Module · Finance

Take-Home
Pay

Estimate net paycheck after federal income tax, state tax, FICA, and pre-tax deductions. Uses current 2026 IRS brackets. Estimate only - not tax advice.

See the math behind this calculator

Federal brackets
10% – 37% · 2026

FICA
7.65% (6.2 + 1.45)

Std deduction (single)
$16,100

Income

Pay amount ($)

Pay frequency

Filing

Filing status

State

Dependents (under 17)

Deduction

Custom deduction amount ($)

Pre-tax deductions (per year)

401(k) / 403(b) ($)

HSA / FSA ($)

Health insurance ($)

Other pre-tax ($)

Annual take-home $0

Per paycheck (bi-weekly)-

Monthly take-home-

Federal income tax-

State income tax-

FICA (SS + Medicare)-

Effective tax rate-

How it works

A paycheck has three big tax bites: federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA. Together, they typically eat 22-35% of gross pay before anything else is deducted.

Federal income tax uses a progressive bracket system - only the income within each bracket is taxed at that rate. State tax varies wildly: nine states have no income tax at all; California's top rate hits 13.3%. FICA is flat: 7.65% on most wages, with extras at the top.

net = gross − federal_tax − state_tax − FICA − pre_tax_deductions

Frequently asked

Why is my actual paycheck different from this?

Several reasons: your W-4 might have extra withholding, local city/county taxes, post-tax 401(k) Roth contributions, disability insurance, union dues, garnishments. Your employer might also have rounded calculations. The IRS true-up happens at tax filing time.

Should I contribute to traditional or Roth 401(k)?

Traditional reduces today's tax. Roth doesn't reduce taxes now but grows tax-free. If you expect to be in a lower bracket in retirement, traditional wins. If you expect higher, Roth wins. Most younger workers default to Roth; most peak-career workers default to traditional.

What states have no income tax?

As of 2026: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire (no wage tax, but taxes interest/dividends), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington (with a capital gains tax on high earners), and Wyoming. Living in these states keeps the state line at zero, but property tax and sales tax can offset some of the savings.

Show the working

Payroll is not one calculation but four running in parallel on different bases — and they deliberately disagree about what counts as taxable. If any of it looks wrong, it might be - tell us what we got wrong.

Gross annualised

hourly       × hours per week × 52
weekly       × 52
bi-weekly    × 26
semi-monthly × 24
monthly      × 12

Federal taxable income

pre-tax total = 401k + HSA + health + other
taxable = gross − pre-tax total − deduction

Federal tax sum of each bracket's rate applied only to the income falling inside that bracket

FICA — a different base

FICA wages = gross − HSA − health   (401k is NOT exempt)
Social Security = min(FICA wages, wage cap) × 6.2%
Medicare = FICA wages × 1.45%

Net net = gross − federal − state − Social Security − Medicare − pre-tax deductions

Constants used

6.2% — Social Security rate, applied up to the annual wage cap
1.45% — Medicare rate, no cap
$16,100 / $32,200 / $24,150 — standard deduction for single, married filing jointly, head of household
State rates — flat approximations by state. Several states are genuinely progressive, so those figures are rounded

The important subtlety is that 401k contributions reduce your federal taxable income but not your FICA wages, while HSA and most health premiums reduce both. Calculators that use one base for everything get this wrong in your favour, which is the worse direction to be wrong in.

The sources

Every federal figure on this page is published annually and changes annually, so these sources double as the place to check whether this page has gone stale.

Internal Revenue Service. Topic 751 - Social Security and Medicare withholding rates. The 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare rates, the $184,500 Social Security wage base for 2026, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax above $200,000.
Internal Revenue Service. Tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026. The 2026 standard deductions this page uses - $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household - and the bracket thresholds.
Internal Revenue Service. Federal income tax rates and brackets. The current bracket table, and the first place to look if these figures start disagreeing with your paycheck.

Checking against these caught a real error: this page was computing with a $176,100 Social Security wage base, which is the 2025 figure, while its own notes correctly said $184,500. The calculation now uses the published 2026 number. The state rates remain the weak part - they are flat approximations, and several states are genuinely progressive.