Virginia Paycheck Calculator 2026 – Estimate Your Virginia Take Home Pay
Virginia Paycheck Calculator 2026 - Estimate Your Virginia Take-Home Pay
Calculate Your Virginia Paycheck and Take-Home Pay in Seconds
Enter your salary or hourly rate and see exactly how much Virginia state tax, federal tax, and FICA come out of each paycheck. Uses real 2026 Virginia progressive tax brackets and the Virginia Department of Taxation withholding method.
What Comes Out of a Virginia Paycheck?
Every Virginia worker's paycheck is reduced by four main categories of tax. Understanding each one helps you plan your budget and adjust your withholding on Form W-4 and Form VA-4.
Built for Virginia Workers in 2026
You work at a Virginia company and want to know your exact take-home pay after federal, Virginia state tax, Social Security, and Medicare are withheld each paycheck.
You are paid by the hour in Virginia and want to estimate your net pay based on your hourly rate and hours worked per week.
You have a new Virginia job offer and want to compare take-home pay before accepting, including whether pre-tax benefits change your net pay significantly.
You moved to Virginia from another state and want to understand how the progressive Virginia income tax compares to your previous state's withholding structure.
Enter Your Pay Details
Fill in your pay information below. All fields marked with * are required. Pre-tax and post-tax deduction fields are optional.
Your Virginia Paycheck Estimate
Full Virginia Paycheck Breakdown
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How your Virginia paycheck is split
Paycheck Insights
This result is an estimate for planning purposes. Actual Virginia withholding depends on your Form VA-4 exemptions, employer payroll setup, benefit elections, and other factors. Always compare against your actual pay stub. This tool does not constitute tax advice.
How the Virginia Paycheck Calculator Works
This calculator follows the same method Virginia employers use when running payroll. Here is each step in plain English.
For salary workers, annual salary is divided by pay periods. For hourly workers, hours per week are multiplied by the hourly rate and annualized. This is your gross pay before anything is removed.
Contributions to a 401(k), health insurance premiums, HSA, and FSA are subtracted before taxes. This reduces both your federal taxable income and your Virginia taxable income, lowering what you owe on both.
Your annualized taxable wages are compared to 2026 federal brackets (10% through 37%). The federal standard deduction is applied first based on your filing status. Tax is calculated progressively across each bracket.
Virginia applies its own standard deduction ($8,750 single / $17,500 married jointly) plus a $930 reduction per Form VA-4 exemption claimed. The remaining income is taxed using Virginia's four progressive brackets: 2%, 3%, 5%, and 5.75%.
Social Security tax is 6.2% up to the 2026 wage base. Medicare is 1.45% of all wages, plus an additional 0.9% for high earners above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly).
After taxes, any post-tax deductions like Roth 401(k) contributions are removed. The remaining amount is your estimated Virginia take-home pay per paycheck.
Key Virginia Paycheck Information for 2026
Virginia's Progressive Income Tax Brackets
Virginia uses four tax brackets that have been unchanged for years. All filing statuses use the same brackets: 2% on the first $3,000 of taxable income, 3% on $3,001 to $5,000, 5% on $5,001 to $17,000, and 5.75% on all taxable income above $17,000. Unlike a flat-rate state, this means lower-income workers in Virginia pay a smaller effective rate than higher earners. Most full-time employees in Virginia land in the 5.75% marginal bracket. You can compare Virginia taxes with other states using our paycheck calculators hub.
Virginia Standard Deduction and Exemptions
For 2026, Virginia's standard deduction is $8,750 for single filers and married filing separately, and $17,500 for married filing jointly. This is subtracted from your annualized wages before the Virginia brackets are applied. Each personal exemption claimed on Form VA-4 provides an additional $930 reduction. If you work a second job or have changed jobs, review your VA-4 to avoid under-withholding. To understand how deductions reduce your paycheck, also see our pre-tax deduction calculator.
Virginia Has No Local Payroll Income Tax
Unlike states such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, Virginia does not impose a local income tax on wages at the county or city level for standard W-2 employees. Your Virginia paycheck will have federal income tax, Virginia state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare withheld. No additional city or county income tax applies. This makes Virginia paycheck math simpler than many neighboring states. If you are comparing a Virginia job offer to a Maryland one, see our Maryland paycheck calculator.
Pre-Tax Benefits Reduce Your Virginia and Federal Tax
Contributions to a 401(k), traditional IRA through payroll, health insurance premiums (Section 125), HSA, and dependent care FSA all reduce your taxable wages before both federal and Virginia taxes are calculated. A worker contributing $500 per month to a 401(k) could reduce their annual Virginia tax bill by roughly $345 at the 5.75% marginal rate, on top of federal savings. Use our paycheck after 401(k) calculator to see exactly how retirement savings affect your take-home pay. For a broader view of gross vs. net, see our gross to net calculator.
Virginia Minimum Wage in 2026
Virginia's minimum wage increased to $12.00 per hour in January 2023 and was expected to reach $15.00 by January 2026 under the phased schedule. Hourly workers at or near minimum wage will see a smaller but proportional set of deductions. To understand hourly pay in annual terms, use our hourly to salary calculator.
What Does a Virginia Paycheck Look Like?
These examples use 2026 Virginia tax rates, the standard deduction, one VA-4 exemption, and biweekly pay. Federal tax is estimated using the 2026 brackets for single filers. No pre-tax deductions are included. Results are approximations.
- Pay: $18/hr x 40 hrs/wk = $37,440/yr
- Filing: Single, 1 VA-4 exemption
- Federal tax (est.): ~$106/paycheck
- Virginia state tax (est.): ~$72/paycheck
- Social Security: ~$89/paycheck
- Medicare: ~$21/paycheck
- Annual salary: $110,000
- Filing: Single, 1 VA-4 exemption
- Federal tax (est.): ~$815/paycheck
- Virginia state tax (est.): ~$225/paycheck
- Social Security: ~$261/paycheck
- Medicare: ~$61/paycheck
- Annual salary: $65,000
- Filing: Married jointly, 2 VA-4 exemptions
- Federal tax (est.): ~$283/paycheck
- Virginia state tax (est.): ~$109/paycheck
- Social Security: ~$154/paycheck
- Medicare: ~$36/paycheck
These are estimates only. Your actual paycheck depends on your exact W-4 and VA-4 settings, benefits elections, and employer payroll processing. Run the calculator above with your own numbers for a personalized result. For overtime scenarios, see our overtime calculator.
Virginia Paycheck Questions Answered
Virginia uses a progressive income tax with four brackets for 2026: 2% on the first $3,000, 3% on $3,001 to $5,000, 5% on $5,001 to $17,000, and 5.75% on all income above $17,000. These brackets apply to all filing statuses. Most full-time Virginia workers with income above $17,000 after deductions pay at the top 5.75% marginal rate on their highest dollars of income.
Virginia uses progressive brackets, not a flat rate. The top marginal rate is 5.75% for Virginia taxable income above $17,000. This is different from states like North Carolina, which uses a flat rate. Virginia's brackets are the same regardless of whether you file as single, married jointly, or head of household.
For tax year 2026, Virginia's standard deduction is $8,750 for single filers and $17,500 for married filing jointly. This amount is subtracted from your annualized wages before the brackets are applied. In addition, each exemption on Form VA-4 reduces your taxable wages by $930.
Virginia employers annualize your per-period wages, subtract the standard deduction and your VA-4 exemptions, then apply the progressive bracket schedule to get an annual tax estimate. That annual tax is divided by your pay periods to determine how much is withheld each paycheck. The Virginia Department of Taxation publishes employer withholding tables and instructions annually.
Virginia does not have a general local income tax withheld from wages. Standard W-2 employees in Virginia only have federal income tax, Virginia state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare withheld. This is different from neighboring states like Maryland, where county income taxes can add 2 to 3 percent to your total withholding.
Three main ways to reduce Virginia income tax withholding: increase pre-tax benefit contributions (401(k), HSA, health insurance), update your Form VA-4 to claim additional exemptions you qualify for, or request that your employer withhold less if you expect to owe less at filing. Always check with your employer's payroll department or a tax professional before adjusting your VA-4.
Virginia's top rate of 5.75% is moderate compared to high-tax states like California (up to 13.3%) or New York (up to 10.9%), but higher than no-income-tax states like Texas or Florida. Most Virginia workers at median income pay an effective Virginia state rate of roughly 3 to 5 percent after the standard deduction and exemptions. Northern Virginia workers with high salaries and high housing costs often feel a larger pinch than the nominal rates suggest.
On Form VA-4, each personal exemption reduces your annualized Virginia taxable income by $930. You typically claim one for yourself, one for a spouse (if married), and one per dependent. Additional exemptions may apply for age 65 or older or if you are blind. Review the Form VA-4 instructions from the Virginia Department of Taxation for the full rules.
Sources Used to Build This Calculator
- Virginia Department of Taxation (tax.virginia.gov) Employer withholding tables, Form VA-4 instructions, 2026 standard deduction of $8,750 (single) and $17,500 (married jointly), personal exemption amount of $930, and Virginia progressive bracket schedule: 2%, 3%, 5%, 5.75%.
- Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov) 2026 federal income tax brackets, federal standard deduction amounts, and W-4 withholding methodology used for federal tax estimates.
- Social Security Administration (ssa.gov) 2026 Social Security wage base and employee rate of 6.2%. Medicare employee rate of 1.45% and Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% above applicable thresholds.
- Virginia General Assembly / Session Law Virginia income tax bracket structure confirmed through current Virginia Code and fiscal impact statements published for 2026.
Your Data Stays on Your Device
This Virginia paycheck calculator does not store, transmit, or share any of the pay information you enter. All calculations run on our server and return only the result. No salary data, tax figures, or personal information is saved, logged, or associated with any account.
There is no sign-up, no login, and no email required. You can use this tool as many times as you need without creating any record.
Built and Reviewed for Accuracy
This Virginia paycheck calculator was developed and reviewed for technical accuracy and usability by Eman Ali Mughal. Virginia tax data is sourced from the Virginia Department of Taxation, IRS publications, and the Social Security Administration. Calculations follow the annualization method used by Virginia employers for payroll withholding.