West Virginia Paycheck Calculator & Income Tax Rates (2026)

West Virginia applies 5 rates to taxable income — that is, income after the state standard deduction or exemption. Only the slice of income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate.

West Virginia's effective state rate climbs with income as more of your salary lands in higher bands. The last column shows the state rate on your next dollar at each level.

West Virginia's joint brackets are the same as single brackets, so the marriage effect here comes from the deduction and the federal side. On $100,000 a joint return keeps $80,921 versus $75,240 for a single filer.

West Virginia taxes income through five graduated brackets — 2.22%, 2.96%, 3.33%, 4.44% and 4.82% for 2026 — the product of a rapid unwinding of what was, until 2022, a 6.5% top rate. A 2023 law cut every rate by 21.25%, and a revenue trigger written into that law delivered further cuts for 2025, taking the top rate to 4.82%; the same mechanism can shave rates again whenever collections outrun an inflation-adjusted 2019 baseline. The top bracket starts at just $60,000 of taxable income, and the thresholds are identical for single and joint filers, so a two-earner couple reaches 4.82% on the same dollar a single filer does — an unusual marriage penalty. The state starts from federal adjusted gross income, offers no standard deduction and no itemizing, and instead relies on a $2,000 personal exemption and a set of targeted subtractions, most importantly for seniors and, from 2026, for Social Security.

There is no standard deduction and no itemized deductions; the return starts from federal adjusted gross income and subtracts a $2,000 personal exemption per person. Taxpayers 65 or older receive the additional $8,000 senior exemption, low-income families can exclude up to $10,000 of earned income when total income is at or below that level, and a family tax credit reduces or eliminates tax for households near the poverty line. A child and dependent care credit equal to 50% of the federal credit was added in 2024.

No West Virginia city or county levies a percentage tax on income. A handful of cities instead charge a flat weekly "city service fee" or user fee on everyone who works within city limits — about $3 a week in Charleston and Morgantown, $5 a week in Huntington, and smaller amounts in Parkersburg, Fairmont and Weirton — withheld by employers and amounting to $100 to $260 a year.

The state sales tax is 6%, and roughly 70 municipalities add up to 1% — Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown and Parkersburg are all at 7%. Groceries have been fully exempt since 2013, and prescription drugs are exempt, which keeps the effective burden on essentials low. Motor vehicles pay a separate 6% privilege tax at titling rather than sales tax.

West Virginia's property taxes are among the lowest in the country, with an effective rate around 0.55% of market value, because homes are assessed at 60% of value and millage rates are constitutionally capped. Homeowners 65 or older or disabled exempt the first $20,000 of assessed value. Since 2024 the state also refunds the personal property tax paid on vehicles through a credit on the income tax return — a workaround for the car tax that voters declined to repeal outright in 2022.

Tax year 2026 is the first in which West Virginia exempts Social Security benefits entirely, completing a three-year phase-out — 35% exempt in 2024, 65% in 2025, 100% now — that ends the state's longstanding income-tested taxation of benefits. Military retirement pay has been fully exempt since 2018. State and local government pensions get a modest $2,000 modification, and every taxpayer 65 or older can exclude up to $8,000 of income of any kind, or $16,000 for a couple who both qualify. Private pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals are otherwise taxed at ordinary rates. A retired couple drawing $40,000 of Social Security and $30,000 from an IRA now owes tax on about $14,000 after exemptions — a few hundred dollars.

Retirees are the clearest winners and get better off in 2026 with Social Security fully exempt, the $8,000 senior exemption and the lowest property taxes in the region on top of the nation's second-lowest cost of living. High earners pay a moderate 4.82% with no local surcharge, and the trigger mechanism points only downward. Married couples fare worst in relative terms because joint brackets are not widened. Workers in Charleston or Huntington lose a flat weekly fee that suburban and remote workers avoid. Wage earners commuting to Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Virginia pay only West Virginia tax under reciprocity.

The median household income in West Virginia is $44,000, which is $36,280 a year ($3,023 a month) after all taxes. That is below the national median, though West Virginia's low cost of living stretches each dollar further than the raw figure suggests. After adjusting for cost of living, the purchasing power of that take-home is equivalent to $43,710 in an average-cost area.

West Virginia ranks #24 of 50 for raw take-home pay and #2 for cost-adjusted purchasing power at $100,000. The 22-place gap between the two reflects a below-average cost of living that boosts real purchasing power. The best state (Alaska) leaves $79,125; the worst (Oregon) leaves $70,932. West Virginia is $3,885 behind the leader.

West Virginia Tax Questions, Answered

Compare West Virginia with Other South States

Specific Salaries in West Virginia