Ohio paycheck guide
How Ohio calculates state income tax in 2026
Ohio rebuilt its income tax for 2026. The graduated schedule is gone, replaced by a single 2.75% rate that applies only to taxable income above $26,050. Income below that line is taxed at 0%, which is why lower-wage workers owe very little to the state and why the effective rate climbs slowly as pay rises.
Ohio has no standard deduction. Each filer instead subtracts a personal exemption that depends on income: $2,350 at a $30,000 salary, $2,100 at $50,000 to $75,000, and $1,850 at $100,000 and above. Married couples filing jointly claim one exemption per spouse, so a couple earning $100,000 subtracts $3,700.
Because Ohio starts from federal adjusted gross income, pre-tax 401(k), HSA, and payroll health insurance contributions lower the wages the state taxes. A dollar moved into a traditional 401(k) saves 2.75% in Ohio tax on top of the federal savings.
Worked example: a $75,000 salary in Ohio
For a single filer earning $75,000, start with wages and subtract the $2,100 personal exemption, leaving $72,900 of Ohio taxable income. The first $26,050 is taxed at 0%. The remaining $46,850 is taxed at 2.75%, which produces $1,288 of Ohio income tax, an effective state rate of 1.72%.
Federal tax is the larger bite. After the $16,100 federal standard deduction, $58,900 is taxable: the first $12,400 at 10%, the next $38,000 at 12%, and the last $8,500 at 22%, for $7,670 in total. Social Security takes $4,650 and Medicare $1,088. Take-home pay comes to $60,304, about $5,025 a month. The Ohio $75,000 salary page breaks this down by pay period.
With a flat rate, every dollar above the 0% band costs the same 2.75% whether you earn $50,000 or $250,000. At $150,000, a single filer pays $3,358 to Ohio, still only 2.24% of salary.
City and school district income taxes
Local taxes often cost Ohio workers more than the state does. Most Ohio municipalities tax wages earned inside city limits, and big-city rates are higher than the state's effective rate. In Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, and Dayton the rate is 2.5%, which costs $1,875 on a $75,000 salary. Youngstown charges 2.75% ($2,063), Cincinnati 1.8% ($1,350), and Lakewood 1.5% ($1,125). The Columbus calculator shows the combined effect.
Your employer withholds tax for the city where you work. If you live in a different city that also taxes income, your home city may bill you for the difference, depending on how much credit it gives for tax paid to the work city. Columbus, for example, credits 100% of tax paid to another city, up to its own 2.5% rate.
Close to 200 Ohio school districts also levy an income tax on their residents. You list your school district number on Form IT 4 so your employer can withhold it. If it is not withheld, you file Form SD 100 and pay it with your return.
Withholding, reciprocity, and remote work
Ohio employers set state withholding from Form IT 4, the state's own certificate, not the federal W-4. Review it when you start a job, marry, or move to a different school district. If you also have freelance income or a second job, adding a flat extra amount per pay period on IT 4 is the simplest way to avoid a balance due in April.
Ohio has reciprocity agreements with Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Residents of those states who work in Ohio can give their employer Form IT 4NR to stop Ohio withholding and pay state tax only at home. The agreements cover state tax only; Ohio city income tax is still withheld for work done inside a taxing city.
If you work from home part of the week, your employer may have withheld tax for the office city on days you were not there. You can request a refund from the work city for those days, and your home city may tax that income instead, so keep a simple log of where you worked each day.
How Ohio compares with its neighbors
At $75,000, a single Ohio worker keeps $60,304 before city tax, the 11th-highest take-home among the 50 states and DC. Every neighbor takes more at the state level: Indiana's 2.95% flat tax leaves $895 less, Pennsylvania's 3.07% rate $1,014 less, Kentucky's 3.5% rate $1,219 less, West Virginia's brackets $1,258 less, and Michigan's 4.25% rate $1,649 less. See Ohio vs Pennsylvania for a side-by-side view.
Those figures leave out local taxes in every state, and Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Pennsylvania all have local wage taxes of their own. Against a state with no income tax, Ohio costs a $75,000 earner $1,288 a year at the state level, and a 2.5% city tax more than doubles that gap.
What to expect at your income
Earning under $50,000
Below $50,000, Ohio's 0% band does most of the work. A single filer earning $30,000 owes just $44 in state income tax, and at $50,000 the bill is $601, an effective rate of 1.2%. At this level city income tax is often the largest deduction after federal tax and FICA, since a 2.5% city rate costs far more than the state. If you qualify for the federal earned income tax credit, check Ohio's nonrefundable earned income credit when you file.
Earning $50,000 to $150,000
Between $50,000 and $150,000 each extra dollar costs 2.75% in Ohio tax, and the personal exemption steps down from $2,100 to $1,850 along the way. A single filer earning $100,000 pays $1,983 to Ohio and takes home $77,197, or $6,433 a month, before city tax. Pre-tax 401(k) contributions save the state rate plus a 22% federal rate here, but Ohio city taxes are generally based on Medicare wages, which include 401(k) deferrals, so they do not reduce city tax.
Earning over $150,000
Above $150,000 the Ohio rate is still 2.75%, small next to the 24% and 32% federal brackets. At $250,000 a single filer pays $6,108 to Ohio, an effective state rate of 2.44%, and takes home $177,074 before city tax. High earners who live in one Ohio city and work in another should check their home city's credit, because withholding only for the work city can leave a balance due.
Ohio paycheck tips
Put your school district on Form IT 4
If your district levies an income tax, list its number on IT 4 so your employer withholds it. Otherwise the full year's school district tax comes due when you file Form SD 100.
Check city withholding after a move
Employers withhold for the city where you work. If you live in a different taxing city, look up its credit for tax paid elsewhere and ask your employer whether it can also withhold for your home city.
Keep a log of remote work days
A record of the days you worked from home outside the office city supports a refund request to the work city and shows your home city what it can tax.
Neighbors: file IT 4NR
Residents of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia who work in Ohio should give their employer Form IT 4NR so Ohio tax is not withheld from their pay.
Use Ohio's 529 deduction
Contributions to Ohio's CollegeAdvantage 529 plan are deductible on the Ohio return up to an annual limit per beneficiary. The deduction lowers your state tax at filing time but does not change paycheck withholding.
Common mistakes
Treating the state rate as the whole local picture
A $75,000 salary costs $1,288 in Ohio income tax but $1,875 in a 2.5% city. Budget for both, and add school district tax if your district has one.
Missing a home-city balance due
If your home city has a higher rate than your work city, or gives only partial credit, you can owe at filing time even though city tax came out of every paycheck.
Expecting 401(k) deferrals to cut city tax
Traditional 401(k) contributions lower federal and Ohio income tax, but Ohio city taxes generally apply to Medicare wages, which still include those deferrals.
Moving to or from Ohio
Moving to Ohio
Moving to Ohio from a higher-tax state usually raises take-home pay at the state level, since the flat 2.75% rate starts only above $26,050. The city matters as much as the state: compare a 2.5% city like Columbus with lower-rate suburbs before you sign a lease, and remember the work city's tax applies even if you live outside it.
Leaving Ohio
Leaving Ohio for Michigan, Kentucky, or Pennsylvania generally means a higher state rate and a different set of local taxes, so compare the full picture. Moving to a state with no income tax saves the $1,288 a $75,000 earner pays Ohio, plus any city tax. Ohio taxes you as a part-year resident on income earned while you lived there, so expect to file an Ohio return for the year you move.