The Tax on a Roth Conversion in Every State, 2026

How much state tax will I pay on a Roth conversion in 2026?

For a retired couple converting $50,000, the federal tax rises by $7,950 in every state; the state tax rises by $0 in 17 of 51 jurisdictions and by up to $4,189 in Minnesota. The same conversion is much cheaper in some states than in others, which is why the state belongs in the decision.

The extra tax a Roth conversion adds to a 2026 return is the tax on the return with the conversion minus the tax without it. That is what is shown here, for two retiree households (a single filer with $30,000 of Social Security and a $30,000 private pension; a couple, both 67, with $48,000 and $40,000) and three conversion sizes, in all 51 jurisdictions. Federal extra tax includes the extra Social Security that becomes taxable and the senior deduction that phases out.

Medicare: the couple's $50,000 conversion changes the 2028 IRMAA surcharge by $0 a year; $100,000 changes it by $0 (both spouses on Medicare, 2026 IRMAA tiers, which are lower than the 2028 tiers will be).

A conversion is a cost now, paid to lower tax later; whether it pays depends on the rate the money would otherwise be taxed at. The breakeven by state study and the multi-year planner answer that part.

Size a 2026 conversion to your bracket, IRMAA tier and state
Free: your 2026 baseline, one move in full and your combined total.

Download the data

Every row on this page, with its inputs: roth-conversion-tax-by-state-2026.csv · roth-conversion-tax-by-state-2026.json (CC0).

Questions

Do all states tax Roth conversions?

No. For the couple's $50,000 conversion, 17 of the 51 jurisdictions add no state tax, either because they have no income tax or because the conversion falls under a retirement-income exclusion at this income.

Is the extra federal tax just the bracket rate times the conversion?

Not for a retiree with Social Security: the conversion can make more of the benefit taxable and shrink the senior deduction, so the extra tax can exceed the bracket rate.

When must a 2026 conversion be done?

By December 31, 2026. A conversion cannot be undone (recharacterized) since 2018.

Sources and method

Every figure was computed by QuantCalc's open tax engines — federal 2.0.0 and state 1.12.0, the same engines behind the federal and state tax APIs — for the 2026 tax year. The engine documentation lists the official source of every rule; the rules this study leans on:

• Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 inflation-adjusted items (incl. One Big Beautiful Bill amendments)
• 26 U.S. Code § 151
• 26 U.S. Code § 86
• 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles
• 26 U.S. Code § 408A

Federal tax uses the tax rate schedule (the IRS Tax Table, used on returns below $100,000 of taxable income, differs by a few dollars). Households are illustrations, not averages. A joint household's pension, IRA withdrawals and conversion are split evenly between the spouses, so each spouse's own retirement exclusions apply; state tax comes from the state engine through its public API with exactly that split. The full inputs of every row are in the data files, and every row can be re-run through the public APIs.

An estimate, not tax advice. These are computed examples for the 2026 tax year from QuantCalc's open tax engine. Your own return depends on facts these examples do not include. Check any move with your tax preparer or account custodian before acting.

@misc{quantcalc2026thetaxona25k50kor100krothconversionineve,
  title  = {The Tax on a $25k, $50k or $100k Roth Conversion in Every State (2026)},
  author = {{QuantCalc Research}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://quantcalc.app/research/roth-conversion-tax-by-state-2026/},
  note   = {Accessed <date>}
}