Virginia income tax — simple 4-bracket system
Virginia has a simple 4-bracket progressive income tax from 2% to 5.75%. The top rate of 5.75% kicks in at just $17,000 of taxable income — meaning most Virginia workers reach the top bracket quickly. Virginia's brackets have not been updated since 1989, making them among the oldest unchanged tax brackets in the United States.
After the $8,000 standard deduction for single filers, a worker earning $75,000 has $67,000 in VA taxable income. The effective Virginia state income tax rate is approximately 5.45% on a $75,000 salary. Take-home is approximately $55,500 per year.
Virginia standard deduction and personal exemption
Virginia allows a $8,000 standard deduction for single filers and $16,000 for married filing jointly (2026). Virginia also provides a $930 personal exemption per taxpayer and $930 per dependent, which further reduces taxable income before the brackets apply.
For a single filer with no dependents: VA taxable income = $75,000 - $8,000 (std deduction) - $930 (personal exemption) = $66,070. This is then taxed at Virginia's brackets, resulting in approximately $3,599 in VA state income tax annually.
Virginia vs neighboring DC and Maryland
Virginia is part of the DC metro area along with Maryland and Washington DC. Virginia's 5.75% top rate is lower than Maryland's 5.75% (with county taxes of 1.75%–3.2% on top) and DC's top rate of 10.75%. For workers in the DC metro area, Virginia is generally the most tax-favorable state to live in.
Many federal government workers and defense contractors live in Virginia specifically because of its relatively favorable income tax compared to DC and Maryland. Northern Virginia (Fairfax County, Arlington) has a high concentration of high-income workers who benefit from Virginia's moderate income tax.