Pennsylvania Paycheck Calculator 2026
This Pennsylvania paycheck calculator shows what actually lands in your bank account each pay period in 2026. Enter your gross salary and the tool applies 2026 federal brackets, Social Security and Medicare, and Pennsylvania withholding, then splits the result across weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly and monthly pay schedules. Pennsylvania uses a flat personal income tax of 3.07% applied to taxable income after a state standard deduction of $0.
Pennsylvania Paycheck Calculator
Your salary before any deductions.
How Pennsylvania payroll withholding works
Every Pennsylvania paycheck is reduced in the same order: pre-tax deductions first (401(k), HSA, employer health premiums), then federal income tax on what remains, then FICA on your full gross, then Pennsylvania state withholding.
FICA is fixed nationwide in 2026: 6.2% Social Security on the first $184,500 of wages and 1.45% Medicare on everything, with an extra 0.9% Medicare surtax above $200,000. Only the state layer changes when you move, which is why two workers earning the same salary in Pennsylvania and New Jersey see different deposits.
Most PA municipalities levy a local Earned Income Tax (EIT) of about 1%. Philadelphia residents pay 3.75% city wage tax; Pittsburgh residents pay 3%.
Pay frequency in Pennsylvania
Most healthcare employers around Philadelphia run biweekly payroll (26 checks a year), while public-sector and salaried office roles often use semi-monthly (24 checks). Biweekly means two months each year contain three paychecks — a useful budgeting quirk if your rent is around $1,600.
Switching frequency does not change your annual tax; it only changes how withholding is spread. If your employer withholds per-period using annualized tables, a three-paycheck month can look artificially light on tax.
Budgeting a Philadelphia paycheck
Cost of living in Pennsylvania sits 5% below the national average (index 95), median household income is $73,824, and a one-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia rents for roughly $1,600 a month.
Pennsylvania's 3.07% flat tax is one of the lowest state income tax rates in the country — but most cities add a separate Earned Income Tax.
Local and payroll taxes Pennsylvania adds on top
Local Earned Income Tax of roughly 1%–3.9% applies almost everywhere, plus a 0.07% unemployment employee contribution. That deduction sits outside the federal and state income tax lines, so build it into your own budget on top of the numbers above.
Most PA municipalities levy a local Earned Income Tax (EIT) of about 1%. Philadelphia residents pay 3.75% city wage tax; Pittsburgh residents pay 3%.
Payroll systems apply these local layers automatically, so check a real Pennsylvania pay stub against the estimate above: a missing local tax line is the usual reason a paycheck comes in lower than a state-only calculator suggests.
Working across a state line from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania holds income-tax reciprocity agreements with Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. If you commute between them, your wages are taxed only by your state of residence — file the exemption certificate with your employer so the wrong state is not withheld from every paycheck.
Remote and hybrid work complicates this further: most states tax income where the work is physically performed, so a Philadelphia resident spending part of the year at a client site in New Jersey may owe a nonresident return there. Keep a day-count log if you split time between states.
The rest of your Pennsylvania tax bill
Pennsylvania charges a 6% state sales tax, homeowners pay an average effective property tax of 1.49% of market value, and the minimum wage in force during 2026 is $7.25 an hour.
Philadelphia adds 2% and Allegheny County 1% on top of the 6% state rate.
Income tax is only one part of a state's take. Pennsylvania recovers revenue through sales and property tax as well, which is why headline income tax rates alone are a poor guide to how far a salary really goes. Pennsylvania does not tax Social Security, pensions or retirement distributions after 59½ — one of the most retiree-friendly states.
Pennsylvania vs New Jersey on the same salary
On a $75,000 salary, a single filer keeps about $59,290 a year in Pennsylvania against roughly $58,941 in New Jersey — a difference of $349, or $29 a month.
Effective combined rates are 20.9% in Pennsylvania and 21.4% in New Jersey. Set that gap against living costs: index 95 here versus 114 there, with property tax at 1.49% and 2.23% respectively.
Pennsylvania income tax brackets 2026 (single filer)
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 and up | 3.07% |