World Salary Calculator
Your filing status decides two things on your federal tax return: how big your standard deduction is, and how wide each tax bracket is. The same salary can therefore carry quite different federal tax. This post compares the three most common statuses at six salaries, using the 2026 rules and the same engine as our calculator.
The rules for 2026
| Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard deduction | $16,100 | $32,200 | $24,150 |
| 12% bracket starts | $12,400 | $24,800 | $17,700 |
| 22% bracket starts | $50,400 | $100,800 | $67,450 |
| 24% bracket starts | $105,700 | $211,400 | $105,700 |
Married filing jointly gets double the single deduction, and every bracket is twice as wide as for a single filer except the top one: the 37% rate starts at $768,700, not $1,281,200. Head of household, for unmarried people who support a dependent at home, sits in between.
Take-home pay by status
At $100,000, a married couple filing jointly on one income takes home $5,530 more a year than a single filer, and a head of household $3,582 more.
| Salary | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal tax | Take-home | Federal tax | Take-home | Federal tax | Take-home | |
| $40,000 | $2,620 | $34,320 | $780 | $36,160 | $1,585 | $35,355 |
| $60,000 | $5,020 | $50,390 | $2,840 | $52,570 | $3,948 | $51,462 |
| $80,000 | $8,770 | $65,110 | $5,240 | $68,640 | $6,348 | $67,532 |
| $100,000 | $13,170 | $79,180 | $7,640 | $84,710 | $9,588 | $82,762 |
| $150,000 | $24,734 | $113,791 | $15,340 | $123,185 | $20,991 | $117,534 |
| $250,000 | $51,304 | $183,182 | $37,468 | $197,468 | $46,919 | $187,567 |
Take-home pay is after federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Texas is used so that state tax doesn't blur the comparison. Married filing jointly assumes the whole salary is one person's; a second income is added to the same joint brackets.
Things to keep in mind
- You can't simply pick a status: it depends on your marital status and household on December 31, and head of household has specific rules about dependents.
- These figures leave out tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit, which can matter more than filing status for families.
- State income tax also depends on filing status in most states. The US salary calculator applies each state's own rules when you change the status.
Sources
- IRS — Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 tax rate tables and standard deduction
- IRS — 2026 inflation adjustments, including One Big Beautiful Bill amendments
- Social Security Administration — 2026 contribution and benefit base ($184,500)
- IRS — 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026
- Tax Foundation — 2026 state individual income tax rates and brackets
- California EDD — 2026 SDI rate (1.3%, no wage limit)
- NY Department of Financial Services — 2026 Paid Family Leave rate
- NJ Department of Labor — 2026 TDI, FLI and UI rates and wage bases
- Washington ESD — 2026 Paid Family & Medical Leave premium
- Rhode Island DLT — 2026 TDI rate and wage base
- Missouri DOR — federal income tax deduction
Figures computed with the rates on these pages, last checked on 2 October 2026.