Effective vs Marginal Tax Rate Calculator (2026)
Compare your marginal tax bracket with your true effective rate, the two numbers most people mix up.
Want to understand the concept, not just the number? Read The Federal Income Tax Guide .
How it's calculated
Your marginal rate is the bracket your next dollar is taxed at. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total income. The effective rate is always lower, because the brackets below your top one are taxed at smaller rates.
Take a single filer at $120,000 of taxable income in 2026. Their top bracket, the marginal rate, is 24%. But their effective rate works out to about 18%, since much of their income was taxed at 10%, 12%, and 22% on the way up.
The difference matters for decisions. Use your marginal rate to judge a raise, a bonus, or a Roth conversion, since those add income at the top. Use your effective rate to describe your overall tax burden.
Assumptions
- Uses 2026 federal ordinary-income brackets on taxable income. — IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32
Last updated: 2026-08-07 · Tax year 2026
These assumptions follow our general methodology.
Frequently asked questions
Which rate matters for a raise?
Your marginal rate, since that is what applies to the additional income. Your effective rate describes your overall burden, not the tax on the next dollar.
Can my marginal and effective rates be the same?
Only at very low incomes that sit entirely in the first bracket. Once your income spans more than one bracket, the effective rate falls below the marginal rate.
Which one is my tax bracket?
When people say their tax bracket, they mean the marginal rate, the top band their income reaches.