Paycheck Calculator
✦ Finance & MoneyThis paycheck calculator estimates take-home pay from a salary after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and pre-tax 401(k) contributions, broken down per paycheck and per year for the 2026 tax year.
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- ✓ Formula and sources shown
The formula
Take-home pay
Net = Gross - pre-tax deferrals - federal income tax - Social Security - Medicare - state income tax - state disabilityFederal income tax is estimated on (gross - pre-tax deferrals - standard deduction) using the annual marginal brackets. Social Security is 6.2% up to the annual wage base; Medicare is 1.45% on all wages plus an additional 0.9% above the filing-status threshold. 401(k) deferrals reduce income tax but not FICA.
Calculating it by hand
- Subtract pre-tax deferrals (401(k), traditional HSA) from gross salary.
- Subtract the standard deduction for your filing status to get federal taxable income.
- Apply the federal marginal brackets in order — each rate applies only to the band it covers.
- Apply Social Security at 6.2% on gross wages up to the annual wage base, and Medicare at 1.45% on all wages, plus 0.9% on wages above the additional-Medicare threshold.
- Apply the state's own brackets, flat rate or zero-tax rule, then divide the annual totals by the number of pay periods.
Worked examples
$100,000 salary, single, no 401(k), California, paid bi-weekly
Federal taxable: 100,000 − 16,100 standard deduction = 83,900 → 1,240 + 4,560 + (83,900 − 50,400) × 22% = $13,170.00 federal taxSocial Security 6.2% = $6,200.00; Medicare 1.45% = $1,450.00California taxable: 100,000 − 5,900 = 94,100 → 114.56 + 314.02 + 628.16 + 998.22 + 1,255.92 + (94,100 − 75,197) × 9.3% = $5,068.86; CA SDI 1.3% = $1,300.00
Take-home $72,811.14 a year — $2,800.43 per bi-weekly paycheck (27.2% of gross goes to tax)
$60,000 salary, single, 5% to a 401(k), Pennsylvania, paid bi-weekly
401(k) deferral: 5% × 60,000 = $3,000 — federal taxable income 60,000 − 3,000 − 16,100 = 40,900 → federal tax $4,660.00Social Security $3,720.00 and Medicare $870.00, both on the full $60,000Pennsylvania flat 3.07% on the full $60,000 = $1,842.00 — PA does not exclude 401(k) deferrals from taxable wages
Take-home $45,908.00 a year — $1,765.69 per bi-weekly paycheck — with $3,000 also added to retirement savings
$85,000 salary, single, Texas, paid semi-monthly
Federal taxable: 85,000 − 16,100 = 68,900 → 1,240 + 4,560 + 4,070 = $9,870.00 federal taxSocial Security 6.2% = $5,270.00; Medicare 1.45% = $1,232.50Texas levies no personal income tax, so nothing else comes out: 85,000 − 9,870 − 5,270 − 1,232.50 = $68,627.50, divided by 24 pay periods
Take-home $68,627.50 a year — $2,859.48 per semi-monthly paycheck (19.3% of gross goes to tax)
Methodology
How take-home pay is worked out
Gross pay is reduced in a fixed order — pre-tax deductions first, then federal tax, then payroll taxes, then state tax — and each step changes the base the next one uses. State tax is the single biggest reason two people on the same salary take home different amounts.
Read sources and limitsWhy is my real paycheck different from this estimate?
Two people with identical salaries can see different withholding. Actual federal withholding is computed per pay period from the entries on your Form W-4 — dependants claimed, multiple-jobs adjustment, other income, extra withholding — using the percentage-method tables in IRS Publication 15-T. This calculator instead annualises your salary and applies the marginal brackets directly, which is the standard approach for planning calculators and lands close for a straightforward single-job situation.
The difference matters most at year end. Withholding is a running estimate that your tax return trues up: withhold more than you owe and you receive a refund, less and you owe the balance. Use this tool to see roughly what lands in your account each period, not to predict your refund to the cent.
What comes out of my paycheck, and in what order?
Pre-tax deferrals come out first — 401(k), 403(b), traditional HSA and most health-insurance premiums. These reduce taxable income, which is why a 5% contribution costs less than 5% of take-home pay.
FICA comes next and works differently from income tax: Social Security at 6.2% applies to gross wages, including money you deferred to a 401(k), and stops once you pass the annual wage base. Medicare at 1.45% has no cap, and an extra 0.9% applies above $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for joint filers. Your employer pays a matching 6.2% and 1.45%, which never appears on your payslip.
Income tax is last, and is the only part that uses brackets. A common misreading is that crossing into a higher bracket taxes all your income at that rate — it does not. Each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its own band, which is why a raise can never reduce your take-home pay.
How much does my state change my take-home pay?
Nine states levy no personal income tax at all, so an identical salary yields visibly more take-home pay there. Others run flat rates, and the rest use graduated brackets that can reach into double digits at high incomes. A few add state disability or paid-family-leave contributions on top — California's SDI, for instance, applies to all wages with no cap.
Because these rules change every year and differ in kind rather than degree, every figure this calculator uses lives in one dated dataset rather than inside the page. When the year rolls over, that dataset is updated once and every paycheck page on the site is current the moment it deploys.
Paycheck questions
Why is my real paycheck different from this estimate?
Actual withholding follows your Form W-4 and the per-period tables in IRS Publication 15-T, which account for dependants, multiple jobs and extra withholding. This calculator annualises your salary and applies the marginal brackets — the standard planning method, and close for a single straightforward job.
Do 401(k) contributions reduce Social Security and Medicare tax?
No. Traditional 401(k) deferrals reduce federal and most state income tax, but FICA is charged on gross wages before the deferral. That is why contributing does not reduce the Social Security line on your payslip.
Which states have no income tax?
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming levy no tax on wage income. Several of them recover revenue through higher sales or property taxes, so take-home pay is not the whole cost-of-living picture.
What is the Social Security wage base?
It is the annual earnings ceiling for the 6.2% Social Security tax — $184,500 for 2026. Earnings above it are not subject to Social Security tax, though Medicare continues on all wages with an extra 0.9% above $200,000 for single filers.
Does a raise into a higher bracket reduce my take-home pay?
No. Brackets are marginal: each rate applies only to the income inside its own band. Moving into the 24% bracket means only the dollars above that threshold are taxed at 24%, so additional income always increases take-home pay.
How current are the tax figures used here?
They come from one dated dataset for the 2026 tax year: the federal brackets and standard deduction from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, the $184,500 wage base from the Social Security Administration, and each state from its own revenue department where the state is marked verified. The verification date is shown beside the result, and one update refreshes every paycheck page on the site.
How much is taken out of a $75,000 paycheck?
For a single filer paid bi-weekly with no 401(k) in a state without income tax, $13,407.50 a year: $7,670.00 federal income tax, $4,650.00 Social Security and $1,087.50 Medicare, leaving $61,592.50 — $2,368.94 per paycheck, 17.9% of gross. In California the same salary also pays $2,823.12 of state income tax and $975.00 of SDI, leaving $2,222.86 per paycheck.
How much does a 401(k) contribution cut my take-home pay?
Less than the contribution, because a traditional 401(k) deferral comes off income before federal (and most state) income tax. At $60,000 single with no state income tax, deferring 5% ($3,000) lowers federal tax by $360 — 12% of $3,000, the bracket those dollars came out of — so take-home falls by $2,640, not $3,000. Social Security and Medicare are still charged on the full salary, and Pennsylvania taxes the deferral too.
What is the difference between bi-weekly and semi-monthly pay?
Bi-weekly is every two weeks — 26 paychecks a year, with two months that have three. Semi-monthly is twice a month on fixed dates — 24 paychecks. The annual take-home is the same; only the size of each cheque differs: $61,592.50 a year is $2,368.94 bi-weekly or $2,566.35 semi-monthly. Pick your pay frequency above to see your own figure.
Source notes
Method, sources & limitations
Every figure on this page comes from the formula above applied to the values you enter. Nothing is estimated from market data, and no result is a forecast. These are the sources behind the method and any fixed figures it uses:
- IRS Publication 15-T — Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods (2026)
- IRS — Tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026
- Social Security Administration — 2026 taxable wage base
- California Franchise Tax Board — Tax News, October 2026: 2026 Indexing (brackets, standard deduction, exemption credits)
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — Personal income tax (3.07 %, deferrals taxable)
- Tax Foundation — State individual income tax rates and brackets, 2026 (cross-check for states not yet verified)
Educational information only. Results are estimates produced from the assumptions you enter, and are not financial, tax, legal or medical advice. Check anything that matters against a qualified professional and the cited sources.