Pennsylvania sales tax, and who sets it
Tax year 2026
Set by the state
6%
Set locally
0.34%
statewide average
Combined
6.34%
Local share
5.36%
of what you pay
Work out the tax on a purchase in Pennsylvania
Add the tax on
6.34% effectiveThe general rate applies here: 6.34%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.
How Pennsylvania's sales tax is put together
- Almost all of Pennsylvania's sales tax is set in the state capital. The rate is about 6%. Counties can add a slice, and on average across Pennsylvania that slice is about 0.34% — small enough that it will not change how you shop. Where you buy matters much less here than what you buy.
- Groceries are not taxed in Pennsylvania. Fill a cart with unprepared food and the sales tax on it is nothing. That is the common treatment, though not the universal one — a few states charge full rate on food, and a few more charge a reduced rate. The line here falls between groceries and prepared food, and it is narrower than it sounds.
- Buy clothes in Pennsylvania and there is no sales tax on them. Only a handful of states do this. It narrows what gets taxed here, which is part of why a state's headline rate tells you less than people assume — the rate matters, but so does the list of things it applies to.
- The locally-set share of Pennsylvania's sales tax is minor. Against a state rate of about 6%, local jurisdictions add about 0.34% on average across Pennsylvania, leaving the combined rate close to the state figure at essentially any address. Where a state delegates this little, address-level rate variation stops being a material input to a purchase decision, and the exemption schedule — what is taxed at all — becomes the larger source of variation in what a given basket actually costs.
- Pennsylvania exempts groceries from sales tax entirely, so unprepared food carries no charge at any rate. This is the majority treatment nationally but far from universal: a small number of states apply the full rate to food and another group applies a reduced one. The consequential detail in an exempting state is the boundary rather than the exemption — where the statute separates exempt groceries from taxable prepared food, and rotisserie chicken, bakery items and heated food are where that line is usually drawn.
- Pennsylvania places clothing outside its sales tax base entirely. Because a state's revenue is the product of its rate and its base, a narrow base of this kind is normally paired with a higher rate on what remains, and comparing two states on rate alone will misrepresent both. The exemption's practical reach depends on how the statute treats footwear, accessories and athletic apparel, which varies among the states that grant it.
Sales tax on this purchase
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $6.34 |
|---|---|
| Rate appliedStatewide average | 6.34% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Rates across this state
A $75,000 salary
| Counties in this state | 2 |
|---|---|
| Different rates among them | 2 |
| Lowest county rate | 7% |
| Highest county rate | 8% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $6.34 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $106.34 |
| Rate here | 6.34% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
How much of that was tax
A $75,000 salary
| Goods before tax | $100.62 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 6.34% |
Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.
Every county here
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest | 7% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 8% |
| Gap between them | 1% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
What gets taxed, in each
A $75,000 salary
Pennsylvania
Statewide average
Texas
Harris County (Houston)
- Sales tax
- Fuel
- Tobacco
| Category | Pennsylvania | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | Exempt | Exempt |
| Clothing at $100 | Exempt | 8.25% |
| Fuel | 57.6¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco | $2.60 | $1.41 |
Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.
The split, county by county
The state rate is the same everywhere in Pennsylvania. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.
| County | State | Local | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide average | 6% | 0.34% | 6.34% |
| Philadelphia County | same | 2% | 8% |
| Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) | same | 1% | 7% |
What it costs on a thousand dollars
The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across Pennsylvania. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is Pennsylvania's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.
| What you're buying | Tax as share of price | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| General goods | 6.34% | $63 |
| Groceries | 0% | $0 |
| Prescription drugs | 0% | $0 |
| Clothing | 0% | $0 |
Every county in Pennsylvania
This is the whole state, not a sample — 2 counties, from 7% in Allegheny County up to 8% in Philadelphia County. These are county floors. City, transit and special-district taxes can add to them, so an address may pay more.
Complete county coverage for Pennsylvania: 2 counties spanning 7% (Allegheny County) to 8% (Philadelphia County), across 2 distinct rates. Figures are county floors: the state rate plus the county's own levy, excluding municipal, transit and special-district taxes. The representative location figures earlier in the page may include additional local layers.
| County | State portion | County levy | Floor (state + county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allegheny County | 6% | 1% | 7% |
| Philadelphia County | 6% | 2% | 8% |
Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.
What this page does not cover
- The first county table and calculator location list for Pennsylvania are a sample, not a complete address lookup. They were chosen to show the range rather than to cover every address, so your own county may sit outside what you see. If you have a receipt to hand, the rate printed on it beats any figure on this page.
- Pennsylvania taxes some things through this general rate and other things through taxes of their own. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco fall in the second group, and those charges sit inside the price rather than on the receipt. Vehicle purchases, hotel stays and eating out often add their own charges as well.
- Exemptions are broader on paper than in a shop. Pennsylvania draws its own lines inside each category — what counts as a grocery rather than a prepared meal, what counts as clothing rather than an accessory. Those lines decide the tax on a real basket, and they are where two states with identical rates stop agreeing.
- The first county table and calculator location list for Pennsylvania are representative rather than exhaustive. The listed jurisdictions illustrate the spread of local rates; they are not a complete enumeration, and an address outside them may carry a rate above or below anything shown. Where a complete county-floor table appears separately below, it covers counties but still excludes additional city and district taxes. Prefer the state revenue authority’s address lookup for a specific purchase.
- Pennsylvania's general sales tax is one of several consumption taxes it levies, and the only one modeled on this page. Motor fuel, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are taxed under separate excise schedules, normally price-inclusive and therefore not visible as a line item. Lodging, prepared meals and vehicle transfers are frequently subject to additional dedicated rates at state or local level.
- The exemption classes shown for Pennsylvania are broad categories, and the statutory boundaries inside each one govern the actual charge. Prepared and heated food routinely falls outside a grocery exemption; footwear, athletic wear and accessories are commonly carved out of a clothing exemption. Because these definitions differ between states, two jurisdictions with matching rates and matching exemption lists can produce materially different tax on an identical basket.
Questions people ask
Why is the tax at the register higher than the state rate?
What the statute says and what the register charges are different numbers. about 6% is the state's share; local layers carry it to about 6.34%, varying street by street.
Is food taxed the same as everything else?
No — groceries are exempt in Pennsylvania, which is why a basket of raw ingredients can leave a shop untaxed while a sandwich from the same shop does not. The line is drawn at preparation, not at the food itself.
Is clothing really untaxed here?
Largely, yes — but exemptions of this kind usually have edges. Sports gear, protective equipment and formal wear are commonly written back out of a general clothing exemption, and some states cap it per garment, so an expensive single item can be taxable where a cheap one is not.
Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?
Not by much. Only about 5.36% of the combined rate is set below state level here, so the figure moves a little across county lines rather than a lot — the state rate is most of what you pay wherever you are.
What composes the combined rate in this state?
The combined rate is the state levy plus every local levy sourced to the point of sale. Pennsylvania sets about 6%; the representative combined rate is about 6.34%, of which about 5.36% is decided locally. A single statewide figure is therefore an approximation.
How are groceries classified for sales tax here?
Pennsylvania exempts groceries from general sales tax. The exemption typically excludes prepared food, and definitional boundaries — utensils supplied, heating, or a seller's prepared-food share — determine which side a specific item falls on. Those tests vary by state and are not uniform.
What are the limits of this state's clothing exemption?
Pennsylvania exempts clothing from general sales tax. Such exemptions commonly exclude athletic, protective and formal apparel, and two states cap the exemption per item, so a single high-value garment may be partly taxable. Accessories are generally excluded.
How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?
Locally determined levies account for about 5.36% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.