West Virginia Paycheck Calculator 2026
This West Virginia 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 West Virginia withholding, then splits the result across weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly and monthly pay schedules. West Virginia uses a progressive income tax with 5 brackets running from 2.36% up to 5.12%, applied after a state standard deduction of $0.
West Virginia Paycheck Calculator
Your salary before any deductions.
How West Virginia payroll withholding works
Every West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia and Virginia see different deposits.
West Virginia has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Pay frequency in West Virginia
Most coal employers around Charleston 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 $950.
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 Charleston paycheck
Cost of living in West Virginia sits 13% below the national average (index 87), median household income is $55,217, and a one-bedroom apartment in Charleston rents for roughly $950 a month.
West Virginia cut its income tax rates by 21.25% across the board in 2023 — and triggered further reductions in 2024 and 2025.
Local and payroll taxes West Virginia adds on top
Several West Virginia cities charge a flat weekly city service fee withheld from pay. That deduction sits outside the federal and state income tax lines, so build it into your own budget on top of the numbers above.
West Virginia has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Payroll systems apply these local layers automatically, so check a real West Virginia 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 West Virginia
West Virginia holds income-tax reciprocity agreements with Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and 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 Charleston resident spending part of the year at a client site in Virginia may owe a nonresident return there. Keep a day-count log if you split time between states.
The rest of your West Virginia tax bill
West Virginia charges a 6% state sales tax, homeowners pay an average effective property tax of 0.57% of market value, and the minimum wage in force during 2026 is $8.75 an hour.
Municipal sales taxes of 1% apply in many cities.
Income tax is only one part of a state's take. West Virginia 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. West Virginia has fully phased out tax on Social Security and exempts $2,000 of public pension income.
West Virginia vs Virginia on the same salary
On a $75,000 salary, a single filer keeps about $58,641 a year in West Virginia against roughly $58,026 in Virginia — a difference of $615, or $51 a month.
Effective combined rates are 21.8% in West Virginia and 22.6% in Virginia. Set that gap against living costs: index 87 here versus 102 there, with property tax at 0.57% and 0.87% respectively.
West Virginia income tax brackets 2026 (single filer)
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $10,000 | 2.36% |
| $10,000 – $25,000 | 3.15% |
| $25,000 – $40,000 | 3.54% |
| $40,000 – $60,000 | 4.72% |
| $60,000 and up | 5.12% |