How Oregon taxes a paycheck
Oregon's four brackets are 4.75%, 6.75%, 8.75% and 9.9%, and the first two are so narrow that a single filer hits 8.75% at $11,400 of taxable income ($22,800 married). The 9.9% rate begins at $125,000 single and $250,000 married. The standard deduction is $2,910 single and $5,820 married, and personal exemptions are a $256 credit per person and per dependent. Oregon allows a deduction for federal income tax paid, capped at about $8,250 and phasing out above $125,000 of AGI (single); the calculator applies the cap but not the phase-out.
Oregon has no general sales tax, which is the standing justification for income tax rates that are among the highest in the country at ordinary incomes. The state's other paycheck lines are the statewide transit tax of 0.1% on all wages and Paid Leave Oregon, whose employee share is 0.6% of wages; neither is included here.
The Portland area layers more on top. Multnomah County's Preschool for All tax is 1.5% on taxable income above $125,000 (single) or $200,000 (joint) and 3% above $250,000 and $400,000; the Metro supportive housing tax is 1% above the same $125,000 and $200,000 thresholds across the three-county region. Both are withheld by many employers and neither is included. Oregon's kicker rebate, paid when revenue exceeds forecast, returned 44% of 2022 tax in 2024 and is claimed on the return.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Oregon?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Oregon pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $3,980 in Oregon income tax, leaving roughly $46,410 a year or $1,785 every two weeks. Transit tax and Paid Leave would take a further $420. The state share is 6.6% of gross, the highest of any state at that salary.
At $150,000 the tax is about $11,730, or 7.8%, with the 9.9% bracket applying above $125,000 and the Portland-area taxes adding up to 2.5 points more for residents there.
Oregon compared with its neighbours
Oregon borders Washington, which taxes no wages, and California, Idaho and Nevada. On a $60,000 single salary the state tax is about $3,980 in Oregon, $0 in Washington and Nevada, $1,650 plus $780 of SDI in California, and $2,070 in Idaho. Oregon is the most expensive of the five at every ordinary salary and California overtakes it only above about $500,000.
The Columbia River is the most-studied tax border in the West. A $60,000 earner in Portland pays about $3,980 that a Vancouver, Washington resident does not, though Washington charges sales tax that Oregon does not, and Washington residents who work in Oregon pay Oregon tax on those wages regardless.
Withholding forms and filing status in Oregon
Oregon employers withhold from Form OR-W-4, which asks for allowances and has a separate section for the Metro and Multnomah County taxes that Portland-area employers may withhold on request. Married couples get exactly double the single brackets ($22,800 for the 8.75% rate, $250,000 for 9.9%) and double the deduction, and the federal tax deduction cap is the same $8,250 for both statuses. A one-earner couple on $60,000 pays about $3,300 against a single filer's $3,980.
Oregon has no reciprocal agreements. Washington residents working in Oregon pay Oregon tax on those wages, which covers tens of thousands of Clark County commuters; Oregon residents working in Vancouver owe Oregon tax with no credit. The kicker rebate is triggered when actual revenue exceeds the forecast by 2% or more and is applied as a credit on the return for the following year.