West Virginia income tax, by filing status
Tax year 2026
Tax on a $75,000 salary
$2,546
3.39% of pay, single filer
Against other states
30 of 51
1 takes the most
Top rate
4.58%
on the highest incomes only
Tax-free first
$0
of income, single filer
What filing status changes in West Virginia
- West Virginia does not widen its tax bands for married couples. All 5 stay exactly the same whether you file alone or jointly, so two incomes stack straight into them.
- In West Virginia, filing as head of household puts you on the single schedule. The bands are the same, so the status changes less at state level than at federal level.
- West Virginia gives no standard deduction of its own. Tax starts working from the first dollar the state counts, whichever status you file under.
- The West Virginia schedule does not double, or otherwise widen, for married-filing-jointly: all 5 thresholds are shared with the single schedule and the top rate remains about 4.58%. Whether this is deliberate policy or legislative inertia varies by state; the effect on a dual-income household is the same either way.
- Head-of-household filers in West Virginia use the single bracket table unchanged. The divergence from federal treatment is the point worth noting: a filer accustomed to head of household widening their federal brackets will find no equivalent effect on the state schedule.
- West Virginia provides no state standard deduction. The schedule therefore applies from the first dollar of its taxable base, and filing status cannot widen a shelter that does not exist. States without a deduction are systematically harder on low earners than their headline rates suggest.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,546
- Yours$59,047
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.39% | $2,546 |
| Yours78.73% | $59,047 |
Your next $1,000
A $75,000 salary
| Federal, on the next dollar | 22% |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare | 7.65% |
| State, on the next dollar | 4.58% |
| Taken from the next $1,000 | $342 |
Rates shown are federal, Social Security and Medicare, and state. Any local tax is inside the kept amount.
How this state ranks, at this income
A $75,000 salary
| Take-home in West Virginia | $59,047 |
|---|---|
| Rank once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | 10th of 51 |
| Most take-home at this income | South Dakota · $61,593 |
| Best once prices are leveled | South Dakota |
State income tax only — no city or county income tax is applied to any state here.
Your two tax rates
A $75,000 salary
- Next dollar34.23%
- All your pay21.27%
| On the next dollar | 34.23% |
|---|---|
| Across all your pay | 21.27% |
| The gap | 12.96% |
| Tax this year | $15,953 |
The outer ring shows tax on your next dollar. The inner ring shows tax as a share of all your pay.
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.
West Virginia's ladder
A $75,000 salary
| Rungs in this state | 6 |
|---|---|
| Top rate begins | $62,000 |
Measured on gross pay, so any state standard deduction shows as a 0% first rung.
What filing status is worth
A $75,000 salary
| Single | $59,047 |
|---|---|
| Married filing jointly | $62,168 |
| Married filing separately | $58,648 |
| Head of household | $60,969 |
What each status computes to at this income. Which one you may use depends on your household.
The part never taxed
A $75,000 salary
- Never taxed$16,100
- Taxable$58,900
| Share of your pay | 21.47% |
|---|---|
| Taxable after it | $58,900 |
Federal income tax only. Social Security and Medicare start at the first dollar you earn.
The tax with a ceiling
A $75,000 salary
| Wage base | $184,500 |
|---|---|
| Social Security rate | 6.2% |
| Medicare surtax begins | $200,000 |
Social Security stops at the wage base. Medicare does not, and gains a surtax higher up.
What no income tax costs instead
A $75,000 salary
- Income
- Sales
- Property
| Income tax saved | $2,546 |
|---|---|
| Sales and property added | $985 |
| States with none | 9 |
Against the average of the states with no income tax. Stated assumptions: 30% spent taxably, a $300,000 home.
Tax brackets — Single, Married filing jointly, Head of household
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $10,000 | 2.11% |
| $10,000 – $25,000 | 2.81% |
| $25,000 – $40,000 | 3.16% |
| $40,000 – $60,000 | 4.22% |
| Over $60,000 | 4.58% |
Tax brackets — Married filing separately
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $5,000 | 2.11% |
| $5,000 – $12,500 | 2.81% |
| $12,500 – $20,000 | 3.16% |
| $20,000 – $30,000 | 4.22% |
| Over $30,000 | 4.58% |
What you'd actually owe, by filing status
Same gross income, four filing statuses. The gap between columns is entirely West Virginia's own schedule and deduction — federal tax and FICA are not included here.
| Gross income | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $1,444 | $1,360 | $1,444 | $1,800 |
| $75,000 | $2,546 | $2,454 | $2,546 | $2,945 |
| $100,000 | $3,691 | $3,599 | $3,691 | $4,090 |
Questions people ask
If I earn more, does the higher rate apply to everything?
No. Each band charges only the money inside it, so income is taxed in slices. That is why the share actually leaving at a typical income is about 3.39% rather than the top rate of about 4.58%.
Do the brackets change at all when we file together?
No — the thresholds are the same either way. Because the bands do not widen for a couple, combining two incomes on one return reaches each rate at exactly the point a single filer would.
Do two people get twice the allowance?
Not here. A single filer's allowance is $0 and a couple's is $0 — not double it, so part of the shelter two single people would have had is lost by filing together.
Is there a different schedule if I am not single or married?
More than two schedules exist here. The status on the return picks the thresholds, and they are not simply scaled versions of each other.
How do this state's marginal rates apply across income?
West Virginia applies each marginal rate only to income within its bracket. The top marginal rate is about 4.58%; measured effective liability at this project's representative income is about 3.39%. Crossing a threshold cannot reduce net income.
Why are joint and single thresholds identical here?
West Virginia applies identical bracket thresholds to single and joint filers. Combined income therefore reaches each marginal rate at the single-filer threshold, which is the strongest form of marriage penalty a graduated schedule can produce.
Why does the joint standard deduction not equal twice the single one?
The joint standard deduction of $0 is not twice the single deduction of $0, so the deduction itself contributes a marriage penalty independently of bracket structure.
Which filing statuses carry their own schedule here?
West Virginia publishes distinct bracket schedules for filing statuses beyond single and married-filing-jointly. Thresholds are set independently rather than derived by scaling, so status selection materially changes liability and cannot be approximated from the single schedule.