Ohio Paystub Generator

Reading an Ohio pay stub, line by line

An Ohio pay stub can carry three separate income-tax lines — state, city, and school district — which is why Ohio stubs confuse more people than almost any other state's. Here is what each line means in 2026:

OH State Income Tax ("OH SIT", "Ohio Withholding"). Ohio went flat for tax year 2026: no tax on the first $26,050 of taxable income, then $332 plus 2.75% of everything above it (House Bill 96 folded the old 3.125% top bracket into one rate). Taxable income starts from federal adjusted gross income minus a personal exemption — $2,150 for most middle earners in 2025 ($2,400 under $40,000 of income; $1,900 above $80,000), with 2026 amounts indexed and published late in the year. The withholding on your stub is an approximation: the Department of Taxation's tables (new ones took effect August 1, 2026) run 1.6%, 2.99%, and 3.4% by wage tier, with $650 a year per exemption claimed on Form IT 4 — so higher earners see more withheld than the flat 2.75% they owe, and settle up on the IT 1040. Bonuses are withheld at a flat 2.75%.

City income tax ("Columbus tax", "Local W/H", "Muni tax"). 667 Ohio municipalities plus 124 JEDD/JEDZ districts — counted from the Department of Taxation's certified rate table dated March 7, 2025, the most recent one published — levy an income tax of 0.45% to 3.0% — Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, and Dayton at 2.5%, Cincinnati at 1.8%. Your employer withholds for the city where you work. If you live in a different taxing city, your home city taxes the same wages but credits what you paid to the work city, up to its own rate: a Cincinnati resident working in Columbus gets credit only up to 1.8%, so the extra 0.7% is gone. It applies from age 18 regardless of income, and the state doesn't administer it — each city does.

School district income tax ("SD 2503", "SDIT"). 214 school districts levy their own tax of 0.25% to 2.0% for 2026 — 146 on the traditional income base (with exemptions) and 68 on earned income only (a flat cut of wages with no exemptions). It follows your residence, not your workplace: you declare your four-digit district number on the IT 4 and the employer must withhold it. New for 2026: Westerville (0.75%), Findlay (1.0%), Tiffin, Kings, Trimble, and Clinton-Massie. On the W-2 it shows in box 19/20 with an "SD" prefix.

What you will NOT see: a county income tax (none in Ohio), state disability insurance, a paid-family-leave premium (Ohio has no program), or an unemployment deduction — UI is funded by employer-paid taxes.

Plus the federal lines on every US stub: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500 in 2026), and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000).

Ohio paycheck facts — 2026

What you actually take home in Ohio (2026 estimates)

Estimated for a single filer taking the standard deduction, including federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and Ohio state income tax (2.75% above $26,050 after the personal exemption) — before any city or school district tax:

Add the local lines. At $60,000, a Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, or Dayton worker pays another $1,500 (2.5%) to the city — more than the $1,207 state tax itself — taking net pay to about $47,684; a Cincinnati worker pays $1,080. A resident of a 1% school district adds $600 more. Ohio's state tax is among the lowest in the region; its local taxes are among the highest.

Withheld vs. owed: the August 2026 tables withhold roughly $1,413 from a $60,000 salary with one exemption, against a true 2026 liability of about $1,207 — the difference, about $206, is your refund. A full-time minimum-wage worker ($22,880) owes no Ohio state tax at all.

Methodology: 2026 federal brackets and $16,100 standard deduction (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32), FICA per SSA, Ohio 2026 schedule (ORC 5747.02: $332 + 2.75% of taxable income over $26,050) after the personal exemption at 2025 amounts (ORC 5747.025; 2026 figures indexed and not yet published). City and school district taxes excluded from the table. Estimates only — your withholding uses the IT 4 tables and depends on your W-4/IT 4, credits, and pre-tax benefits.

What Ohio jobs pay (BLS, May 2025)

Ohio's median hourly wage across all occupations is $23.74 — about 3% under the national median of $24.51. Ohio's retail salespersons ($14.81) earn a third more than the $11.00 minimum, and a heavy truck driver ($28.75) out-earns the same job in Georgia by more than a dollar an hour.

Ohio's workforce in numbers

• 11.9 million residents, civilian labor force of 5.9 million, unemployment 3.4% (Census 2025 estimate; BLS, July 2026 preliminary)
• 909,227 self-employed (nonemployer) businesses (Census, 2023) — about one for every 13 residents earning without an employer pay stub
• 5.1 million people on employer payrolls at 255,049 establishments, earning $303 billion a year (Census County Business Patterns, 2023)
• Mean annual wage: $64,390 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)

Ohio pay rules — the answers people actually need

Final paycheck: there is no special deadline. Ohio law (ORC 4113.15) sets one schedule for all wages: what you earned in the first half of a month is due by the 1st of the next month, and what you earned in the second half by the 15th. Your last check, whether you quit or were fired, rides that same schedule — never later than about 30 days after the pay period. If wages remain unpaid 30 days past the regular payday with no genuine dispute, the employer owes liquidated damages of 6% of the amount or $200, whichever is greater.

Pay frequency: at least semimonthly, with the 1st and 15th as the statutory outer limits; weekly and biweekly schedules satisfy the law. Overtime is 1.5× after 40 hours except at employers grossing under $150,000.

Is a pay stub required? Yes. The Pay Stub Protection Act (ORC 4113.14) requires a written or electronic statement — or access to one, so an online portal counts — showing: your name and address, the employer's name, gross wages, net wages, the amount and purpose of each addition or deduction, the pay date and period covered, and for hourly employees the total hours, hourly rate, and hours over 40 in the week. Before this law Ohio had no stub statute, and many websites still list it as a "no pay stub law" state. Two details here we could not confirm on a state source: the act is reported to have taken effect April 9, 2025, and the enforcement route is reported as a written request to your employer, 10 days for the employer to comply, then a report to the Director of Commerce, who can order a violation notice posted at the workplace. Ohio's legislature and revised-code sites block automated access, so read ORC 4113.14 on codes.ohio.gov yourself before you rely on that date or that deadline.

Moved or changed jobs? Update Form IT 4 — it carries both your state exemptions and your school district number. Employers withhold city tax for the work location automatically, but school district tax follows your home address, and an outdated IT 4 is the most common reason an Ohio refund comes up short.

City income tax rates in Ohio's largest cities (2026)

Ohio has no local minimum wages — the $11.00 state rate applies everywhere — but it has more local income taxes than any other state. Withholding follows the work city; residents of another taxing city claim a credit up to their home city's cap:

The most common municipal rate statewide is 1.0% (265 municipalities), followed by 1.5%, 2.0%, and 2.5%; Bedford and Parma Heights charge the 3.0% maximum. Use the Department of Taxation's The Finder tool to look up any address — it returns both the municipal and the school district rate.

Minimum wage: Ohio's rate rises every January 1 with CPI-W under the 2006 constitutional amendment — $11.00 (up 2.8% from $10.70) and $5.50 tipped for 2026. Employers grossing under $405,000 a year and workers under 16 stay at the federal $7.25. The 2027 rate is announced by the Department of Commerce around September 30, 2026.

How Ohio compares with its neighbors (take-home on $60,000, 2026 est.)

Ohio's $26,050 zero bracket makes its state tax the lightest in the region — a $60,000 earner pays $1,207 versus $2,299 in Michigan and $1,842 in Pennsylvania. The picture reverses once a 2.5% city tax is added: a Columbus resident's combined state-and-local bill ($2,707) is the highest of the group. Ohio is widely reported to have state-tax reciprocity with Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, but we could not confirm it on the Department of Taxation's own reciprocity page — treat it as unverified and check with ODT or your payroll department before relying on it. Either way, Ohio city taxes still apply to work performed inside the city.

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