Ohio retirement income tax (2026)

How Ohio taxes retirement income

Ohio taxes income above a 0% band at a single rate, 2.75%: the first $26,050 of taxable income on a joint return is taxed at 0%^[1]. Above $26,050 the schedule adds a fixed $332 plus 2.75% of the excess, as the statute writes it. The example couple below has taxable income above the 0% band.

The simulator applies no Ohio standard deduction; it subtracts personal exemptions of $4,800 on a joint return ($2,400 single).

Social Security benefits are exempt from Ohio income tax: none of the benefit enters the state base, as in 22 of the 24 states covered here that tax income.

The simulator applies no retirement-income exclusion in Ohio: IRA and 401(k) withdrawals and pensions are taxed like other income. Any narrower break in state law that the simulator does not apply is listed under “What this page leaves out”.

Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed as ordinary income, at the same rates.

For single filers the simulator halves the joint deduction and exemption but keeps the joint bracket widths. Where Ohio’s real single brackets are narrower, that understates a single filer’s tax.

Put together, the example couple below owes $1,134 in Ohio, the 15th lowest of the 24 states covered here that tax income.

2026 brackets

Bracket thresholds are held at these values in every simulated year. The simulator does not index state amounts for inflation.

Worked example

A retired couple, both 67, filing jointly, with $48,000 of Social Security, $40,000 of IRA withdrawals and a $20,000 pension. The figures are computed when the page is built, by the same state-tax function the simulator runs.

The couple’s next $1,000 of IRA withdrawals would add $28 of Ohio tax.

A single retiree, 67, with half those amounts ($24,000 of Social Security, $20,000 of IRA withdrawals, a $10,000 pension) owes $375, 0.69% of gross income, against the couple’s 1.05%.

As IRA withdrawals rise

The same couple, with Social Security and the pension unchanged, taking more from their IRAs (a larger withdrawal, a required minimum distribution or a Roth conversion all count as distributions here):

Neighbouring states

The example couple’s state tax in Ohio and in the neighbouring states covered here, same income and ages:

Against Ohio, the couple would pay more in Indiana (+$577); less in Pennsylvania (−$1,134), Kentucky (−$1,134), Michigan (−$1,134). With $200,000 of IRA withdrawals instead of $40,000, they would owe $5,534 in Ohio, against Pennsylvania ($0), Kentucky ($5,287), Indiana ($6,431), Michigan ($3,102).

What this page leaves out

What the simulator does and does not handle for Ohio, item by item^[1]:

• Tax years 2026 and later (HB 96): $332 plus 2.75% of the excess above the $26,050 zero bracket (the former 3.5% top bracket above $100k was eliminated).
• $2,400/person exemption (income tiers ignored; HB 96 also caps the joint-filing credit and exemptions to MAGI ≤ $500,000, not modeled).
• Social Security exempt.
• Retirement/senior credits (≤$200/$50) and school-district/municipal income taxes ignored.

In every state the simulator also leaves out credits, itemized deductions, deductions that phase out with income, local income taxes, surtaxes and any deduction for federal tax paid. It holds state amounts fixed and does not index them for inflation.

See it over a full plan

Related

• All 33 states compared
• State taxes in retirement: the exemptions that change the map
• The Social Security tax torpedo
• The RMD bomb: how pre-tax savings become forced income
• Roth ladder: how a Roth conversion ladder works
• Taxes in retirement: the topic guide
• Marginal-rate map (federal and state tax on the next dollar)