Average Tax Refund in 2026, by Income, Age, and Filing Status

The IRS has issued $202.6 billion in tax refunds through March 20, 2026, with the average tax refund coming to $3,561, up about 8% from the same period a year earlier, according to IRS filing season statistics. About 56.7 million refunds have been issued so far this filing season.

Tax refunds vary significantly by income, age, and filing status. Heads of household averaged $4,813 per refund in the most recent complete IRS data set (tax year 2022, covering returns filed in 2023). Single filers averaged $1,855. Filers earning $100,000 to $199,999 averaged $4,258, nearly double the average for filers earning $40,000 to $49,999.

Three other tax refund statistics stand out:

• 68% of filers received a refund in tax year 2022. A total of 109.6 million of the 161.3 million returns filed resulted in a refund, for a combined $367.5 billion returned to taxpayers, according to the IRS.
• Refund amounts peak for filers aged 35 to 44. The average refund for that group was $4,422, the highest of any age bracket.
• Wyoming residents receive the highest refunds. Filers in Wyoming average $6,367 per refund in tax year 2022. Maine filers received the lowest average refund: $3,199.

How long does it take to get a tax refund?

Nine out of 10 refunds are issued within 21 days for filers who e-file and choose direct deposit straight into their checking or savings account, according to the IRS. Paper filers wait six weeks or more.

The IRS Where's My Refund tool updates once per day. It becomes available 24 hours after an e-filed return is submitted and four weeks after a paper return is mailed. The tool shows three stages: return received, refund approved, and refund sent.

The IRS is phasing out paper checks and requesting that filers request direct deposit for tax year 2025 returns.

Most states estimate that state tax refunds are issued within 10 weeks of processing.

Average tax refund in 2026: $3,676

The average tax refund is $3,676 as of the week ending in March 6, 2026, per IRS filing season statistics. That's up 10.6% from the same week in 2025. The 2026 filing season covers tax year 2025 returns.

The final average for the full 2025 filing season, covering tax year 2024 returns, was $3,167, up 0.9% from the $3,138 average in the 2024 season.

Average tax refund by year

The table below uses IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) data for tax years 2013 through 2022, the most precise available measure. SOI figures are tax-year-specific and are calculated by dividing the overpayment refunded amount by the number of refunds.

Tax years 2023 and 2024 use IRS filing season statistics, the final year-end cumulative figures, because SOI data for those years is not yet available.

What to expect from your tax refund in 2026

The One Big Beautiful Budget Act (OBBBA) made the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's ordinary income tax structure permanent and added an inflation adjustment for the bottom two tax brackets.

2026 income tax brackets (2025 tax year)

The brackets below apply to tax year 2025 returns filed in 2026.

2026 standard deduction (2025 tax year)

The standard deduction increased by $350 for single filers and $700 for joint filers compared to 2025.

Average tax refund by income

Tax refund amounts rise with income for most of the income spectrum. The data below is from the 2022 tax year, the most recent year for which there is complete IRS data.

Filers with no adjusted gross income (AGI) or negative AGI averaged $6,098 per refund. This reflects not zero-income filers but filers taking large deductions that reduce reported income to zero or below. The next-highest group was filers earning $100,000 to $199,999, at $4,258.

Three patterns stand out:

• Lower-middle income filers ($15,000–$19,999) averaged more than several higher brackets. Filers in that bracket averaged $3,071, compared to $2,892 for filers earning $25,000-$29,999 and $2,798 for filers earning $30,000-$39,999. Data suggests this is driven by refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, which phase out at higher incomes.
• The gap widens sharply above $100,000. Filers earning $100,000-$199,999 averaged $4,258, nearly double the $2,442 average for the $40,000-$49,999 bracket.
• The $40,000–$49,999 bracket posted the lowest average across all income ranges. At $2,442, it sits below both the brackets immediately above and below it, a pattern that reflects the phase-out of refundable credits before the benefits of higher withholding take hold.

Average tax refund by filing status

Filing status has a large impact on refund size. Married filing jointly filers averaged the most in tax year 2022. Single filers averaged the least.

Three things drive the difference:

• Heads of household benefit from wider tax brackets than single filers. The 10% bracket for heads of household extends to $17,700 in 2026, versus $12,400 for single filers, meaning more income taxed at the lowest rate.
• The married filing jointly standard deduction is the largest of any status. At $32,200 in 2026, it is double the single standard deduction.
• Married filing separately produces smaller refunds than filing jointly. Filers who choose separate returns lose access to certain credits and deductions available to joint filers.

Average tax refund by age

Refund amounts rise with age until the 35-to-44 bracket, then decline gradually.

Three factors explain the pattern:

• Younger filers earn less. Most filers under 26 work part-time or are early in their careers. Lower incomes mean less withheld and less room for refundable credits beyond the EITC.
• Peak refunds align with peak earning years and family formation. Filers aged 35 to 44 tend to have higher incomes and are more likely to have qualifying dependents, driving both higher withholding and larger credits.
• Older filers see smaller refunds on average. Retirement income is often not subject to the same withholding as wages, and filers 65 and older are more likely to owe estimated tax payments rather than receive refunds.

Average tax refund by state

Wyoming filers received the largest average refund of any state in tax year 2022, at $6,367, per the IRS. Maine filers received the smallest at $3,199.

State-level variation reflects differences in income composition, industry mix, and local tax circumstances. States with higher concentrations of high earners tend to show higher average refunds.

What tax return data shows

The average tax refund has held in a narrow range for three consecutive years: $3,354 in tax year 2022, $3,138 in tax year 2023, and $3,167 in tax year 2024, after a sharp run-up from 2019 through 2021.

The mid-season 2026 figure of $3,676 is a high point, but the season is not complete and the comparable point a year ago also ran ahead of the eventual full-year average.

Refund size is shaped less by any single policy change than by income, filing status, age, and how much was withheld relative to what was owed, factors that shift slowly and vary significantly across filers.