakota’s regular bracket structure, but given how high the 0% threshold sits, a meaningful share of retirees never cross into taxable territory in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

North Dakota’s paycheck math is about as light as it gets among states that technically still tax income, a $70,000 salary generates barely over a hundred dollars in state tax for the entire year. The state’s oil and gas revenue base is doing a lot of the work most states ask income taxpayers to do, and it shows in a bracket structure that leaves the overwhelming majority of full-time workers paying next to nothing to the state. For anyone comparing North Dakota against true zero-tax neighbors like South Dakota, the practical difference on an ordinary paycheck is close to nothing at all.

Figures on this page are estimates for tax year 2026 based on published federal and state rates as of August 2026. They do not account for every credit, deduction, or local circumstance. Verify current figures with the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner or a tax professional before filing.