If you make $24,000 a year as a single filer with no dependents, you’ll pay roughly $2,626 in federal taxes for 2026: about $790 in federal income tax and $1,836 in Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. State income tax adds anywhere from $0 to about $1,000 depending on where you live. The income tax portion can drop to zero, or even flip into a refund, once credits and filing status enter the picture.
The $790 Federal Income Tax, Step by Step
Federal income tax doesn’t apply to your whole paycheck. You subtract the standard deduction first. For 2026, a single filer’s standard deduction is $16,100.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill That leaves $7,900 in taxable income.
The 10% bracket for 2026 covers the first $12,400 of a single filer’s taxable income.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Your $7,900 sits entirely inside that bracket, so all of it is taxed at 10%. Multiply it out: $790.
That’s the preliminary number before any credits.
Payroll Taxes on the Full $24,000
The standard deduction has no effect on FICA. Social Security and Medicare together take 7.65% of your wages: 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates On $24,000, that’s $1,836, withheld directly from your paychecks. Your employer pays an equal 7.65% match, but you never see it on your pay stub.
If the $24,000 is self-employment income instead of W-2 wages, you cover both halves. The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%, which works out to $3,672 on $24,000.3Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) You can deduct the employer-equivalent half from your adjusted gross income for income tax purposes, but the payroll tax itself doesn’t shrink.
How Filing Status Changes the Answer
The $790 assumes you file as single. Other statuses can erase the federal income tax portion entirely at this income.
Head of household gets a 2026 standard deduction of $24,150, which is larger than your entire $24,000 salary.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Taxable income becomes zero, and so does federal income tax. To qualify as head of household, you generally need to be unmarried and paying more than half the cost of maintaining a home for a qualifying dependent.
Married filing jointly has a $32,200 standard deduction for 2026, which also wipes out federal income tax at this wage level.
Credits That Can Zero Out or Refund Your Bill
Deductions shrink the income that gets taxed. Credits shrink the tax itself, dollar for dollar. At $24,000, credits are what turn the tax picture upside down.
Earned Income Tax Credit
The EITC is refundable, meaning it can pay out beyond zeroing your tax. It depends heavily on whether you have qualifying children.
A single childless filer at $24,000 is over the limit: the 2025 AGI cap for that category is $19,104.4Internal Revenue Service. Earned Income and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Tables The 2026 threshold will rise modestly with inflation but is likely to remain under $24,000 for filers with no children.
With one qualifying child, the 2025 AGI cap is $50,434 and the maximum credit is $4,328.4Internal Revenue Service. Earned Income and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Tables With two qualifying children, the maximum is $7,152; with three or more, $8,046. At $24,000 with one child, the credit erases the $790 income tax and pays the rest as a refund.
Child Tax Credit
For 2025, the Child Tax Credit is worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child under 17, with up to $1,700 refundable through the Additional Child Tax Credit.5Internal Revenue Service. Refundable Tax Credits Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, the full amount is now indexed to inflation, so the 2026 figure may nudge higher.
Stack the EITC and CTC as a single parent at $24,000 with one child and the math shifts from owing $790 to receiving a refund of several thousand dollars, even after FICA has already come out of your paychecks.
Saver’s Credit
Contribute to a 401(k), IRA, or similar account and you may qualify for the Saver’s Credit. A single filer with AGI between $23,001 and $25,000 gets a credit equal to 20% of contributions, up to $2,000 contributed, for a maximum credit of $400.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Saver’s Credit) This one is nonrefundable, so it can zero out your tax but won’t generate a refund by itself.
New Deductions Worth Checking for 2025–2028
Three deductions enacted under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill run from 2025 through 2028 and phase out only above $150,000 in modified AGI, so they’re fully available at $24,000.7Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions – Individuals and Workers
- Tip income deduction. Workers in occupations that customarily receive tips can deduct qualified tip income up to $25,000 a year. A server or bartender earning $24,000 heavily in tips can push taxable income to zero on this alone.
- Overtime pay deduction. The premium portion of qualified overtime, meaning the extra half in “time-and-a-half,” is deductible.
- Auto loan interest deduction. Interest on a loan for a domestically assembled vehicle is deductible up to $10,000 a year.
These stack with the standard deduction, so a tipped worker can claim both the $16,100 standard deduction and up to $25,000 in tip deductions on top.
State Income Tax
Eight states impose no broad-based income tax on wages, so residents there owe nothing at the state level. Among the rest, some use a flat rate and some use progressive brackets similar to the federal system.
At $24,000 you’ll typically land in the lowest state bracket, and most states offer their own standard deduction or personal exemption that trims taxable income further. The realistic state income tax range at this earnings level runs from zero to roughly $1,000. A few localities layer their own income tax on top.
The Full Picture for a Single Filer
Without credits or special deductions beyond the standard deduction:
- Federal income tax: $790
- FICA payroll taxes: $1,836
- State income tax: $0 to about $1,000, depending on your state
- Combined federal total: $2,626
That federal total is an effective rate of about 10.9% on the full $24,000. The $1,836 in FICA is fixed regardless of credits or deductions. The $790 is the part that credits and filing status can reach.
You Still Need to File
The filing threshold for a single filer under 65 matches the standard deduction, $16,100 for 2026, and $24,000 clears it.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill If you’re owed a refund through the EITC or the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit, filing is the only way to collect it.
The IRS Free File program is open to taxpayers with adjusted gross income of $89,000 or less, well above your $24,000.8Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Tax Filing Season Opens With Several Free Filing Options Available The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program also offers free in-person help, which is worth using if you’re not sure how to claim credits like the EITC.