How Virginia taxes a paycheck
Virginia's four brackets, 2% to $3,000, 3% to $5,000, 5% to $17,000 and 5.75% above, were set in 1990 and have never been indexed, so the 5.75% rate that once applied to upper incomes now applies to nearly all of a full-time salary. The thresholds are the same for single and married filers. The standard deduction was raised in 2019 and again in 2022 and 2024, to $8,750 single and $17,500 married for 2026, and a $930 exemption applies per person and per dependent.
Proposals to restructure the brackets or adopt a flat rate have been debated in Richmond for a decade without passing. There are no local income taxes in Virginia; counties and independent cities rely on property tax, a local sales tax share and business licence taxes. Virginia has reciprocal agreements with Maryland, DC, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, so commuters pay their home state only.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Virginia?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Virginia pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $2,640 in Virginia income tax, leaving roughly $47,750 a year or $1,837 every two weeks. The state share is 4.4% of gross.
Because 5.75% applies from $17,000, the effective rate rises slowly toward it: 5.2% at $150,000 (about $7,810) and 5.5% at $300,000. A married couple on $100,000 pays about $4,380.
Virginia compared with its neighbours
Virginia borders Tennessee, which taxes no wages, plus Maryland, DC, West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina. On a $60,000 single salary the state tax is about $2,640 in Virginia, $2,490 in Maryland (plus $1,600 or so of county tax), $2,450 in DC, $1,970 in West Virginia, $1,980 in Kentucky and $1,890 in North Carolina.
Northern Virginia's comparison with Maryland and DC is the one most people make. On state tax alone Virginia is the most expensive of the three at $60,000; once Maryland's county tax is added, a Fairfax County resident pays about $1,450 less than a Montgomery County resident on that salary, and DC sits between them. The North Carolina border tells a different story: North Carolina's flat 3.99% is now well below Virginia at every salary.
Withholding forms and filing status in Virginia
Virginia employers withhold from Form VA-4, on which employees claim exemptions; the tables apply the four brackets after the standard deduction and $930 exemptions. Because the brackets are the same for single and joint filers, a two-earner couple reaches 5.75% on a combined $17,000 of taxable income, and the joint return's advantage is the doubled deduction ($17,500). Virginia allows married filing separately on a combined return and offers a spouse tax adjustment of up to $259 to offset the penalty.
Virginia has reciprocal agreements with DC, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, so Northern Virginia residents working in Maryland or DC pay only Virginia, and the reverse. There is no agreement with North Carolina or Tennessee; Virginia residents working in those states pay their tax and credit it at home, or owe Virginia in full in Tennessee's case.