Norristown local tax guide
Who pays Norristown's local tax
Norristown's resident tax follows your home address, so anyone living in the municipality owes 2.1% on wages earned anywhere, from King of Prussia to Center City. People who live elsewhere and work in Norristown, including county employees at the courthouse complex, have the higher of their home resident rate or Norristown's 1% nonresident rate withheld. Philadelphia is the big exception: a Norristown resident who works there pays Philadelphia's nonresident wage tax, and state law credits that payment against the Norristown tax, which usually wipes out the local bill.
How Norristown's earned income tax works
Norristown's tax is a Pennsylvania earned income tax on wages and net profits, collected as one tax for two bodies. The Municipality of Norristown levies 1.6% and the Norristown Area School District 0.5%, for a combined 2.1% on residents. The municipal share is well above the basic level, which sets Norristown apart from its neighbors.
East Norriton and West Norriton share the same school district, but the state tax register lists a total resident rate of only 1% in each. A household moving a mile across the municipal line can see its local tax roughly halve. Berkheimer collects the tax for Norristown as part of the Montgomery County tax collection district.
Worked example at $75,000
A single filer earning $75,000 pays $7,670 in federal income tax, $2,303 in Pennsylvania's flat 3.07% income tax, $4,650 in Social Security, and $1,088 in Medicare. A Norristown resident adds $1,575 of earned income tax and takes home $57,715, about $4,810 a month.
A commuter from a 1% township pays $750 at the nonresident rate and keeps $58,540, so living in Norristown costs $825 more a year at this salary. Against the $59,290 left with no local tax, the resident bill takes about $61 from every biweekly paycheck. At $100,000 a resident pays $2,100, and at $40,000, $840.
Commuting to Philadelphia and King of Prussia
Many Norristown residents ride the Manayunk/Norristown regional rail line into Philadelphia. Philadelphia withholds its 3.425% nonresident wage tax from those paychecks, and under the state's crediting rules for Philadelphia that payment is applied against the Norristown resident tax. Since Philadelphia's rate is higher than 2.1%, these workers owe Norristown nothing on their Philadelphia wages, though they generally still file an annual local return.
A job in King of Prussia or elsewhere in the suburbs works the other way. There, your employer should withhold Norristown's full 2.1% resident rate, so make sure the Residency Certification Form you complete at hire lists your Norristown PSD code rather than your employer's township.
How Norristown compares
Norristown's $1,575 resident bill at $75,000 is slightly above Harrisburg at $1,500 and Allentown at $1,481, and $375 more than Lancaster. It is $1,226 less than a Philadelphia resident pays and $1,238 less than in Chester, the other Philadelphia-area city on our list.
Across Montgomery County the resident rate varies widely by address, and a few suburbs levy little or none. For a home search, compare each municipality's total resident rate, not just the county.
Tips for Norristown paychecks
Price the Norritons before you sign a lease
At $75,000, a 1% address in East or West Norriton saves $825 a year in local tax compared with living in Norristown, even with the same job.
Philadelphia commuters: keep your W-2
Your W-2 shows the Philadelphia wage tax withheld. Your annual Norristown return uses it as a credit against the 2.1% resident tax.
Check withholding after moving in
If payroll still has your old 1% township code, it will withhold less than half of what you owe. File a new Residency Certification Form the month you move.
Budget for the Local Services Tax
Working in Norristown means a small flat Local Services Tax, about a dollar a week, which our take-home figures do not include. See the Pennsylvania $75,000 page for the state-only view.