An ergonomic miter saw (10) is provided having a base (12) and a saw arm assembly (16) with the saw arm assembly pivotally affixed at a fixed end (18) to the base (12) and provided with a distal end having a handle (20) extending outwardly therefrom. The central region (24) of the arm assembly (16) includes a rotary spindle (26) supporting a cutting disk (28). A handle (20) is preferably provided with an elongate grip portion (42) sized for the user's fingers and a palm pad portion (44) extending outwardly therefrom to underlie the heal of the user's hand to minimize bending torque on the user's wrist as the arm (16) is lowered. Ideally, the handle (20,66) is rotated in a direction opposite that the cutting disk (28) is tilted. Preferably, the handle (20,66) is adjustably oriented about the arm axis (70) in a direction opposite that the saw blade (28) is tiltable so that the deviation for horizontal of the handle (20,66) can be minimized when the miter saw (10) is used in a tilted cutting disk mode.