Virginia Paycheck Calculator
This Virginia paycheck calculator subtracts the $8,750 standard deduction and your VA-4 exemptions, then runs the rest through Virginia's four brackets, from 2% to 5.75%.
Tax year 2026 How we calculate
$1,836.69
Where each dollar goes
- Take-home 80%
- Federal income tax 8%
- Social Security and Medicare 8%
- State and local tax 4%
- Pre-tax deductions 0%
| Item | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,307.69 | $60,000.00 |
| Federal income tax | -$193.08 | -$5,020.08 |
| Social Security | -$143.08 | -$3,720.08 |
| Medicare | -$33.46 | -$869.96 |
| Virginia income tax | -$101.38 | -$2,635.88 |
| Take-home pay | $1,836.69 | $47,754.00 |
Tax year 2026. Estimate, not tax advice. How we calculate
Your Virginia pay in context
Every figure below follows the inputs above.
Earnings rank
Top 58%
You earn more than 42% of full-time workers in Virginia and 47% in the US.
Census ACS 2024, full-time year-round workers
Tax rates
- effective
- 20.4%
- marginal
- 25.4%
Of your next $1,000 of pay, $254 goes to tax.
Effective: all taxes over gross pay.
| Period | Gross | Take-home |
|---|---|---|
| Per hour | $28.85 | $22.96 |
| Per day | $230.77 | $183.67 |
| Per month | $5,000.00 | $3,979.50 |
Assumes 40 hours a week, 52 weeks and 260 workdays a year.
Same pay in other states
Take-home in the 10 states we cover
Your pay, filing status and W-4 in each state. Other states use their default form settings and no local tax; this state's row uses your settings.
| State | Take-home a year | vs Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Loading state tax rules | ||
If you get a raise
A 5% raise adds $86.11 to each paycheck
- More per paycheck
- +$86.11
- More per year
- +$2,239
Take-home after every tax on the higher pay.
Cost of living elsewhere
Prices in Virginia run 1.1% above the US average
To match what $60,000 buys in Virginia, you would need about:
- California
- $65,697
- US average
- $59,347
- Arkansas
- $51,573
Prices only, before tax. Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Save more in your 401(k)
Save $115.38 more for $94.88 less take-home
Raising your 401(k) from 0% to 5% puts $115.38 more into savings each paycheck. Your take-home drops by only $94.88, because the money comes out before federal income tax.
The 2026 limit is $24,500 a year. At 50 or older you can add $8,000 more, or $11,250 at ages 60 to 63.
Source: IRS news release IR-2025-111
Rent you can afford
Up to $1,500 a month
Keeping housing under 30% of income: up to $1,500/month.
That is 30% of your gross pay of $5,000 a month, utilities included.
HUD defines cost burden as "Monthly housing costs (including utilities) exceeding 30% of monthly income." Source: HUD USER, CHAS definitions
Months with an extra paycheck
2 months with 3 paychecks
3 paychecks land in October 2026 and April 2027.
Over the 12 months starting with your next payday's month. Most months bring 2 biweekly or 4 weekly paychecks.
Taxes in your workday
1 hr 38 min of each 8-hour day
Of each 8-hour workday, 1 hr 38 min goes to taxes.
From your effective tax rate of 20.4%: all taxes over gross pay.
Virginia uses a formula, not a flat rate, to decide how much to hold back. Your pay is annualized, a standard deduction and your exemptions come off, and what remains runs through four brackets. The calculator above does this for you and shows the result next to federal tax, Social Security and Medicare.
How the Virginia paycheck formula works
Virginia Tax publishes the method in its employer withholding tables for wages paid after July 1, 2025. We found no newer table, and the 2026 employer guide still points to it. The steps are:
- Multiply your gross pay for the period by the number of pay periods in a year.
- Subtract $8,750, then $930 for each exemption on your VA-4, then $800 for each age 65 or blind exemption.
- Apply the brackets: 2% up to $3,000, then $60 plus 3% up to $5,000, then $120 plus 5% up to $17,000, then $720 plus 5.75% above that.
- Divide the annual result by the number of pay periods.
Virginia’s own example is a worker with five exemptions, paid $2,649 semimonthly. The annual wages are $63,576 and the deductions are $13,400, which leaves $50,176. The tax is $720 plus 5.75% of $33,176, rounded to $2,628 for the year, so $109.50 comes out of each check.
Virginia salary tax calculator: the top bracket arrives early
The 5.75% bracket starts at $17,000 of taxable wages, which is low. Once the standard deduction is taken out, a single filer with no exemptions reaches it at about $25,750 a year. A $4,000 monthly paycheck with no exemptions shows how fast that happens. Annual wages of $48,000 become $39,250 after the deduction, and the tax is $1,999, so $166.58 per paycheck.
VA-4 exemptions
The VA-4 is where you tell your employer how many exemptions to use. Each personal or dependent exemption is $930 a year in the formula, and each age 65 or blind exemption is another $800. Two exemptions on $1,000 a week cut the annual taxable wages from $43,250 to $41,390 and give $40.81 per check. The examples below use zero exemptions, so your own figure will probably be lower.
Bonuses and supplemental pay
When a bonus is paid separately and tax was already withheld from your regular wages, Virginia Tax tells employers to withhold a flat 5.75% with no exemptions. If you get a large bonus, expect the withholding on that check to follow the flat rate.
What changes in 2027
The higher standard deduction that makes $8,750 the figure today is scheduled to sunset after taxable year 2026, according to Virginia Tax’s table notes. Expect paycheck withholding to change when a new table is published. Until then, the 2026 estimate follows the table now in force.
Local tax, payroll contributions and pre-tax deductions
Virginia has no local income tax. We did not find an employee-paid state disability, family leave or unemployment contribution in Virginia Tax’s materials, though they do not state that outright. We also did not confirm how a 401(k) or a cafeteria plan changes the gross pay figure used in the formula, so enter pre-tax deductions with that in mind.
How Virginia taxes your paycheck
Tax year 2026. Valid 2025-07-01 to 2026-12-31. Checked 2026-10-24.
Virginia Tax withholding formula for wages paid after July 1, 2025 (still the current table in the 2026 employer guide; standard deduction increase scheduled to sunset after taxable year 2026). Let G = gross pay for period, P = periods per year (annual 1, semiannual 2, quarterly 4, monthly 12, semimonthly 24, biweekly 26, weekly 52, daily 300). T = G x P - [8,750 + (E1 x 930) + (E2 x 800)], floor 0, where E1 = personal and dependent exemptions on Form VA-4 line (total exemptions) and E2 = age 65+/blind exemptions. W (annual) = 2% of T if T <= 3,000; 60 + 3% of excess over 3,000 if T <= 5,000; 120 + 5% of excess over 5,000 if T <= 17,000; else 720 + 5.75% of excess over 17,000. Withholding per period = W / P. The official worked example rounds W to a whole dollar before dividing (2,627.62 shown as 2,628, giving 109.50); examples here follow that rounding. The standard deduction 8,750 is used for every filer in the withholding formula (no filing-status split). Supplemental wages not paid with regular wages: flat 5.75% with no exemptions (guide p.19). Virginia has no local income tax. No employee-paid state payroll contribution (SDI/FLI/UC employee tax) was found in the Virginia Tax sources; not affirmatively sourced.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| standard deduction withholding 'increases in the standard deduction from $8,500 to $8,750 for single filers and from $17,000 to $17,500 for married filers'; formula uses $8,750 for all. Sunsets to 3,000/6,000 after TY2026 (a 2027 table would change). Source: tax.virginia.gov | $8,750 |
| personal exemption Formula line 1: (E1 X $930) Source: tax.virginia.gov | $930 |
| age65 blind exemption Formula line 1: (E2 X 800) Source: tax.virginia.gov | $800 |
| supplemental flat rate Guide p.19: flat 5.75% without allowance for exemption when supplemental wages are paid and tax was withheld from regular wages. Source: tax.virginia.gov | 5.75% |
| daily periods Pay Period Conversion Table: Daily = 300 Source: tax.virginia.gov | $300 |
| Over | Rate | Base tax |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | 2% | $0 |
| $3,000 | 3% | $60 |
| $5,000 | 5% | $120 |
| $17,000 | 5.75% | $720 |
| Source: tax.virginia.gov | ||
Virginia paycheck examples
Per paycheck, no pre-tax deductions, standard federal W-4 settings. State form settings are in each heading.
| Gross pay | $1,923.08 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | -$146.92 |
| Social Security | -$119.23 |
| Medicare | -$27.88 |
| Virginia income tax | -$81.31 |
| Take-home pay | $1,547.74 |
| Gross pay | $920.00 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | -$68.48 |
| Social Security | -$57.04 |
| Medicare | -$13.34 |
| Virginia income tax | -$38.27 |
| Take-home pay | $742.87 |
| Gross pay | $3,541.67 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | -$243.33 |
| Social Security | -$219.58 |
| Medicare | -$51.35 |
| Virginia income tax | -$171.96 |
| Take-home pay | $2,855.45 |
Virginia paycheck questions
How much tax is taken out of my paycheck in Virginia?
Federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500 in 2026) and Medicare (1.45%), plus Virginia income tax withholding. Virginia has no local income tax, and we found no employee-paid state payroll contribution in the sources we checked.
What are the Virginia income tax brackets for withholding?
After deductions, annual taxable wages are taxed at 2% up to $3,000, 3% from $3,000 to $5,000, 5% from $5,000 to $17,000 and 5.75% above $17,000. Virginia Tax's formula adds a fixed base amount for each bracket you pass.
What is the Virginia standard deduction for paycheck withholding?
The withholding formula subtracts $8,750 for every filer, with no split by filing status. Virginia Tax notes that this higher standard deduction is scheduled to sunset after taxable year 2026, so a 2027 table would change.
How many exemptions can I claim on the Virginia VA-4?
Each personal or dependent exemption lowers annual wages by $930 in the formula. Exemptions for age 65 or older and for blindness are $800 each.
Is this the same as a West Virginia paycheck calculator?
No. This page covers Virginia only. West Virginia has its own withholding rules, which this page does not use.
Does Virginia tax bonuses at a different rate?
Virginia Tax's employer guide says supplemental wages paid separately, when tax was already withheld from regular wages, are withheld at a flat 5.75% with no exemptions.
More paycheck tools
Paycheck calculators for other states
Estimates only, not tax advice. Results follow published 2026 withholding methods and may differ from your actual paycheck.