The Virginia paycheck calculator helps you estimate your take-home pay after federal and state taxes are subtracted.
Virginia Paycheck Calculator (2025)
If you live and work in Virginia, the paycheck you take home is affected by both federal and state taxes. The Virginia Paycheck Calculator is a tool that estimates how much of your salary actually ends up in your bank account after those taxes are removed.
It begins by using your gross income, the total amount you earn before taxes are taken out. Then, it subtracts deductions for federal income tax, Virginia state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. What remains is called your net pay, your real earnings.
What Is Gross Salary?
Your gross salary is your full income before taxes or deductions are removed. It’s what your employer offers you as your total pay. This includes your hourly wages, monthly paycheck, or yearly salary.
Let’s say you’re hired for a job that pays $55,000 a year. That amount is your gross salary. But it’s not the amount you actually receive in your paycheck. That’s because taxes and required contributions are subtracted before you ever see the money. The calculator starts with this number to work out your final take-home pay.
What Is Net Salary?
Net salary is the money you receive after taxes have been taken out. It’s what shows up on your pay stub and eventually gets deposited into your bank account. This is also called “take-home pay.”
The calculator helps you see the difference between what you earn and what you actually get. Doing the math for you, it shows your net income clearly, something many workers overlook when just looking at their salary offer.
Virginia State Income Tax in 2025
Virginia has a state income tax, and it’s based on a progressive system. That means the tax rate goes up as your income increases. But you don’t pay the highest rate on all your income, only on the portion that falls into each bracket.
In Virginia, all taxpayers, whether they are single, married, or heads of households, use the same tax rate structure.
For 2025, the rates are as follows:
Virginia Income Tax Brackets (2025)
| Taxable Income | Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $3,000 | 2.00% |
| $3,001 – $5,000 | 3.00% |
| $5,001 – $17,000 | 5.00% |
| Over $17,000 | 5.75% |
Here’s how that works in real life. If your income is $55,000, the first $3,000 is taxed at 2%. The next $2,000 is taxed at 3%. The income from $5,001 to $17,000 is taxed at 5%, and the amount over $17,000 is taxed at 5.75%.
So you don’t pay 5.75% on all $55,000, only on the portion above $17,000. This helps keep taxes lower for lower earners and gradually increases for higher incomes. The calculator uses this structure automatically, so you don’t have to do the math by hand.
Federal Income Tax Overview
Federal income tax applies to everyone in the U.S., no matter where you live. Just like Virginia’s tax system, the federal government uses a progressive tax rate that increases with income. However, federal tax brackets depend on your filing status, which could be Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Head of Household.
Before the government taxes your income, you receive something called a standard deduction. This reduces the amount of income that can be taxed.
In 2025, the standard deduction amounts are as follows:
- If you are single, you can subtract $15,000.
- If you are married and filing jointly, you subtract $30,000.
- If you are head of household, you subtract $22,500.
After the deduction, your remaining income is taxed based on the federal tax brackets.
Here are the updated federal tax brackets for 2025:
2025 Federal Tax Brackets (All Filing Statuses)
| Tax Rate | Single | Married Filing Jointly | Married Filing Separately | Head of Household |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $11,925 | $0 – $23,850 | $0 – $11,925 | $0 – $17,000 |
| 12% | $11,926 – $48,475 | $23,851 – $96,950 | $11,926 – $48,475 | $17,001 – $64,850 |
| 22% | $48,476 – $103,350 | $96,951 – $206,700 | $48,476 – $103,350 | $64,851 – $103,350 |
| 24% | $103,351 – $197,300 | $206,701 – $394,600 | $103,351 – $197,300 | $103,351 – $197,300 |
| 32% | $197,301 – $250,525 | $394,601 – $501,050 | $197,301 – $250,525 | $197,301 – $250,500 |
| 35% | $250,526 – $626,350 | $501,051 – $751,600 | $250,526 – $313,175 | $250,501 – $626,350 |
| 37% | Over $626,350 | Over $751,600 | Over $313,175 | Over $626,350 |
The calculator uses both the brackets and the standard deduction to estimate your federal tax. That way, the results match what you’ll see when filing your taxes or checking a real paycheck.
Social Security and Medicare Taxes
All workers also pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, which are required under federal law. These are sometimes called payroll taxes, and they are taken out of every paycheck.
For 2025, the Social Security tax is 6.2% of your wages, up to an income cap of $176,100. This means if you earn less than that, you’ll pay 6.2% on your entire salary. If you earn more, the Social Security tax stops after that amount.
The medicare tax is 1.45% and applies to all income, with no limit. Together, these two payroll taxes are known as FICA. The calculator includes them in your total tax deduction so that your net pay estimate is accurate.
What Filing Status Means in Your Paycheck
Your filing status affects how much federal tax you pay. If you choose Single, you’re taxed using one set of brackets. If you file jointly with a spouse, you qualify for different rates and a higher standard deduction. If you’re a head of household supporting a child or another person, you receive even more tax savings.
The calculator allows you to choose the correct filing status to make sure your paycheck is calculated based on your personal situation. This helps give you the most accurate net pay amount.
Pay Frequency and How It’s Calculated
People get paid in different ways. Some workers are paid weekly, others biweekly or monthly. Some even get paid once a year in full. The Virginia paycheck calculator includes several pay frequency options, such as:
- Hourly
- Daily
- Weekly
- Biweekly
- Semi-monthly
- Monthly
- Annual
When you choose your pay schedule, the calculator figures out how often your gross income is divided. For example, if you earn $55,000 annually and you’re paid every other week, the calculator divides your salary by 26 pay periods to estimate each paycheck, then subtracts the proper taxes.
No Local Income Taxes in Virginia
One nice thing about living in Virginia is that there are no extra city or county income taxes. Some states allow cities to charge their own income taxes on top of state and federal ones, but Virginia does not.
That means your paycheck won’t be reduced by any extra local tax, no matter if you live in Richmond, Norfolk, Alexandria, or any other city. You only pay state and federal taxes.
How the Virginia Paycheck Calculator Works
The calculator walks through a series of steps automatically. First, it starts with your gross income and subtracts the standard deduction to figure out how much of your income is taxable at the federal level.
Then, it uses your filing status to apply the correct federal tax brackets. It also applies Virginia’s state income tax brackets, which are flat and the same for all filers. It subtracts Social Security and Medicare taxes from your income as well.
After doing all these steps, it gives you your net salary, which is the amount you actually take home. You can switch between different pay frequencies to see how your paycheck changes each period.
Final Thoughts
Virginia workers pay both federal and state income taxes, but they do not face any local income taxes. The state’s tax system is simple, with a top tax rate of 5.75%. The paycheck calculator takes everything into account: your gross income, standard deduction, federal brackets, state rates, and payroll taxes.