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Louisville Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Louisville take-home pay after federal, state, FICA, and city/local taxes for 2026.

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A Louisville resident who works elsewhere in Kentucky owes that jurisdiction's tax and nothing to Jefferson County, because the occupational tax follows the work location rather than the home address. A commute across the river into Indiana is not modeled: it brings Indiana's state tax and county LIT into play, with the credit between the two states settled at filing.

Quick answer

Effectively yes. Louisville/Jefferson County levies a 2.2% occupational license tax on a resident's wages, the local equivalent of a city income tax. Commuters who work in the metro but live outside it pay 1.45%, because the school-district portion does not reach them. At $85,000 single, a resident takes home $63,900 after federal, Kentucky's flat state line, FICA, and the metro line.

Louisville/Jefferson County uses Kentucky's occupational license tax framework, a structure that operates as a wage tax even though the legal label is 'occupational license' rather than 'income tax.' The resident rate of 2.2% is really three levies stacked together: the Metro portion, a transit portion for TARC, and a school-district portion. That last piece is what splits the rate in two. A commuter who works in the metro but lives outside Jefferson County owes only 1.45%, since the school levy does not follow them home. Kentucky does not run a payroll-funded State Disability Insurance program, so the visible state-and-local lines on a Louisville pay stub are limited to Kentucky's 3.5% flat state tax and the Metro occupational tax. Run the math for $85,000 single and the breakdown is $9,870 federal tax, $2,857 Kentucky state tax, $6,503 in FICA, and $1,870 as the Metro occupational line. Take-home settles at $63,900. Several Kentucky cities (Lexington-Fayette, Bowling Green, Covington) use the same occupational-license framework at different headline rates. Use the calculator below to adjust salary, model 401(k) and HSA deferrals, or switch to a married filing jointly profile.

$85,000 single filer take-home comparison

Louisville

$63,900

Kentucky (no city tax)

$65,800

Texas (no income tax)

$68,600

Louisville take-home is -$1,900 vs the state-only figure and -$4,700 vs the no-income-tax baseline.

Louisville local tax breakdown

Local bracket schedule applied by the calculator for 2026.

Taxable IncomeRate
$0+2.2%

What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Louisville 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), Kentucky's state income tax schedule, the Louisville local income tax. It 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. Per-city resident and non-resident rules are described in the prose above where they differ.

Louisville paycheck FAQ

What is an occupational license tax and how does it work in Louisville?
Kentucky uses 'occupational license tax' as the legal label for what acts like a city or county wage tax. Louisville/Jefferson County's 2.2% rate is withheld at the source from wages earned within the metro. The framework allows both cities and counties to set their own rates, which is why Louisville's metro-wide tax appears alongside city-level taxes elsewhere in Kentucky.
Do non-residents who work in Louisville Metro pay the same rate?
No. The tax follows the work location, so a commuter into the metro does owe it, but at 1.45% rather than the resident's 2.2%. The gap is the school-district portion, which applies only to residents. Louisville splits its rate the way Detroit does, and the calculator now charges a commuter the lower figure.
How does Kentucky's flat state tax stack with the Louisville Metro line?
Kentucky's flat state tax sits at 3.5%, the result of phased reductions under HB 8. Louisville Metro layers the 2.2% occupational tax on top, so a Louisville-based wage earner sees about 25.5% in combined federal-plus-state marginal before the Metro line. At $85,000 single, the state-and-metro dollar total is $2,857 state plus $1,870 metro.
How does Louisville compare to Lexington and Bowling Green?
Lexington-Fayette uses the same occupational license framework at a rate just above Louisville's 2.2%, so paycheck math is nearly identical for similar gross incomes. Bowling Green sits noticeably lower, and Covington (across the river from Cincinnati) sits higher. Each Kentucky jurisdiction sets its own rate under the statewide framework, with no uniform statutory cap.
How does the Louisville Metro occupational tax appear on my W-2?
The W-2 reports the Metro occupational tax in box 19 under 'Local income tax,' with 'Louisville Metro' or 'Jefferson County' identified in box 20. Pay stubs show the line as a distinct entry, separate from Kentucky state withholding. Employers remit the withheld amounts to the Metro Revenue Commission on a regular schedule.
Does a pre-tax 401(k) reduce the Louisville Metro occupational tax?
Generally yes. The Metro occupational tax is computed on federal taxable wages, so pre-tax 401(k) and HSA contributions reduce the metro base alongside federal and state. At $85,000 single, federal-plus-state marginal lands around 25.5%, with the 2.2% metro rate sitting on top of every deferred dollar, making the combined deduction lever meaningful for high earners in Jefferson County.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Louisville?
The Louisville/Jefferson County occupational license tax is wage-based at a uniform 2.2%, so it does not vary with filing status. Kentucky's flat 3.5% state tax also runs uniformly. Filing-status differences at $85,000 are therefore federal: MFJ take-home reaches about $67,930 ($4,030 more than single); HoH about $66,822.

See also

Run the full Kentucky paycheck calculatorCompare with Lexington, KentuckyBowling Green, Kentucky paycheck calculatorTake-home pay in Covington, KentuckyTake-home pay in OwensboroPaid hourly in Louisville? Estimate your per-paycheck take-homeKentucky overtime pay after taxesSelf-employment tax on 1099 income in KentuckyState and local paycheck tax questionsBrowse all city paycheck calculatorsBrowse paycheck calculators by statePaycheck and tax glossaryHow we calculate paycheck taxes

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Louisville 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

2026-07-14