How New York taxes income
New York uses a graduated income tax with 9 brackets, running from 3.9% up to 10.9%. A filer on $85,000 pays an effective 4.7%. The top rate is the last slice, not the whole bill (how graduated rates work).
The top bracket starts at $25,000,000 of taxable income, so it applies only to higher earners.
New York income tax brackets for 2026
Single filer rates. Married couples filing jointly use the same rates over wider bands, which still does not make filing jointly cheaper here: on $120,000 a joint return owes $5,400 against $5,300 for two single filers on $60,000 each, so the couple pays $100 more.
| Rate | Taxable income over |
|---|---|
| 3.9% | $0 |
| 4.4% | $8,500 |
| 5.15% | $11,700 |
| 5.4% | $13,900 |
| 5.9% | $80,650 |
| 6.85% | $215,400 |
| 9.65% | $1,077,550 |
| 10.3% | $5,000,000 |
| 10.9% | $25,000,000 |
Worked examples for New York
Using New York's 2026 rates, standard deduction and exemptions:
| Situation | New York tax | Effective state rate |
|---|---|---|
| Single, $60,000 | $2,643 | 4.41% |
| Single, $120,000 | $6,180 | 5.15% |
| Married filing jointly, $120,000 | $5,363 | 4.47% |
The joint figure is lower than the single figure on the same $120,000 only because the joint return covers two people's exemptions or credits; the rates themselves are the same.
Deductions and exemptions
New York allows a state standard deduction of $8,000 for a single filer and $16,050 for a married couple filing jointly.
All told, an $85,000 salary is taxed on $77,000.
Rules specific to New York
The provisions published for New York:
- Connecticut and New York have "tax benefit recapture," by which many high-income taxpayers pay their top tax rate on all income, not just on amounts above the benefit threshold.
Provision notes quoted from the Tax Foundation's State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, which is also the source of the other data on this page.
Local income taxes in New York
New York is one of eleven states where counties or cities levy their own income tax on top of the state rate. Averaged across the state, local income tax runs about 1.6% of AGI, and in the heaviest-taxed localities it is considerably more. Switch it on above for an estimate, or see how local income tax works across all eleven states.
New York taxes remote workers other states would not
New York applies a convenience of the employer rule, and applies it more aggressively than almost any other state. If your employer is in New York and you work from home in another state for your own convenience rather than because the job requires that location, New York generally still treats those days as New York-source income and taxes them.
The practical consequence is that living in New Jersey or Connecticut and working remotely for a New York employer does not remove you from New York tax the way it would with an employer in most other states. Your home state taxes the same income and offers a credit, but the credit is capped at what your home state would have charged, so a resident of a lower-rate state still ends up paying New York's higher rate on that income.
New York City and Yonkers levy their own income taxes on top for residents, which the state figure above does not include. Between the 10.9% state ceiling and a city layer, New York is one of the few places where the question of where you sit while working is worth real money.
Part-year residents and out-of-state income
New York has no reciprocity agreements, so if you live here and work in another state, or move mid-year, you will generally file in both, and claim a credit rather than an exemption. How the credit works, and why moving to a higher-tax state still costs you.
Retirement income in New York
New York does not tax Social Security benefits, which puts it with the large majority of states. Pensions and IRA or 401(k) withdrawals are treated separately. See how states treat retirement income.
As an upper bound, $60,000 of retirement income taxed as ordinary wage income would cost about $2,600 here, an effective 4.41%. Any exclusion New York grants for pension or retirement-account income comes off that figure, so a retiree's real rate is usually lower than the brackets above suggest.
How New York compares
New York's top marginal rate of 10.9% ranks 3 of the 42 jurisdictions that tax income (41 states and D.C.). New Jersey tops out at 10.75%. Connecticut tops out at 6.99%. Pennsylvania tops out at 3.07%. Massachusetts tops out at 9%.
Filing and deadlines
New York's return is due in mid-April with your federal return. Deadlines and extensions covers the off-cycle states and what an extension does not buy you.
What this estimate covers
The figure applies New York's published 2026 rates and deductions to wage income, alongside federal tax and FICA (a well-sourced estimate, not a return). See what these calculators do and do not model.