Harrisburg local tax guide
Who pays Harrisburg's local tax
Living inside Harrisburg city limits means 2% of your wages goes to the city and the Harrisburg School District, wherever you work. Commuters, including the many state employees who drive in from Dauphin and Cumberland counties, have the higher of their home resident rate or Harrisburg's 1% nonresident rate withheld. Many West Shore and Dauphin County suburbs already charge more than 1%, so for those commuters, working in Harrisburg adds nothing beyond their home tax. Every worker in the city, resident or not, also pays the Local Services Tax.
Harrisburg's earned income tax
Harrisburg's 2% resident rate is a standard Pennsylvania earned income tax, levied on wages and net profits and divided between the city, which takes most of it, and the Harrisburg School District. Keystone Collections Group collects it as the collector for the Dauphin County tax collection district.
The nonresident rate is the ordinary 1%. That matters less than it looks, because the suburbs around the capital are not low-tax places. The state register lists 2% resident rates for Lower Paxton and Swatara townships and for Camp Hill, so people living there pay the same rate as a Harrisburg resident regardless of where they work.
Worked example: $75,000 in the capital
A single filer earning $75,000 owes $7,670 in federal income tax, $2,303 in Pennsylvania income tax at 3.07%, $4,650 in Social Security, and $1,088 in Medicare. A Harrisburg resident adds $1,500 of EIT and takes home $57,790, about $4,816 a month.
A commuter from a 1% township pays $750 at the nonresident rate and keeps $58,540, so the resident premium is $750 a year at this salary. At $100,000 the resident bill is $2,000, and at $40,000 it is $800.
The Local Services Tax in Harrisburg
Harrisburg's Local Services Tax is three times the standard amount most Pennsylvania municipalities charge, according to the state's tax register. It is a flat yearly tax on anyone whose job is located in the city, withheld in equal pieces from each paycheck, so a state worker who lives in Mechanicsburg pays it just as a city resident does.
Because it is a flat charge, it falls hardest on lower-paid workers. If your earnings in the city stay below the state's low-income limit, you can file an exemption certificate with your employer. Our take-home figures leave the LST out, so expect your actual pay stub to be slightly lower.
How Harrisburg compares
Among Pennsylvania's larger cities, Harrisburg's $1,500 resident bill at $75,000 is moderate. It is $750 below Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre at $2,250 and $1,301 below Philadelphia, $75 below Norristown at $1,575, and $300 above Lancaster at $1,200 and $562 above York at $938.
Lancaster and York, the nearest cities on our list, both have lower resident rates. If you work in Harrisburg and are choosing among those three for a home, the city of residence decides your rate, not the location of the Capitol.
Tips for Harrisburg paychecks
Check your home rate before assuming 1%
If you live in Lower Paxton, Swatara, or Camp Hill, your own resident rate is already 2%, so moving your job into Harrisburg will not change your local tax.
Look for the LST line on your pay stub
Harrisburg's Local Services Tax is larger than in most places. If it is missing, ask payroll before a year-end catch-up deduction.
Use the residency form when you move
Moving across the Susquehanna changes your PSD code and often your rate. Give your employer a new Residency Certification Form the month you move.
Model the full paycheck
Start with the Pennsylvania take-home calculator and add Harrisburg's EIT and LST to see what really lands in your account.