Short answerTax brackets slice your income into layers. Each layer is taxed at its own rate. A raise never taxes your whole paycheck at the higher rate.
Marginal vs effective rate
Your marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar of income. Your effective rate is total tax divided by total income.
The effective rate always lands below the marginal rate. That gap is the whole point of brackets.
A worked example
Take a single filer earning $60,000 in 2026. Subtract the $16,100 standard deduction first, leaving $43,900 of taxable income.
The first $12,400 is taxed at 10%, which is $1,240. The next $31,500 is taxed at 12%, which is $3,780.
Total federal tax is $5,020. The marginal rate is 12%, and the effective rate is about 11.4%.
The 2026 federal brackets
These rates apply to taxable income for tax year 2026. Find your filing status and read down the rows.
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 to $12,400 | $0 to $24,800 |
| 12% | $12,401 to $50,400 | $24,801 to $100,800 |
| 22% | $50,401 to $105,700 | $100,801 to $211,400 |
| 24% | $105,701 to $201,775 | $211,401 to $403,550 |
| 32% | $201,776 to $256,225 | $403,551 to $512,450 |
| 35% | $256,226 to $640,600 | $512,451 to $768,700 |
| 37% | Over $640,600 | Over $768,700 |
The standard deduction subtracts first
Brackets apply to taxable income, not total income. The standard deduction comes off before any bracket math.
For 2026 that is $16,100 single and $32,200 married filing jointly. Itemizing only helps when deductions top those numbers.