PENNSYLVANIA PAYCHECK CALCULATOR
Quick answer: on a $70,000 salary in Pennsylvania, filing Single and paying a typical 1% suburban local tax, you take home roughly $55,226 a year, which works out to about $2,124 every two weeks on a biweekly schedule.
Pennsylvania’s state rate is refreshingly simple, but almost every resident also owes a local Earned Income Tax that varies by municipality. Scroll down to plug in your own local rate.
Pennsylvania’s state income tax is about as simple as it gets: a single flat 3.07% rate that has not moved since 2004, with no brackets, no standard deduction, and no personal exemption. The state taxes compensation directly, so the effective rate stays close to the statutory rate for nearly everyone, regardless of income. What makes Pennsylvania genuinely complicated is everything underneath that state rate. More than 2,500 municipalities and school districts each set their own local Earned Income Tax, and Philadelphia runs an entirely separate Wage Tax system instead. The Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index ranks Pennsylvania 36th out of 50 states, a middling result pulled down by a corporate income tax that is only gradually phasing toward a competitive rate, a statewide inheritance tax that Pennsylvania is one of just five states to still impose, and property taxes that run above the national average.
What lands on a Pennsylvania paystub depends heavily on where someone lives. Federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare come out first, the same as anywhere else. Pennsylvania state tax follows at the flat 3.07% rate, applied directly to compensation with no deduction to subtract first. Then local Earned Income Tax gets added based on municipality of residence, typically around 1% in most suburban areas, closer to 3% in Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia’s separate 3.75% Wage Tax for residents, the highest big-city wage tax rate in the country. If you are comparing Pennsylvania against a neighbor, see the Delaware paycheck calculator for a state with no local income tax at all, or the New York paycheck calculator for a very different progressive structure.
Pennsylvania Paycheck Calculator
How the Federal Number Was Worked Out
Take the default example above, a single filer earning $70,000 a year with no other adjustments. Here is exactly how the federal piece gets built, step by step, using the 2026 IRS brackets and the $16,100 single standard deduction, a deduction Pennsylvania does not offer on its own return.
Step 1. $70,000 gross minus the $16,100 standard deduction leaves $53,900 in federal taxable income.
Step 2. The first $12,400 is taxed at 10%, which comes to $1,240.
Step 3. The next chunk, from $12,400 to $50,400, is taxed at 12%. That is $38,000 taxed at 12%, or $4,560.
Step 4. The remaining $3,500, from $50,400 up to the $53,900 taxable income figure, is taxed at 22%, adding $770.
Step 5. Add it up: $1,240 + $4,560 + $770 = $6,570 in federal income tax, an effective federal rate of about 9.4% on the full $70,000.
On the Pennsylvania side, the math is the simplest of any state on this site: multiply the full $70,000 by 3.07%, no deduction to subtract first. Local tax then applies to that same $70,000 figure.
Pennsylvania vs Nearby States at $70,000 (Single Filer)
Pennsylvania’s figure uses a typical 1% suburban local EIT as a representative example. Delaware has no local income tax anywhere in the state.
| State | State + Local Tax | Effective Rate | Est. Net Pay* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania (1% suburban EIT) | $2,849 | 4.07% | $55,226 |
| Delaware | $3,389 | 4.84% | $54,686 |
| New York | $3,183 | 4.55% | $54,590 |
*Net pay estimate includes federal tax and FICA at $70,000 gross, single filer, before any additional local tax beyond what is noted. A Philadelphia resident using this same $70,000 example would owe considerably more, since the city’s 3.75% Wage Tax alone exceeds Pennsylvania’s entire state rate.
A typical suburban Pennsylvania resident comes out ahead of both Delaware and New York at this income level, which is part of Pennsylvania’s broader reputation as a moderate-tax state for most residents outside its largest cities. That reputation flips for city dwellers: a Philadelphia resident’s combined state and local rate of 6.82% would push their total tax bill well past Delaware’s or New York’s figures shown here, illustrating just how much Pennsylvania’s local layer can swing the final number depending purely on address.
Where Your Paycheck Money Actually Goes
Picture that same $70,000 salary landing as a biweekly paycheck of $2,692.31 before anything is taken out, for a resident paying a typical 1% suburban EIT. Here is the order things get pulled, and what is left standing at the end.
Federal income tax comes off first, working out to roughly $252.69 per biweekly check based on the annual $6,570 figure above.
Social Security takes 6.2% of every check up until your year-to-date wages hit the 2026 wage base of $184,500. On $2,692.31, that is $166.92 gone.
Medicare takes 1.45% with no cap at all, which is $39.04 on this check. The extra 0.9% Medicare surtax only kicks in once your total wages for the year pass $200,000 for a single filer, so it does not apply here.
Pennsylvania state tax, at a flat 3.07% of the full $2,692.31, comes to about $82.66 per biweekly check.
Local EIT, at a typical 1%, adds about $26.92 per biweekly check.
Add those five deductions together and about $568.23 disappears from the $2,692.31 gross, leaving a net paycheck of roughly $2,124.08 every two weeks, or $55,226.08 across the full year.
Pennsylvania’s Local Tax System, Explained
Pennsylvania is unusual in how far it pushes income tax authority down to the local level. Nearly every municipality and school district in the state levies its own Earned Income Tax, typically collected together as a combined municipal-plus-school-district rate, most often landing around 1% total for suburban residents. Two private collection agencies, Berkheimer Tax Administrator and Keystone Collections Group, handle EIT collection for most of these jurisdictions on the state’s behalf, and employers withhold the correct local rate based on an address-specific PSD code system.
| Area | Local Tax Type | Typical Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Most suburban municipalities | Local EIT | ~1% |
| Pittsburgh | City + school district EIT | ~3% |
| Philadelphia (resident) | City Wage Tax | 3.75% |
| Philadelphia (non-resident working in the city) | City Wage Tax | ~3.44% |
Philadelphia does not participate in the standard EIT system at all. Instead, it runs its own Wage Tax, applied to all compensation for residents regardless of where they physically work, and to Philadelphia-sourced wages only for non-residents commuting into the city. On top of EIT, many municipalities also levy a small flat Local Services Tax, generally capped at $52 per year, charged to anyone working within the jurisdiction regardless of where they live.
How Pennsylvania’s Tax Burden Stacks Up
| Tax Type | Pennsylvania | National Picture |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax | Flat 3.07% state, plus a local EIT of roughly 0.5% to 3.75% depending on municipality | Nine states charge no income tax at all; several charge over 9% |
| Sales tax | 6% state, plus 2% in Philadelphia and 1% in Allegheny County, averaging roughly 6.34% | National average sits close to 7.5%, so Pennsylvania runs below it |
| Property tax | Roughly 1.35% effective rate, above the national average | National average sits close to 0.9% |
| Inheritance tax | Pennsylvania is one of only five states that still levies an inheritance tax, with rates varying by relationship to the deceased | Most states have no inheritance tax |
Pennsylvania’s low, flat state income tax is genuinely one of the more competitive rates in the country on its own, but the state does not make up for that with light property or estate-related taxes. Property tax runs above the national average and funds most local services and schools, similar in spirit to how the local EIT system works. The inheritance tax is a particular quirk worth knowing about for estate planning: unlike an estate tax, which taxes the estate itself, Pennsylvania’s inheritance tax is charged to the people receiving the assets, at rates that depend on their relationship to the person who died, with spouses exempt entirely and more distant relatives or unrelated heirs facing the highest rates.
Retirees in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is genuinely one of the best states in the country for retirement income specifically, even though it taxes ordinary wages at every income level. Social Security benefits are fully exempt from Pennsylvania income tax. So is pension income, distributions from 401(k) and IRA accounts once a retiree reaches retirement age, and military retirement pay, with no dollar caps or income-based phase-outs the way many other states structure their retirement exclusions. A retiree living entirely off Social Security, a pension, and retirement account withdrawals can end up paying $0 in Pennsylvania state income tax on that income, regardless of how large those distributions are. The one caveat worth knowing is that this exemption applies once someone has reached retirement age and is genuinely drawing retirement income; early withdrawals before retirement age may be treated differently. Combined with property tax and rent rebate programs available to qualifying older and disabled residents, Pennsylvania’s overall retirement tax picture is considerably more favorable than its 36th-place overall competitiveness ranking might suggest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Pennsylvania’s state income tax rate for 2026?
Pennsylvania charges a flat 3.07% on all taxable compensation for 2026, a rate that has held steady since 2004. There are no brackets, and the rate does not change based on income level or filing status.
Do I also owe a local earned income tax in Pennsylvania?
Almost certainly, yes. Nearly every one of Pennsylvania’s more than 2,500 municipalities and school districts levies its own local Earned Income Tax (EIT) on top of the state rate. Most suburban areas charge around 1%, Pittsburgh charges roughly 3%, and Philadelphia uses a separate Wage Tax system instead of the standard EIT structure.
How much is the Philadelphia Wage Tax?
Philadelphia residents pay a Wage Tax of 3.75% on all compensation, regardless of where they physically work, making it the highest big-city wage tax rate in the United States. Non-residents who work in Philadelphia pay a slightly lower rate of roughly 3.44% on wages earned within the city.
Does Pennsylvania have a standard deduction?
No. Pennsylvania has no standard deduction and no personal exemption. The state taxes compensation directly at 3.07%, which is part of why its effective rate stays very close to its statutory rate for almost every filer, regardless of income.
Is Pennsylvania a good state for taxes overall?
Pennsylvania ranks 36th out of 50 states on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index. Its flat, low state income tax rate helps, but a high corporate income tax that is only gradually phasing down, a statewide inheritance tax, and property taxes above the national average all weigh on the overall score.
Does Pennsylvania tax Social Security and retirement income?
No. Pennsylvania fully exempts Social Security benefits, pension income, and distributions from 401(k) and IRA accounts once a retiree reaches retirement age. Military retirement pay is also fully exempt. This makes Pennsylvania one of the most retirement-friendly states in the country for income tax purposes, despite taxing wages at every income level.
Pennsylvania’s tax code asks a simple question at the state level and a genuinely complicated one at the local level. The 3.07% flat rate takes seconds to calculate by hand, no deduction, no bracket table, nothing to look up. What actually determines a Pennsylvania resident’s real tax bill is the municipality on their mailing address, since that single detail can add anywhere from nothing to nearly 4 percentage points on top of the state rate. Anyone comparing job offers or apartments within Pennsylvania should treat the local EIT line with the same weight as the state line above it, not as an afterthought.