Ohio uses a flat income tax
Ohio taxes taxable income above $26,050 (a single filer's first $26,050 is taxed at 0%) at a single rate of 2.75%, with no brackets to move between.
The flat rate is still the ceiling rather than the going rate. Because Ohio subtracts a deduction or exemption before applying it, $900 on $50,000 is an effective 1.86% of gross while $3,700 on $150,000 is 2.46%, closer to the headline 2.75%, but only approaching it as income rises.
Ohio income tax brackets for 2026
Single filer rates. Married couples filing jointly use the same rates and the same thresholds, which still does not make filing jointly cheaper here: on $120,000 a joint return owes $2,800 against $2,400 for two single filers on $60,000 each, so the couple pays $400 more.
| Rate | Taxable income over |
|---|---|
| 2.75% | $26,050 |
Worked examples for Ohio
Using Ohio's 2026 rates, standard deduction and exemptions:
| Situation | Ohio tax | Effective state rate |
|---|---|---|
| Single, $60,000 | $1,207 | 2.01% |
| Single, $120,000 | $2,863 | 2.39% |
| Married filing jointly, $120,000 | $2,811 | 2.34% |
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.
No state standard deduction
Ohio gives no state standard deduction, so only a personal exemption of $2,400 stands before the rates: an $85,000 salary is taxed here on $83,100 of itself, where a state allowing the federal-sized $16,100 would tax $68,900.
Rules specific to Ohio
The provisions published for Ohio:
- Ohio's personal exemption is $2,400 for an AGI of $40,000 or less, $2,150 if AGI is more than $40,000 but less than or equal to $80,000, and $1,900 if AGI is greater than $80,000 but less than $500,000. For AGI above $500,000, there is no exemption.
- Ohio's personal exemption is adjusted periodically based on changes in the GDP deflator.
Provision notes quoted from the Tax Foundation's State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, which is also the source of the rate and bracket data on this page.
The calculator applies Ohio's exemption at the amount for your income band, as the Ohio Revised Code sets it. For 2026 the schedule is $332 plus 2.75% of taxable income above $26,050, and a filer whose income less exemptions is under $30,000 also gets a $20 credit for each exemption (Ohio Revised Code 5747.025, Ohio Revised Code 5747.02, Ohio Revised Code 5747.022, Ohio 2025 IT 1040 instructions).
Local income taxes in Ohio
Ohio 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 1.2% 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.
Ohio exempts most business income before it taxes any
Ohio grants a business income deduction that exempts a substantial slice of pass-through business income from state tax entirely, with anything above that slice taxed at a flat preferential rate rather than at the ordinary schedule. An owner of an LLC, partnership or sole proprietorship can therefore pay considerably less on business profit than an employee pays on the same amount of wages.
It is a narrower version of the exemption Kansas tried and repealed (capped rather than unlimited, which is what has kept it durable), but it creates the same incentive to characterise income as business rather than wage income, and it is one of the largest carve-outs in the Ohio code. The calculator above models wages, so it does not apply.
On wages, Ohio's band does not begin until $26,050 of taxable income (below that there is no state income tax) and above it the rate is 2.75%. The state layer is the smaller half of the story, because Ohio has the most extensive municipal income tax system in the country, with hundreds of cities and districts levying their own.
Working across the Ohio border
Ohio has reciprocity agreements with Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia. If you live in one of those states and work in Ohio, you pay income tax only to your home state: file an exemption certificate with your employer and no Ohio tax is withheld. See what happens if you skip that certificate.
Retirement income in Ohio
Ohio 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 $1,200 here, an effective 2.01%. Any exclusion Ohio 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 Ohio compares
Ohio's top marginal rate of 2.75% ranks 40 of the 42 jurisdictions that tax income (41 states and D.C.). Pennsylvania tops out at 3.07%. Michigan tops out at 4.25%. Indiana tops out at 2.95%. Kentucky tops out at 3.5%.
Filing and deadlines
Ohio'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 Ohio'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.