The 2025 tax season is approaching fast: Do you know how to find your tax bracket? In the U.S., your tax rate is tied to which bracket you fall into, based on your taxable income and filing status. Knowing how to calculate your tax rate — both your effective tax rate and marginal tax rate — can help you make better financial decisions.
In 2024 and 2025, the federal income tax rates for each of the seven brackets are the same: 10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent and 37 percent. But the income ranges for each of those brackets changes every year, based on IRS inflation adjustments.
For example, in 2024 a single filer will pay a 10 percent tax rate on income up to $11,600. In 2025, that bracket increases to $11,925. The reason for the annual increase is to avoid bracket creep, where people are pushed into higher tax brackets simply because of cost-of-living pay increases.
Keep in mind that you pay taxes based on your taxable income, which is your adjusted gross income (AGI) minus the standard deduction or your itemized deductions (and the qualified business income deduction, if you’re eligible for that).
2024 tax brackets
The 2024 federal tax brackets apply to your income in 2024, which you’ll report on the tax return that’s due in April 2025, or October 2025 with an extension. (It’s crucial to keep an eye on tax deadlines, especially if you owe money to the IRS.)
For taxes due in 2025, the seven income tax rates are: 10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent and 37 percent.
Here are the 2024 tax brackets, for taxes due April 2025 or October 2025 with an extension:
| Tax rate | Single | Head of household | Married filing jointly or qualifying widow | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: IRS | ||||
| 10% | $0 to $11,600 | $0 to $16,550 | $0 to $23,200 | $0 to $11,600 |
| 12% | $11,601 to $47,150 | $16,551 to $63,100 | $23,201 to $94,300 | $11,601 to $47,150 |
| 22% | $47,151 to $100,525 | $63,101 to $100,500 | $94,301 to $201,050 | $47,151 to $100,525 |
| 24% | $100,526 to $191,950 | $100,501 to $191,950 | $201,051 to $383,900 | $100,526 to $191,950 |
| 32% | $191,951 to $243,725 | $191,951 to $243,700 | $383,901 to $487,450 | $191,951 to $243,725 |
| 35% | $243,726 to $609,350 | $243,701 to $609,350 | $487,451 to $731,200 | $243,726 to $365,600 |
| 37% | $609,351 or more | $609,351 or more | $731,201 or more | $365,601 or more |
2025 tax brackets
The IRS has announced new tax brackets for the 2025 tax year, for taxes you’ll file in April 2026, or October 2026 if you file an extension. Brackets are adjusted each year for inflation.
For taxes due in 2026, Americans will see the same seven income tax brackets as the previous year: 10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent and 37 percent.
Here are the 2025 tax brackets, for taxes due April 2026 or October 2026 with an extension:
| Tax rate | Single | Head of household | Married filing jointly or qualifying widow | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: IRS | ||||
| 10% | $0 to $11,925 | $0 to $17,000 | $0 to $23,850 | $0 to $11,925 |
| 12% | $11,926 to $48,475 | $17,001 to $64,850 | $23,851 to $96,950 | $11,926 to $48,475 |
| 22% | $48,476 to $103,350 | $64,851 to $103,350 | $96,951 to $206,700 | $48,476 to $103,350 |
| 24% | $103,351 to $197,300 | $103,351 to $197,300 | $206,701 to $394,600 | $103,351 to $197,300 |
| 32% | $197,301 to $250,525 | $197,301 to $250,500 | $394,601 to $501,050 | $197,301 to $250,525 |
| 35% | $250,526 to $626,350 | $250,501 to $626,350 | $501,051 to $751,600 | $250,526 to $375,800 |
| 37% | $626,351 or more | $626,351 or more | $751,601 or more | $375,801 or more |
Federal tax brackets: How they work and how to calculate your effective tax rate
In the U.S., tax brackets are not as intuitive as they might seem, because we have a progressive federal tax system. That means most taxpayers have to look at more than one bracket to know their effective tax rate, which is the percentage of your income that you pay in taxes. (Your marginal tax rate is your highest tax rate — that is, the tax rate you pay on your last dollar of income.)
Instead of looking at what tax bracket you fall in based on your income, you need to start with the first tax bracket, applying that 10 percent rate to your income up to the maximum income range for that bracket, then move on to the next bracket, etc.
Figuring that out is easy in practice:
Example one: Say you’re a single individual who earned $40,000 of taxable income in 2024. Technically, you’d be in the 12 percent tax bracket (that’s your marginal tax rate), but your income wouldn’t be levied a 12 percent rate across the board. Instead, you’d pay 10 percent on the first $11,600 of your income, plus 12 percent on the next chunk of your income between $11,600 and $47,150. With taxable income of $40,000, you’d pay 12 percent on $28,399 of income, which is the amount of your income that falls into the 12 percent bracket.
That often means Americans’ effective tax rate is lower than their highest tax bracket, aka their marginal rate.
Example two: Say you’re a single individual who earned $70,000 of taxable income in 2024 (taxable income is what’s left after you take any deductions). You would pay 10 percent on the first $11,600 of your earnings (a $1,160 tax bill); then 12 percent on the chunk of earnings from $11,601 to $47,150 (a $4,266 tax bill); then 22 percent on the remaining income (a $5,027 tax bill). Your total tax bill would be $10,453. Now let’s say your gross income, before deductions, is $85,000. Divide $10,453 by $85,000 and you get an effective tax rate of 12 percent, which is much lower than your 22 percent top, or marginal, tax bracket.
What is a marginal tax rate?
Another way of describing the U.S. tax system is by saying that most Americans are charged a marginal tax rate. That’s because as income rises, it’s taxed at a higher rate. In other words, the last dollar that an American earns is taxed more than the first dollar. This is what’s known as a progressive tax system.
The technical definition of a marginal tax rate would be the rate that an individual taxpayer pays on their last dollar of income.
Best ways to get into a lower tax bracket: How to reduce taxable income
Americans have two main ways to get into a lower tax bracket: tax credits and tax deductions.
Tax credits
Tax credits are a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your income tax bill. If you have a $2,000 tax bill but are eligible for $500 in tax credits, your bill drops to $1,500. For many taxpayers, tax credits can save you more in taxes than deductions, and Americans can qualify for a variety of different credits.
The federal government gives tax credits for the cost of buying solar panels for your house and to offset the cost of adopting a child. Americans can also use education tax credits, tax credits for the cost of child care and dependent care and tax credits for having children, to name a few. Many states also offer tax credits.
Tax deductions
While tax credits reduce your tax bill dollar-for-dollar, tax deductions reduce the amount of your income that is taxable. If you have enough deductions to exceed the standard deduction for your filing status (for single filers, the standard deduction is $14,600 in 2024 and $15,000 in 2025), you can itemize those expenses to lower your taxable income.
For example, if your medical expenses exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income in 2024, you can claim those and lower your taxable income.
Tax brackets from previous years
If you’re behind on filing your taxes from previous years (or simply want to assess your finances over time), you might want to revisit the federal income tax brackets. If you have an old tax debt that you owe to the IRS, the sooner you can file and start to make payments, the less money you’ll owe overall in interest and penalties.
If you don’t owe money to the IRS, getting prior year tax returns filed as soon as possible could mean a tax refund for you. Here’s just one example of how filing an old tax return could mean more money in your pocket: In December 2024 the IRS announced it would be sending out $1,400 payments to about 1 million taxpayers who were eligible for a 2021 stimulus tax credit that they never claimed.
Preparing for tax season: What to know before filing your income taxes
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