2026 Federal Tax Brackets Explained

Federal income tax still uses seven ordinary brackets for 2026: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. The rates did not change. What moved are the dollar thresholds, which the IRS adjusts each year for inflation under Rev. Proc. 2025-32.

Brackets apply to taxable income—adjusted gross income minus your deduction—not to every dollar of wages. That is why two people with the same salary can owe different amounts when filing status, pre-tax benefits, or itemizing choices differ.

What changed from 2025

For a single filer, the 10% bracket now runs through $12,400 of taxable income (up from $11,925). The 12% bracket tops out at $50,400, and the 22% bracket reaches $105,700. Married filing jointly thresholds are roughly double the single amounts through most of the schedule. Head of household has its own intermediate widths.

Those wider bands matter if your income sits near a cliff between rates. A raise that looked “expensive” in 2025 may land deeper inside the same bracket in 2026 simply because the thresholds rose.

Marginal vs effective rate

Your marginal rate is the rate on the next dollar of ordinary taxable income. Your effective rate is total tax divided by AGI (or another base you choose). Most households pay far less than their top bracket as a share of income because earlier dollars are taxed at 10% and 12%, and because deductions shrink the base.

Example: a single filer with $75,000 of taxable income in 2026 fills the 10% and 12% brackets completely and only part of the 22% bracket. The last dollars are taxed at 22%, but the blended federal income tax is closer to the mid-teens as a percent of taxable income—before credits.

What brackets do not cover

Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends use a separate preferential schedule. Social Security and Medicare (FICA) are payroll taxes with their own wage-base rules. The Net Investment Income Tax and Additional Medicare Tax can stack on top for higher earners. None of those replace the ordinary brackets; they sit beside them.

When you model a job offer or a side gig, run taxable income through the 2026 brackets, then add FICA or self-employment tax separately. Mixing them into one “tax rate” usually hides where the cash actually goes.

Use the federal income tax calculator with tax year 2026 selected to see bracket fill and effective rate on AGI for your filing status. Compare the same inputs against 2025 if you are deciding whether a year-end bonus or Roth conversion should wait.