Kansas SUTA Tax Calculator
Figure basis: Official U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment InsuranceState Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) tax is the state unemployment insurance tax that employers pay to fund unemployment benefits in Kansas. This calculator estimates your Kansas SUTA liability for the 2026 tax year. Enter the average annual wages per employee, your number of employees, and your assigned SUTA rate to see the taxable wages, tax per employee, and total tax. SUTA is charged only on the first $15,100 of each employee's wages (the 2026 Kansas taxable wage base); wages above that per employee are not taxed. Your rate is set by the state based on your business's unemployment claim history (your "experience rating"); a new employer pays 1.75%. SUTA is separate from the federal FUTA tax and, in most states, is paid entirely by the employer and never deducted from employee wages. All wage-base and rate figures are sourced from U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance and verified for 2026. Replace the default rate with the rate on your state tax-rate notice for an exact figure.
In Kansas, employers pay SUTA on the first $15,100 of each employee's wages for 2026, and a new employer pays 1.75%. For 5 employees earning $50,000 each at 1.75%, the estimated annual SUTA tax is $1,321.25 ($264.25 per employee).
How Kansas SUTA tax works
Kansas charges state unemployment tax on each employee's wages up to the taxable wage base of $15,100 for 2026. Once an employee has earned that much in the year, no further SUTA is due on that employee. Your rate is assigned by the state from your experience rating; a new employer pays 1.75%.
taxable wages per employee = min(annual wages, $15,100)
SUTA tax per employee = taxable wages per employee x rate / 100
total SUTA tax = SUTA tax per employee x number of employees
Worked example: 5 employees each earning $50,000 in Kansas at 1.75%. Each employee's taxable wages are capped at $15,100, so the tax per employee is $264.25 and the total is $1,321.25.
Kansas SUTA figures (2026)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable wage base | $15,100 | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| New employer rate | 1.75% | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
| Experience rate range | 0% to 6.95% | U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance |
The experience-rate range shown is the base statutory range. Most states add mandatory assessments on top (for example a fund-building, solvency, or administrative surcharge), so an employer's effective rate can be higher than the range shown, and the new-employer rate may exclude those add-ons. Your exact assigned rate is on your annual state tax-rate notice.
What sets your Kansas rate
Kansas sets its 2026 SUTA on a taxable wage base of $15,100, a middle-of-the-pack figure that sits well above the federal floor but far below Iowa's indexed base. Every employee stops accruing state unemployment tax once year-to-date wages cross $15,100, so seasonal and part-year staff often never reach the cap while full-time workers hit it early in the year.
New employers in Kansas pay a fixed rate of 1.75% until enough history accumulates for an experience rating. On the $15,100 base that is a ceiling of $264.25 per employee per year. After the new employer window, the Kansas Department of Labor assigns a rate from a schedule that currently runs from 0% to 6.95%, set by the overall solvency of the state trust fund as well as your own account. A well-run account with few claims can reach the 0% floor, while a layoff-heavy record can approach $1,049.45 per employee at the top of the range.
The practical point for a new Kansas employer: the 1.75% entry rate is only a starting estimate. Your standing depends on the ratio of benefits charged to your account against the taxes you have paid, and Kansas re-rates every year. When your annual rate notice arrives, replace the 1.75% default in the calculator above with the exact rate printed on it, including any adjustment for the active rate schedule, to get a liability figure you can rely on.
Kansas SUTA tax: frequently asked questions
What is the Kansas unemployment (SUTA) taxable wage base for 2026?
For 2026, Kansas employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $15,100 of each employee's wages. Wages above $15,100 per employee are not subject to SUTA.
What is the Kansas new employer SUTA rate?
New employers in Kansas pay a SUTA rate of 1.75% until they have enough history to be experience-rated. On the $15,100 wage base that is up to $264.25 per employee per year.
How is Kansas SUTA tax calculated?
Multiply each employee's wages, capped at the $15,100 taxable wage base, by your assigned experience rate, then add up across employees. SUTA is primarily an employer-paid tax and is not deducted from employee pay.
Is the Kansas SUTA rate the same for every employer?
No. After the new-employer period, Kansas assigns each employer an experience rate based on its history of layoffs and claims, generally ranging from about 0% to 6.95% for experience-rated employers before any state add-on surcharges. The rate field above defaults to the new-employer rate; replace it with the rate on your state tax notice for an exact figure.
Official sources
- Kansas unemployment taxable wage base and rates (tax year 2026): U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance, as at Jul 15, 2026.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 15 July 2026. See our methodology. General information, not tax or legal advice.