# Virginia Paycheck Calculator

Last updated October 21, 2026FreeNo signupFormula shown

Enter your pay, how often you are paid, and the exemptions on your Form W-4 and Virginia Form VA-4, and this Virginia paycheck calculator shows your 2026 take-home pay. It follows Virginia Tax's withholding formula, 2% to 5.75% after a standard deduction and your exemptions, and works out the employer's side of the bill under it.

State

VirginiaHow it is figuredVirginia takes an $8,750 standard deduction and $930 for each exemption off a year's pay, then withholds 2% to 5.75% of what is left, by brackets.

I'm paid

SalaryHourly

Yearly salary (USD)

Pay frequencyWeekly (52 paychecks a year)Every two weeks (26 a year)Twice a month (24 a year)Monthly (12 a year)

Filing status on Form W-4Single or married filing separatelyMarried filing jointlyHead of household

Virginia withholding

Personal and dependent exemptions on Form VA-4 (line 1a)

$930 of pay each year is left untaxed per exemption: you, a spouse with no income of their own, and each dependent.

Age 65 and blind exemptions on Form VA-4 (line 1b)

$800 each, for age 65 or older and for legal blindness. Most workers claim 0.

Form W-4 steps 2 to 4

Step 2 box is checked

Two jobs with similar pay, or both spouses work.

Children under 17

Step 3: $2,200 each.

Other dependents

Step 3: $500 each.

Other income per year

Step 4(a).

Deductions per year

Step 4(b).

Extra withholding each paycheck (USD)

Step 4(c).

401(k), % of pay

2026 limit $24,500.

Health premiums per paycheck

Pre-tax.

HSA per paycheck

2026 limit $8,750.

Take-home pay per paycheck

$1,836.69

$2,307.69 gross · $471.00 withheld (20.4%)

teampredict.ai/tools/paycheck-calculator/virginia

Where this paycheck goes

Gross pay

$2,307.69

Federal income taxW-4 methodIRS Publication 15-T (2026) percentage method, worked from your Form W-4 entries.

\- $193.08

Social Security6.2%To $184,500Social Security tax stops once your pay for the year reaches the $184,500 wage base.

\- $143.08

Medicare1.45%

\- $33.46

Additional Medicare0.9%Over $200,000Withheld on pay above $200,000 in a calendar year, whatever your filing status.

\- $0.00

Virginia income taxState methodVirginia takes an $8,750 standard deduction and $930 for each exemption off a year's pay, then withholds 2% to 5.75% of what is left, by brackets.

\- $101.38

401(k)Pre-taxSkips federal income tax, but Social Security and Medicare still apply.

\- $0.00

Health premiumsPre-taxThrough a cafeteria plan, these skip income tax, Social Security and Medicare.

\- $0.00

HSA

\- $0.00

Take-home pay$1,836.69

Over the year, 26 paychecks

Gross pay

$60,000

Taxes

\- $12,246

Pre-tax deductions

\- $0

Share kept

79.6%

Take-home pay$47,754

Copy resultsCopy link

_Figure: Bar chart of the year's gross pay of $60,000. Federal income tax: $5,020; Social Security: $3,720; Medicare: $870; Virginia income tax: $2,636; Take-home pay: $47,754._

_Figure: Line chart of yearly take-home pay against gross pay, from $0 to $100,000, with the same filing status and deductions as the calculator. The dashed line is gross pay. At $60,000 gross, take-home is $47,754._

## This pay costs the employer $64,832 a year, $2,493.54 each pay period.

What the employer adds, per year

Employer Social Security6.2% to $184,500

$3,720

Employer Medicare1.45%

$870

Federal unemployment (FUTA)0.6% of the first $7,000No credit cut6.0% less a 5.4% credit. The Labor Department's September 2026 list of states that may lose part of that credit names only California and the Virgin Islands.

$42

Virginia unemployment2.5% of the first $8,000New employer rateA new Virginia employer starts at a 2.5% base rate on the first $8,000 of each employee's pay; the Commission adds a pool cost charge and, when its trust fund is low, a 0.2% fund building charge, which are on the annual rate notice and not in these totals.

$200

Employer taxes$4,832

Total cost of the employee

Gross pay

$60,000

Employer taxes

\+ $4,832

Per pay periodYearly averageUnemployment taxes stop at their wage bases, so the first paychecks of the year cost more than the last.

$2,493.54

Per year$64,832

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## Virginia withholds 2% to 5.75% of a year's pay, after an $8,750 standard deduction and $930 for each exemption on your VA-4.

Virginia Tax's formula has three steps. Your employer multiplies your pay for the period by the number of pay periods in a year, takes off $8,750 and $930 for each exemption on your Form VA-4 ($800 for each age 65 or blind exemption), and taxes the rest by four brackets: 2% up to $3,000, 3% up to $5,000, 5% up to $17,000 and 5.75% above that. The year's tax is then divided by the pay periods. Nothing depends on your filing status: the exemptions you claim are the whole difference between two workers on the same pay.

## A $60,000 Virginia salary takes home $1,836.69 every two weeks.

The calculator opens on this case: a single employee with 1 exemption on the VA-4 and a standard Form W-4, paid every two weeks, with no pre-tax deductions.

-   Gross pay: $60,000 ÷ 26 = $2,307.69
-   Federal income tax: $193.08
-   Virginia income tax: $60,000 − ($8,750 + $930) = $50,320 taxed, which is $2,635.90 a year, ÷ 26 = $101.38
-   Social Security: 6.2% × $2,307.69 = $143.08; Medicare: 1.45% = $33.46
-   Take-home pay: $1,836.69 a paycheck, $47,754.00 a year

_Figure: Bar chart for a single employee on a $60,000 salary, paid every two weeks, with 1 exemption, paid 26 times a year. Federal income tax: $5,020 · 8.4%; Social Security: $3,720 · 6.2%; Medicare: $870 · 1.4%; Virginia income tax: $2,636 · 4.4%; Take-home pay: $47,754 · 79.6%._

A single employee on a $60,000 salary, paid every two weeks, with 1 exemption. Invented example. Each tax is rounded to the cent in every paycheck, as payroll does.

## Each exemption on the VA-4 keeps $930 of pay from tax, which is worth $2.06 a paycheck here.

At this pay the top of the taxable amount is in the 5.75% bracket, so each exemption saves $930 × 5.75%, about $53 a year, which is $2.06 on a biweekly paycheck. A second exemption saves the same again, for a spouse with no income or a dependent. Lower in the brackets it is worth less: 5% of $930 in the 5% bracket and 2% in the first. An age 65 or blind exemption is worth $800 instead of $930.

_Figure: Bar chart of the Virginia income tax withheld from one biweekly paycheck on a $60,000 salary, single, with 0 exemptions: $103.44; 1 exemptions: $101.38; 2 exemptions: $99.32; 3 exemptions: $97.27; 5 exemptions: $93.15._

Invented example: a $60,000 salary, single, paid every two weeks. Each exemption is $930 of pay a year; an age or blind exemption is $800.

## Virginia follows the federal rule for a 401(k), a health plan and an HSA.

Virginia withholds on any payment for which federal withholding is required, so the amounts that skip federal income tax skip Virginia tax too. A 401(k) deferral of 6% on the $60,000 example is $138.46 a paycheck, and it lowers Virginia withholding by $7.96. Social Security and Medicare still apply to a 401(k) deferral, but not to health premiums or an HSA contribution made through a cafeteria plan.

_Figure: Bar chart of the tax withheld from one biweekly paycheck on a $60,000 salary, single: Federal tax, no 401(k): $193.08; Federal tax, 6% 401(k): $176.46; Virginia tax, no 401(k): $101.38; Virginia tax, 6% 401(k): $93.42._

Invented example: a $60,000 salary, single, paid every two weeks. 6% of pay is $138.46 a paycheck.

## Hiring that employee costs $64,832 a year in Virginia.

On top of the $60,000, the employer matches Social Security and Medicare at 6.2% and 1.45%, which is $4,590. It pays federal unemployment tax of 0.6% on the first $7,000, which is $42; Virginia is not on the Labor Department's list of states with a 2026 credit reduction. A new Virginia employer pays unemployment tax at a base rate of 2.5% on the first $8,000 of pay, which is $200.00 a year per employee, before the add-on charges on its rate notice.

_Figure: Bar chart of the employer's taxes on an employee on a $60,000 salary: Employer Social Security $3,720; Employer Medicare $870; Virginia unemployment $200; Federal unemployment (FUTA) $42. Together $4,832, for a total cost of $64,832 a year._

An employee on a $60,000 salary. Virginia unemployment is the 2026 new-employer rate of 2.5% on the first $8,000.

## Take-home pay in Virginia runs from $32,834 on $40,000 to $105,980 on $150,000.

For a single employee with 1 exemption, paid every two weeks. Switch the table to weekly pay if you are paid every week. To see how a neighboring state compares, try the [North Carolina paycheck calculator](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/paycheck-calculator/north-carolina).

Take-home pay in Virginia for a single employee on a standard Form W-4, paid every two weeks, with no pre-tax deductions. Virginia taxes are its income tax.

Salary

Federal tax

Social Security and Medicare

Virginia taxes

Take-home a year

Every two weeks

$40,000

$2,620

$3,060

$1,486

$32,834

$1,262.85

$50,000

$3,820

$3,825

$2,061

$40,294

$1,549.78

$60,000

$5,020

$4,590

$2,636

$47,754

$1,836.69

$75,000

$7,670

$5,738

$3,498

$58,094

$2,234.39

$100,000

$13,170

$7,650

$4,936

$74,244

$2,855.54

$150,000

$24,734

$11,475

$7,811

$105,980

$4,076.16

## Methodology & sources

The formula this calculator uses is shown in full above, and every assumption is an input you control. There are no hidden industry presets. All math runs in your browser; nothing you enter is stored or sent to a server. For the reasoning behind the formula and its edge cases, see:

-   [IRS Publication 15-T (2026): Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods, Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf)
-   [IRS Publication 15 (2026), Employer's Tax Guide: Social Security wage base of $184,500, Medicare, FUTA, 401(k) and cafeteria plan treatment](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf)
-   [IRS Form W-4 (2026): Step 3 credits of $2,200 and $500](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf)
-   [IRS Topic 751: Social Security and Medicare withholding rates, Additional Medicare Tax over $200,000](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc751)
-   [IRS Instructions for Form 940: FUTA tax of 6.0% less a credit of up to 5.4%, on the first $7,000](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i940)
-   [U.S. Department of Labor: FUTA credit reductions, potential 2026 list (California and the Virgin Islands)](https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/futa_credit.asp)
-   [IRS: 401(k) limit of $24,500 for 2026](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500)
-   [IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19: 2026 HSA limits of $4,400 and $8,750](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-19.pdf)
-   [U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #23: overtime at time and one-half over 40 hours in a workweek](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/23-flsa-overtime-pay)
-   [Virginia Tax: Income Tax Withholding Guide for Employers (Rev. 10/26), formula for computing tax to be withheld](https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/vatax-pdf/employer-withholding-instructions.pdf)
-   [Virginia Tax: Withholding Tables for Wages Paid after July 1, 2025 (standard deduction $8,750 through taxable year 2026)](https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/taxforms/withholding/any/employer-withholding-tables-july-2025-and-later-any.pdf)
-   [Virginia Tax: Form VA-4 (Rev. 04/26), Employee's Virginia Income Tax Withholding Exemption Certificate](https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/taxforms/withholding/any/va-4-any.pdf)
-   [Virginia Tax: Employer Withholding Calculator (the same formula, to the cent)](https://www.business.tax.virginia.gov/withholding-calculator)
-   [Virginia Employment Commission: Frequently Asked Questions (new employers receive an initial base tax rate of 2.5% plus add-ons; first $8,000 of wages taxable)](https://vec.virginia.gov/frequently-asked-questions)

## Frequently asked questions

How does Virginia work out the income tax taken from my paycheck?

Virginia Tax's withholding formula annualizes your pay (the pay for the period times the pay periods in a year), subtracts an $8,750 standard deduction, $930 for each exemption on your Form VA-4 and $800 for each age 65 or blind exemption, then taxes the rest at 2% up to $3,000, $60 plus 3% of the excess up to $5,000, $120 plus 5% up to $17,000, and $720 plus 5.75% above that. The year's tax is divided by the pay periods. For a $60,000 salary with 1 exemption, the taxable pay is $50,320, which is $2,635.90 a year, or $101.38 every two weeks. Virginia Tax's online Employer Withholding Calculator gives the same figure.

How much is $60,000 a year after tax in Virginia?

For a single employee who claims 1 exemption on the VA-4 and is paid every two weeks, a $60,000 salary takes home $1,836.69 a paycheck, or $47,754.00 a year. The year's taxes are $5,020.08 of federal income tax, $2,635.88 of Virginia income tax, $3,720.08 of Social Security and $869.96 of Medicare.

How much is $20 an hour after tax in Virginia?

At 40 hours a week and weekly pay, $20 an hour is $800.00 gross and $654.38 take-home a week for a single employee with 1 exemption. That is $54.08 of federal income tax, $30.34 of Virginia income tax, $49.60 of Social Security and $11.60 of Medicare. Switch the calculator to hourly and type your own hours, including overtime.

What do I put on the Virginia VA-4?

Line 1(a) is your personal and dependent exemptions: you, a spouse who is not claimed on their own VA-4, and each dependent you can claim on your return. Line 1(b) is the exemptions for being 65 or older and for being legally blind, for you and, if you claim your spouse, for them. A personal exemption is worth $930 of pay a year and an age or blind exemption $800. With no VA-4 on file, your employer withholds as if you had no exemptions. On the $60,000 example, 0 exemptions withhold $103.44 a paycheck against $101.38 with 1 and $99.32 with 2, and one age or blind exemption on line 1(b) lowers it to $99.61.

Is Virginia's $8,750 standard deduction going away?

It is scheduled to. The higher amount, $8,750 for a single filer and $17,500 for a married couple filing jointly, applies for taxable years 2025 and 2026, and Virginia Tax's tables say it is scheduled to fall back after taxable year 2026 to $3,000 and $6,000. The withholding formula uses $8,750 for every employee, and this calculator does too.

How does Virginia tax a bonus?

A bonus or other supplemental payment that is paid with regular wages is added to them and withheld on the total. If it is paid separately and tax has been withheld from regular wages, the employer may withhold a flat 5.75% with no exemptions. This calculator treats all pay as regular pay.

What does a 401(k), an HSA or a health plan do to my Virginia paycheck?

Virginia withholds on any payment for which federal withholding is required, so a 401(k) deferral, health premiums through a cafeteria plan and HSA contributions through one all come out before Virginia tax, as they do federally. Putting 6% of a $60,000 salary into a 401(k) ($138.46 a paycheck) cuts Virginia withholding by $7.96 and take-home pay by only $113.88. A $100 HSA contribution a paycheck cuts Virginia withholding by $5.75.

Who pays unemployment tax in Virginia, and how much is it?

The employer does, to the Virginia Employment Commission. A new Virginia employer starts at a base rate of 2.5% on the first $8,000 of each employee's pay, until it has a rate of its own. That is $200.00 a year per employee at a $60,000 salary. The Commission adds a pool cost charge and, when its trust fund balance is 50% or less, a 0.2% fund building charge, which come on the annual rate notice and are not in these figures. Unemployment wages are the pay after cafeteria plan deductions but before 401(k) deductions.

I live in Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia or the District of Columbia and work in Virginia. Does Virginia withhold from me?

Not if you meet the conditions of Virginia's reciprocity agreements and say so on your VA-4. A resident of Kentucky or the District of Columbia who commutes daily to a job in Virginia is not withheld from. A resident of Maryland, Pennsylvania or West Virginia is not either, if their legal home stays in that state, they live in Virginia less than 183 days of the year, their only Virginia income is salary or wages, and their home state taxes it. This calculator withholds as if the employee has no such exemption.

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## Keep reading

[North Carolina Paycheck Calculator The neighbor to the south: a flat 4.09% after a standard deduction and the allowances on the NC-4. Read more](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/paycheck-calculator/north-carolina)

[Pennsylvania Paycheck Calculator A flat 3.07% with no allowances, and a state tax that applies to 401(k) deferrals too. Read more](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/paycheck-calculator/pennsylvania)

[Overtime Calculator Time and a half on every hour over 40, worked out from your hourly rate. Read more](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/overtime-calculator)