🇵🇹 Portugal vs 🇺🇸 United States: tax compared
Portugal takes more. On the average wage a single person pays 24.9% in Portugal against 24.3% in the United States, a gap of 0.6 percentage points.
Written by Usain Olivard, who is not a qualified tax adviser. Both sides read from one published series, so the two halves of this page cannot contradict each other. Figures last read from source on 06 September 2026.
Combined rate on the average wage: 24.9%
Gross €24,254, keeping €18,207.
Reported from the published series. This site does not compute this jurisdiction.
Combined rate on the average wage: 24.3%
Gross $73,520, keeping $55,644.
Reported from the published series. This site does not compute this jurisdiction.
What each takes, at three income levels
Each row is the same person in both countries: single, no children, no income beyond a salary, earning that multiple of their own country's average wage. That is why the gross figures differ between the two columns, and it is the only way two tax systems can be compared without pretending the wage levels are the same.
| Income level | Portugal gross | Portugal taken | United States gross | United States taken | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67% of the average wage | €16,250 | 20.9% | $49,258 | 21.4% | 0.6pp United States |
| the average wage | €24,254 | 24.9% | $73,520 | 24.3% | 0.6pp Portugal |
| 167% of the average wage | €40,504 | 32.2% | $122,779 | 29.2% | 3.0pp Portugal |
The same figures in one currency
Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate published on 2026-09-04. On the average wage a single person keeps €18,207 in Portugal and €47,878 in the United States, a difference of €29,671 a year in favour of the United States.
That number is worth less than it looks and the reason matters. It compares two different salaries in two different economies, because each side is that country's own average wage. It is not the same salary taxed twice, and it says nothing about what either amount buys where it is earned. A comparison of the same gross in both countries is the one people usually want, and no published series answers it, so this site does not print one.
What the employer pays on top
Neither figure above includes employer social security, which never reaches a payslip and is excluded from every take-home number on this site. It is published, and it changes what employing somebody actually costs: 23.8% of gross in Portugal against 8.1% in the United States. That is a gap of 15.7 percentage points, so the two countries look considerably closer from a payslip than they do from a payroll budget.
The rate on the next unit earned
Average rates decide what a year costs. Marginal rates decide whether a rise is worth taking, and the two do not always rank the same way. On the average wage the marginal rate is 35.4% in Portugal and 36.3% in the United States. That is the interesting case: the country taking the larger share of the whole salary is the one taking the smaller share of the next unit of it, so which country is "higher tax" depends entirely on which question is being asked.
What this comparison leaves out
Everything except one household at three incomes. Not your salary, not a couple, not a parent, not residence rules, treaty relief or the timing of a move, and nothing at all about what the taxes buy in either place. The full account of what this series measures and what it cannot is on how these figures are published.
Neither jurisdiction here is computed on this site. Both pages report published figures and each states, in percentage points, how far our own reading of its schedule missed the published outcome: Portugal and United States.
Questions about Portugal and United States tax
Do you pay more tax in Portugal or the United States?
Portugal takes more. On the average wage a single person pays 24.9% in Portugal against 24.3% in the United States, a gap of 0.6 percentage points.
Which has the higher marginal tax rate, Portugal or United States?
On the average wage the net personal marginal rate is 35.4% in Portugal and 36.3% in the United States. That is what is taken from the next unit earned rather than from the whole salary, so it is the figure that decides whether a rise or a bonus is worth taking, and it is not the same ranking as the average rate in every pair.
How do the two compare in the same currency?
Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate published on 2026-09-04, someone on the Portugal average wage keeps €18,207 and someone on the United States average wage keeps €47,878. That compares two different salaries in two different economies, not the same salary taxed twice, which is the comparison people usually mean and the one no published series answers.
Where do these Portugal and United States figures come from?
Both sides come from the same source: the OECD's Taxing Wages series for 2025, which publishes what a single person with no children actually pays at 67%, 100% and 167% of each country's own average wage. 42 rules sit behind this page, each carrying the dataset row it was read from and the date it was read, which was 06 September 2026. Because both halves come from one series, they cannot disagree with each other.
Does this tell me what I would pay if I moved?
No, and no comparison page can. These figures describe one household type at three income points in each country, in that country's own currency. They do not cover your salary, your household, residence rules, treaty relief, or the year you actually move. They are the right starting point and the wrong finishing point.
42 rules behind this page, both sides from one series. Ruleset sha256:fe993d9d072cbcac. Every one is in the published data with its quote and hash.
Other Portugal comparisons
The same measure, Portugal against a different country.
Other United States comparisons
The same measure, United States against a different country.