Live in Pennsylvania, work in New York
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
New York takes
$2,643
on wages earned there
Pennsylvania takes
$0
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,643
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$801
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
costs youNew York charges more than Pennsylvania would, and Pennsylvania only credits you up to its own bill — so the difference stays with you. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Pennsylvania bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Crossing this line costs money. New York taxes what you earn there. Pennsylvania taxes you too, because you live there, and then gives you credit for what New York already took. The catch is the size of that credit. It stops at what Pennsylvania would have charged on its own. So you end up paying the bigger of the two bills, which here means $2,643 a year instead of $1,842. The commute itself accounts for $801 of that.
- Counting only the larger flows, 11 states send workers into New York. Pennsylvania comes in at number 3 with 75,583 jobs, so this crossing is common enough to be routine for payroll departments there.
- New York taxes wages earned inside its borders by non-residents, and Pennsylvania taxes its residents on the same wages wherever they are earned. The resident credit resolves the overlap but does not erase it: Pennsylvania credits tax paid to New York only up to what it would itself have charged on that income, so the commuter settles at the higher of the two liabilities rather than the sum. At the reference salary that is $2,643 against $1,842 for the same earner working at home — $801 attributable to the state line itself. ⚠️ The corollary is the part most readers have backwards: moving to a cheaper home state while keeping the job in New York changes the split between the two treasuries and not the total.
- New York draws commuters of this scale from 11 states, and Pennsylvania ranks number 3 among them with 75,583 jobs. A work state pulling from that many directions tends to have a well-established non-resident filing routine, which is a practical convenience rather than a tax saving.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,303
- Yours$59,290
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.07% | $2,303 |
| Yours79.05% | $59,290 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| New York takes, on wages earned there | $2,643 |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania charges its residents | $1,842 |
| Less the credit Pennsylvania gives | $1,842 |
| Total state tax | $2,643 |
| If you also worked in Pennsylvania | $1,842 |
| Difference | $801 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in New York is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Pennsylvania residents.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that New York is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Pennsylvania. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Pennsylvania and New York takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether New York or Pennsylvania carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in New York and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Pennsylvania limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the New York portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in New York rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Pennsylvania to New York comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in New York's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Pennsylvania and New York?
Not twice over. Both states have a claim — New York because you earn the money there, Pennsylvania because you live there — but Pennsylvania gives you credit for what New York took. The credit stops at what Pennsylvania would have charged on its own, so what you actually pay is the bigger of the two bills. Here that comes to $2,643 for the year.
Would moving out of Pennsylvania lower my state tax if I keep working in New York?
Not while you work in New York. That state's claim comes from where the work happens. Pennsylvania is the one giving ground, through the credit, and a cheaper home state gives less ground rather than costing you less. The number that matters is set by New York.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Pennsylvania and New York?
Usually yes, and it catches people out. Pennsylvania wants a return because you live there. New York usually wants one too, because you earned money inside it — even in the cases where you end up owing it nothing. Filing in a state and paying it are separate things, and the return is often what proves you do not owe.
What if I work from home in Pennsylvania some days instead of going to New York?
Normally, days worked at home in Pennsylvania belong to Pennsylvania, and only the days you spend in New York are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check New York's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — New York on a source basis, Pennsylvania on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,643 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Does changing residence reduce combined liability while the work state is unchanged?
No, while the source state is unchanged. New York's claim arises from where the services are performed and is unaffected by residence. Because the residence credit is capped at the residence state's own liability, combined liability equals the greater of the two — so substituting a lower-tax residence reduces the residence-state component toward zero while leaving the total at New York's level. The binding variable is the work location, not the home one.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Pennsylvania requires a resident return reporting all income; New York requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Pennsylvania fall outside New York's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in New York throughout.