Income Taxes in New York
New York's income tax is genuinely two layers for New York City residents specifically, and a real, structurally different mechanic again for Yonkers residents: a real, current graduated 4%-10.9% STATE rate across nine brackets, plus, for New York City residents only, a separate 3.078%-3.876% CITY resident tax -- producing a combined top marginal rate near 14.8%, among the highest in the entire United States. This record treats this layered structure as the centerpiece of New York's tax story.
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Learn moreNew York's state rate: a real, genuinely graduated nine-bracket schedule
New York State's personal income tax is graduated across nine brackets, 4% to 10.9%. For single filers in tax year 2025, the brackets ran: 4% to $8,500; 4.5% from $8,500-$11,700; 5.25% from $11,700-$13,900; 5.5% from $13,900-$80,650; 6% from $80,650-$215,400; 6.85% from $215,400-$1,077,550; 9.65% from $1,077,550-$5,000,000; 10.3% from $5,000,000-$25,000,000; and 10.9% above $25,000,000. The 10.9% top rate was enacted in the 2021-2022 budget and extended through tax year 2027 in the 2023 budget -- a real, dated provision, not a permanent fixture.
New York City's separate resident tax: the centerpiece of New York's local-tax story
New York City levies its own, real, separate resident income tax across four brackets -- 3.078% to $12,000 (single filer); 3.762% from $12,000-$25,000; 3.819% from $25,000-$50,000; 3.876% above $50,000 -- unchanged since 1999. This produces a real combined state-plus-city top marginal rate near 14.8% (10.9% + 3.876%) for a top-bracket New York City resident, genuinely exceeding even California's own top marginal STATE-only rate of 13.3%. Critically, this tax follows RESIDENCY ONLY -- a commuter who lives outside the five boroughs but works in New York City owes New York State tax on that income, but not New York City's separate resident tax, following the 1999 repeal and 2000 constitutional invalidation of the city's old, separate non-resident commuter tax.
Yonkers: a real, structurally different exception
Yonkers residents do not pay a bracket-based city tax the way New York City residents do. Instead, Yonkers residents pay a real Resident Income Tax Surcharge equal to 16.75% of their New York STATE tax liability (not a rate applied to wages directly), filed on Form Y-203 under NY Tax Law Section 1327. Non-residents who work in Yonkers pay a separate, much smaller Yonkers Nonresident Earnings Tax: a flat 0.5% of their Yonkers-source wages, under NY Tax Law Section 1340.
Outside New York City and Yonkers, most New York municipalities levy no local income tax at all
This record confirms that, outside New York City and Yonkers, the overwhelming majority of New York's other municipalities do NOT levy any separate local income tax -- a real, meaningfully simpler local-tax picture than Pennsylvania's nearly-universal local Earned Income Tax system. Confirm your specific target municipality directly if you have any doubt, but for the large majority of New York outside these two specific cities, the state rate above is the complete income-tax picture.
Key takeaways
- New York State's income tax is a real, graduated 4%-10.9% across nine brackets, with the 10.9% top rate extended through tax year 2027.
- New York City residents specifically owe a real, additional 3.078%-3.876% city resident tax, producing a combined top marginal rate near 14.8% -- among the highest in the US, and residency-based rather than commuter-based.
- Yonkers runs a real, structurally different mechanic: a 16.75%-of-state-tax-liability resident surcharge, plus a separate 0.5% nonresident earnings tax on Yonkers-source wages.
- Outside New York City and Yonkers, most New York municipalities levy no separate local income tax at all -- confirm your specific target municipality directly if in doubt.
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