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Seattle Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Seattle take-home pay after federal, FICA, and Washington state tax for 2026.

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Seattle pays no state income tax, Washington's constitution effectively prohibits one, but two state-administered employee payroll programs do apply: WA Cares Fund, Washington PFML. At $85,000 single in Seattle, federal tax and FICA dominate the payroll math, with $867 added in state programs. Take-home reaches $67,761 per year.

Seattle anchors the Pacific Northwest's tech and aerospace economy from its position on Puget Sound. Amazon's corporate headquarters spans South Lake Union and Denny Regrade; Microsoft's Redmond campus sits just east across Lake Washington; Boeing builds aircraft at Renton and Everett. Starbucks, Tableau, Expedia, T-Mobile, Costco, and a deep biotech cluster around Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center round out the employment base. Washington State levies no broad-based personal income tax on wages, the state constitution treats income as property under court precedent, and a wage tax requires legal restructuring no legislature has pursued. However, Washington does run two state-administered employee payroll programs: WA Cares Fund (0.58% on all wages, no cap) funds the state's long-term-care benefit, and Washington PFML (0.44% employee share, capped at the Social Security wage base) funds paid family and medical leave. Both surface on Seattle pay stubs. At $85,000 single, the combined WA Cares Fund, Washington PFML line totals $867 per year. Median rent in Seattle runs roughly $2,300, high for the Pacific Northwest, lower than San Francisco. Federal tax resolves to $9,870, Washington state tax to $0, FICA to $6,503, leaving take-home of $67,761.

$85,000 single filer take-home comparison

Seattle

$67,800

Washington (no city tax)

$67,800

Texas (no income tax)

$68,600

Seattle take-home is $0 vs the state-only figure and -$900 vs the no-income-tax baseline.

How Washington tax applies in Seattle

Seattle does not levy a separate municipal income tax. Your paycheck math runs the Washington state schedule on top of federal tax and FICA. The Washington state page covers the full bracket detail and any state-administered programs (such as SDI or paid leave) that apply uniformly to every resident of the state.

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What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Seattle take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), and Washington's state income tax schedule, alongside state-administered payroll programs (WA Cares Fund, Washington PFML). No municipal income tax applies in Seattle. The calculator excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages.

Seattle paycheck FAQ

How much state tax does Seattle pay?
Washington has no state income tax on wages. The state constitution's treatment of income as property has effectively blocked legislative attempts to impose one. Seattle residents at $85,000 single show a state income tax line of $0. However, two state-administered programs (WA Cares + WA PFML) do appear on the pay stub.
What state-administered payroll programs apply in Seattle?
Two programs apply. WA Cares Fund (0.58% of all wages with no cap) funds a state long-term-care benefit. Washington PFML (0.44% employee share capped at the Social Security wage base) funds paid family and medical leave. The combined WA Cares Fund, Washington PFML deduction totals $867 per year at $85,000.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Seattle?
Washington has no state income tax, so the state-tax line is identical across all filing statuses ($0). WA Cares and WA PFML rates are filing-status-neutral too. So in Seattle, filing-status take-home differences come entirely from federal mechanics. At $85,000, MFJ take-home reaches $71,791 ($4,030 more than single). Head of household clears $70,683. Married filing separately lands at $67,761. The federal MFJ-vs-single advantage is the only filing-status wedge in Seattle.
Does Seattle have a city income tax?
No. Seattle does not levy a city income tax. Washington state law bars municipalities from imposing one, and a Seattle attempt to enact a high-income tax was struck down by the Washington Supreme Court in 2017. The City of Seattle funds itself through property tax, business and occupation tax, sales tax, and assorted fees.
How does Seattle compare to Portland for paycheck taxes?
Portland, Oregon sits just two hours south across the Columbia River but operates under a completely different state-tax framework: Oregon imposes a progressive income tax topping at 9.9%, plus Multnomah County PFA on Portland workers. A Seattle paycheck at $85,000 takes home meaningfully more than the same salary in Portland, even after WA Cares and WA PFML.
Where does Seattle differ from Bay Area metros?
Tacoma and Bellevue, both within Washington, share Seattle's state-tax framework, same $0 state line, same WA Cares and PFML rates. The Bay Area pulls California's progressive 1% to 12.3% schedule plus California SDI; Seattle's no-income-tax advantage typically clears thousands of dollars per year at $100k+ incomes, partially offset by Washington's state-administered programs.

See also

Run the full Washington paycheck calculatorBrowse all city paycheck calculatorsBrowse paycheck calculators by statePaycheck and tax glossaryHow we calculate paycheck taxes

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Seattle paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal, state, and city sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-05-28