See which bracket you top out in, and the effective rate you actually pay.
A federal tax bracket calculator shows your marginal rate, total federal income tax, and effective rate, using the 2025 brackets and the standard deduction.
The U.S. uses progressive brackets, so only the income within each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate. Your marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar; your effective rate, total tax divided by income, is lower, because your earlier dollars were taxed at lower rates. Confusing the two leads people to overestimate what a raise costs them.
Most filers subtract the standard deduction before brackets apply, so a chunk of income is taxed at 0%. That's built into this estimate. The calculation covers federal ordinary income only, it excludes state tax, payroll taxes, credits, and special rates on capital gains, so it's a planning tool rather than a full return.
Marginal is the rate on your last dollar of income; effective is your total tax divided by total income, which is lower because earlier dollars are taxed less.
No, only the income above the bracket threshold is taxed at the higher rate. The rest keeps its lower rates.
State tax, payroll taxes, credits, and special capital-gains rates. It estimates federal ordinary income tax for 2025 only.
See the exact formula and a worked example on our methodology page.