VIRGINIA PAYCHECK CALCULATOR
Quick answer: on a $70,000 salary in Virginia, filing Single, you take home roughly $54,865 a year, which works out to about $2,110 every two weeks on a biweekly schedule.
Virginia’s brackets look graduated on paper but reach their top rate almost immediately, so most working residents pay close to 5.75% on the bulk of their income. Scroll down to plug in your own numbers.
Virginia’s income tax structure is a bit deceptive at first glance. It runs four brackets, 2%, 3%, 5%, and 5.75%, which sounds meaningfully graduated until you notice that the top rate kicks in at just $17,000 of taxable income for a single filer, or $34,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Because these thresholds have not moved much in decades, nearly every full-time worker in Virginia ends up paying 5.75% on the large majority of their income, and the state’s own tax planning conversations tend to focus more on deductions and credits than on which bracket a raise might push someone into. The Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index ranks Virginia 30th out of 50 states, a middling result for a state whose overall tax burden is not extreme in either direction.
What lands on a Virginia paystub is straightforward. Federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare come out first, the same as anywhere else. Virginia state tax follows, using the bracket table on taxable income after Virginia’s own standard deduction and personal exemption, both smaller than the federal standard deduction. There is no local city or county income tax anywhere in Virginia, though most localities do charge a separate annual personal property tax on vehicles, unrelated to income. If you are comparing Virginia against a neighbor, see the Delaware paycheck calculator or the Pennsylvania paycheck calculator for two very different Mid-Atlantic structures.
Virginia 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 considerably larger figure than Virginia’s own state deduction.
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 Virginia side, the same $70,000 loses an $8,750 standard deduction and a $930 personal exemption, leaving $60,320 in Virginia taxable income, nearly all of which falls into the top 5.75% bracket.
Virginia vs Nearby States at $70,000 (Single Filer)
These numbers assume a single filer using each state’s own deduction system, with no local or city-level tax added.
| State | State Income Tax | Effective State Rate | Est. Net Pay* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | $3,211 | 4.59% | $54,864 |
| Delaware | $3,389 | 4.84% | $54,686 |
| Pennsylvania | $2,149 | 3.07% | $55,624 |
*Net pay estimate includes federal tax and FICA at $70,000 gross, single filer, before any local or city-level tax. North Carolina and West Virginia are left out of this table since their exact 2026 deduction figures were not confirmed during research; North Carolina runs a flat 4.5% rate.
Virginia lands close to Delaware at this income level, though the two states get there differently: Delaware’s much smaller standard deduction pushes its effective rate up despite a lower top marginal rate, while Virginia’s low top-bracket threshold means most of a typical salary is taxed at 5.75% regardless of how the deduction shakes out. Pennsylvania’s flat 3.07% rate remains the clear low point among these three, a reminder that a flat rate with no deduction can still beat a graduated system whose brackets compress quickly.
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. 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.
Virginia state tax, based on the roughly $3,211 annual figure, works out to about $123.50 per biweekly check.
There is no state disability, paid family leave, or local city tax on a standard Virginia paystub. Add those four deductions together and about $582.15 disappears from the $2,692.31 gross, leaving a net paycheck of roughly $2,110.16 every two weeks, or $54,864.16 across the full year.
Virginia’s Bracket Structure and Recent Deduction Increases
Virginia’s four brackets apply identically no matter which filing status is used, aside from the dollar thresholds themselves, which double for married couples filing jointly.
| Rate | Taxable Income (Single / HOH) | Taxable Income (MFJ) |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | $0 to $3,000 | $0 to $6,000 |
| 3% | $3,000 to $5,000 | $6,000 to $10,000 |
| 5% | $5,000 to $17,000 | $10,000 to $34,000 |
| 5.75% | Above $17,000 | Above $34,000 |
While the brackets themselves have stayed fixed for years, Virginia has been raising its standard deduction gradually: $8,750 for single filers and $17,500 for married couples filing jointly for 2026, up from $8,500 and $17,000 the year before. The personal exemption adds a further $930 per filer, or $1,860 for a married couple. Virginia does not offer any special treatment for capital gains, taxing investment income the same as ordinary wages under the standard bracket structure.
How Virginia’s Tax Burden Stacks Up
| Tax Type | Virginia | National Picture |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax | Four brackets, 2% to 5.75%, top rate reached at $17,000 | Nine states charge no income tax at all; several charge over 9% |
| Sales tax | 5.3% state (varies slightly by region), with groceries taxed at a reduced 1% | National average combined rate runs close to 7.5% |
| Property tax | Roughly 0.80% effective rate, close to the national average | National average sits close to 0.9% to 1.1% |
| Estate tax | No state estate or inheritance tax | Most states have no estate tax either |
Virginia’s tax burden does not stand out sharply in either direction on most measures, which is a large part of why it lands squarely in the middle of the Tax Foundation’s rankings. The reduced 1% grocery tax is a genuine everyday saving compared to states that tax food at the full rate, and property tax runs close to the national average rather than being a standout burden. The one place Virginia residents do notice a real ongoing cost outside the income tax system is the local personal property tax on vehicles, typically 3% to 4% of a car’s assessed value each year, collected by the county or city rather than the state and structured entirely separately from Virginia’s income tax system.
Retirees in Virginia
Virginia does not tax Social Security benefits at all, regardless of income level, putting it in line with most other states that still have an income tax. On top of that, Virginia residents 65 and older can claim an age deduction of up to $12,000 per taxpayer against other income, a meaningful benefit for a retiree drawing from a pension, 401(k), or IRA. This deduction phases out for taxpayers born after 1938 whose income exceeds $50,000 for single filers or $75,000 for married couples filing jointly, so higher-income retirees should not assume the full deduction applies automatically. Combined with a moderate overall tax burden and a large, well-established retiree population, particularly in areas like Williamsburg and the greater Richmond area, Virginia remains a genuinely competitive option for retirement compared to its higher-tax neighbors to the north.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much state tax does Virginia take out of my paycheck?
Virginia uses four brackets, 2%, 3%, 5%, and 5.75%, but the top rate applies to any taxable income above just $17,000 for a single filer or $34,000 for a married couple filing jointly. In practice, most full-time workers pay 5.75% on the majority of their income.
What is Virginia’s standard deduction for 2026?
Virginia’s standard deduction is $8,750 for single filers and head of household, and $17,500 for married couples filing jointly, for 2026, up from $8,500 and $17,000 the year before. Virginia also allows a personal exemption of $930 per filer, or $1,860 for a married couple filing jointly.
Does Virginia have local city income taxes?
No. Virginia does not allow any city or county to levy its own local income tax. What Virginia localities do charge is an annual personal property tax on vehicles, typically 3% to 4% of assessed value, which is a real and separate cost for anyone who owns a car in the state, but has nothing to do with income tax.
Is Virginia a good state for taxes overall?
Virginia ranks 30th out of 50 states on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, a middling result. Its income tax brackets apply the top rate at a very low income threshold, but the state’s overall rate is moderate, its grocery tax is just 1%, and its property taxes run close to the national average.
Does Virginia tax Social Security and retirement income?
Virginia does not tax Social Security benefits at all. Residents 65 and older can also claim an age deduction of up to $12,000 per taxpayer, though this deduction phases out for those born after 1938 with income above $50,000 for single filers or $75,000 for married couples filing jointly.
Why does Virginia’s top tax bracket start at such a low income?
Virginia’s bracket thresholds have not been substantially updated for inflation in decades, so a top rate structure designed decades ago now applies to nearly every full-time worker’s income above a modest level. This means Virginia’s real tax planning tends to focus more on deductions, credits, and the age deduction for retirees than on managing which bracket a raise might push someone into.
Virginia’s tax code rewards understanding that its graduated brackets are graduated in name more than in practice. Once a paycheck clears $17,000 a year, essentially the entire rest of it sits in the 5.75% bracket, which makes the standard deduction and personal exemption the real levers that matter for most working households, not bracket management. Between that, a genuinely light 1% grocery tax, and no local income tax anywhere in the state, Virginia’s overall tax picture ends up more moderate than its steep-sounding top rate suggests on its own.