Paycheck After Tax Calculator

Enter your gross pay, pay frequency, filing status, state, and pre-tax deductions (traditional 401(k), payroll HSA, and other cafeteria-plan deductions) to estimate your take-home pay with 2026 federal brackets, the $16,100 / $32,200 / $24,150 standard deductions, and the $184,500 Social Security wage base. The calculator is for informational purposes only and its results are estimates, not your employer's payroll figures.

What Comes Out of Every Paycheck

Your employer doesn't just send you your full hourly rate or salary. Several mandatory deductions reduce your gross pay before the money ever hits your bank account. Understanding each line item on your pay stub helps you verify you're being withheld correctly — and plan your finances accurately.

FICA Taxes: Social Security and Medicare

FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. It funds two federal programs:

• Social Security: 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500. Once one employer has paid you that much, its Social Security withholding stops for the rest of the year — a maximum of $11,439.
• Medicare: 1.45% of all wages, with no cap. Your employer must also withhold a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages it pays you above $200,000 in the year, whatever your filing status. The tax itself applies above $200,000 single or head of household, $250,000 married filing jointly, and $125,000 married filing separately, and is reconciled on Form 8959.

Combined, FICA takes 7.65% of most workers' gross pay each paycheck.

Example: On a $1,500 biweekly paycheck:

• Social Security: $1,500 × 6.2% = $93.00
• Medicare: $1,500 × 1.45% = $21.75
• Total FICA: $114.75

Your employer also pays a matching 7.65% — that's money they spend on your behalf that never appears in your paycheck at all.

Federal Income Tax Withholding

Federal income tax is withheld from each paycheck based on your W-4 instructions and the IRS withholding tables. The withholding system tries to spread your annual tax liability evenly across your paychecks so you don't face a giant bill in April.

Key factors that affect federal withholding:

• Filing status: Single vs. Married Filing Jointly vs. Head of Household
• Pay frequency: Weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly
• W-4 adjustments: Additional withholding, claims for dependents, second job adjustments
• Pre-tax deductions: 401(k) contributions, HSA contributions, FSA contributions reduce taxable wages

The 2026 federal brackets for a single filer, from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32:

These brackets apply to annual taxable income — wages minus pre-tax deductions minus the standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household for 2026). Payroll converts each paycheck to an annual amount, applies the Pub 15-T tables (which build in the standard deduction), then divides back down.

State Income Tax

State income taxes vary enormously across the US. The calculator uses the 2026 rates from the Tax Foundation's 2026 state rate table and handles three kinds of state differently:

• No wage income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington (which taxes only capital gains), and Wyoming. State tax is $0.
• Flat-rate states: for example Arizona 2.5%, Colorado 4.4%, Georgia 5.19%, Illinois 4.95%, Indiana 2.95%, Kentucky 3.5%, Michigan 4.25%, North Carolina 3.99%, Pennsylvania 3.07%, and Utah 4.5%. The tool applies the flat rate to your wages after pre-tax deductions. Colorado's rate is applied to federal taxable income (Colorado starts from it), Ohio's 2.75% applies only above $26,050, and Pennsylvania doesn't let you exclude 401(k) deferrals. State personal exemptions and credits aren't subtracted, so flat-state results run slightly high.
• Graduated states: California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Minnesota, and the rest. The tool applies the state's top rate to all wages and labels it "top rate, simplified" — an upper bound that overstates tax for most earners. For a realistic number, enter your own rate in the "Your State Tax Rate" field: last year's state tax divided by your wages is a good effective rate to use.

Pre-Tax Deductions That Reduce Your Withholding

One of the most powerful ways to increase your take-home pay is through pre-tax benefit contributions. These reduce your taxable wages before withholding is calculated — meaning less federal and state income tax on every paycheck.

Example: Contributing $500/month to a traditional 401(k) on a $6,000/month gross salary:

• Taxable wages for federal/state: $5,500 instead of $6,000
• Federal income tax savings (22% bracket): ~$110/month
• FICA is still calculated on $6,000 for 401(k) contributions (unlike HSA/FSA)

Note: Roth 401(k) contributions do not reduce taxable income — they're post-tax. The tax benefit comes at retirement.

Pay Frequency Effects on Your Take-Home

Your gross annual salary doesn't change based on how often you're paid — but your per-paycheck withholding does, because the IRS tables work on annualized amounts.

The total annual withholding should be approximately the same regardless of frequency, but some months you may receive three paychecks (biweekly workers) or your paycheck may look smaller or larger depending on benefit deduction cycles.

Real-World Take-Home Pay Examples

All three examples use a single filer, 2026 rules, and the standard deduction.

Example 1: Hourly Worker at $20/Hour in Texas

• Gross annual: $20 × 40 hrs × 52 weeks = $41,600
• Standard deduction (single): $16,100
• Taxable income: $41,600 − $16,100 = $25,500
• Federal income tax: $1,240 + 12% × ($25,500 − $12,400) = $2,812
• Social Security: $41,600 × 6.2% = $2,579.20
• Medicare: $41,600 × 1.45% = $603.20
• State tax: $0 (Texas has no wage income tax)
• Estimated net annual pay: $35,605.60 ($1,369.45 per biweekly paycheck)

Example 2: $75,000 Salary in Pennsylvania with a Payroll HSA

• Gross annual: $75,000
• HSA through payroll: −$2,000 (a cafeteria-plan HSA lowers income tax and FICA wages)
• Wages for tax: $73,000
• Federal taxable income: $73,000 − $16,100 = $56,900
• Federal income tax: $5,800 + 22% × ($56,900 − $50,400) = $7,230
• Social Security: $73,000 × 6.2% = $4,526
• Medicare: $73,000 × 1.45% = $1,058.50
• State tax (Pennsylvania flat 3.07%): $73,000 × 3.07% = $2,241.10
• Estimated net annual: $75,000 − $2,000 − $15,055.60 = $57,944.40 ($2,228.63 per biweekly paycheck)

Example 3: $200,000 Salary in Texas

• Gross annual: $200,000
• Federal taxable income: $200,000 − $16,100 = $183,900
• Federal income tax: $17,966 + 24% × ($183,900 − $105,700) = $36,734
• Social Security: capped at the $184,500 wage base: $184,500 × 6.2% = $11,439 (withholding stops in the last few weeks of the year)
• Medicare: $200,000 × 1.45% = $2,900; no Additional Medicare, because wages don't exceed $200,000
• Estimated net annual: $200,000 − $51,073 = $148,927 ($5,727.96 per biweekly paycheck, averaged over the year)

If this earner put the 2026 maximum of $24,500 into a traditional 401(k), federal taxable income would fall to $159,400 and federal tax to $17,966 + 24% × $53,700 = $30,854 — a $5,880 saving. Social Security ($11,439) and Medicare ($2,900) would not change, because 401(k) deferrals are still FICA wages, and the calculator shows exactly that: net pay of $130,307 a year, or $5,011.81 per biweekly check, with $24,500 more in the 401(k).

Example 4: $75,000 Salary in Illinois with a 6% 401(k)

• Gross annual: $75,000; 401(k): 6% = $4,500
• Federal taxable income: $75,000 − $4,500 − $16,100 = $54,400
• Federal income tax: $5,800 + 22% × ($54,400 − $50,400) = $6,680
• Social Security: $75,000 × 6.2% = $4,650 (the 401(k) doesn't reduce it)
• Medicare: $75,000 × 1.45% = $1,087.50
• State tax (Illinois flat 4.95%): $70,500 × 4.95% = $3,489.75 (Illinois excludes 401(k) deferrals; its personal exemption isn't subtracted here)
• Estimated net annual: $75,000 − $4,500 − $15,907.25 = $54,592.75 ($2,099.72 biweekly, or $2,274.70 semimonthly — the calculator divides by whichever pay frequency you pick)

Compare Example 2: an HSA dollar saves FICA as well as income tax; a 401(k) dollar saves only income tax.

How to Read Your Pay Stub

Your pay stub should list:

• Gross pay — your total earnings before deductions
• Federal income tax — IRS withholding
• Social Security tax — 6.2% of wages
• Medicare tax — 1.45% of wages
• State income tax — if applicable
• Pre-tax deductions — 401(k), health insurance, HSA/FSA
• Post-tax deductions — Roth 401(k), life insurance, garnishments
• Net pay — what you actually receive

If the numbers don't look right, check your W-4 on file with your employer or use our Tax Withholding Calculator to see if you need to adjust.

Hourly, salary, and extra checks

Salary is usually annualized, then divided by 24, 26, or 52. Hourly pay is hours × rate × pay periods, plus overtime. A week with overtime is not “your normal paycheck times 1.5” after tax: overtime can push more wages into a higher withholding bracket for that check even when your annual bracket barely moves.

Some employers issue a separate check for a bonus or commission. That check usually has 22% federal income tax withheld under the supplemental-wage rules, plus Social Security (until you pass $184,500 for the year) and Medicare. Model it on the bonus tax calculator rather than averaging it into this tool’s regular-pay fields.

If you are 1099, you do not have an employer withholding income tax or the employee share of FICA in the same way. Use the 1099 tax calculator and plan quarterly estimates.

OBBBA items that change the stub without changing FICA

Temporary deductions for tips, overtime, and some car-loan interest can lower income tax without turning off Social Security or Medicare. Your stub might still show the same FICA while federal withholding drops. Those deductions are modeled on the Working Families Tax Cuts hub, not as a replacement for FICA math on this page.

What this paycheck estimate leaves out

Local occupational taxes, city wage tax, state disability insurance, city commuter tax, and union dues vary by employer. State tax is one rate on wages — the flat rate in flat-tax states, the top rate in graduated states unless you enter your own — without state deductions, exemptions, or credits. Additional Medicare withholding starts at $200,000 of wages from one employer; married couples settle the real $250,000 joint threshold on Form 8959. This calculator is a national-style estimate.

Results appear only after you calculate, so search engines are not indexing a table of zeros. Treat every output as informational. Employer payroll software and IRS Publication 15-T control the live check.

Health insurance premiums on a cafeteria plan usually reduce both income tax and FICA. Traditional 401(k) reduces income tax but not Social Security or Medicare. Roth 401(k) reduces neither. Mixing those up is why two coworkers with the same salary have different nets. The HSA calculator and FSA commuter benefits calculator cover the benefit lines this stub estimate only treats as a single pre-tax box.

For the annual tax layer after deductions, use the federal tax bracket calculator and the standard deduction calculator.

How to use this calculator

Choose hourly, salary, or per-paycheck pay, then your pay frequency (it sets the per-check figures for every pay type), filing status, and state. If your state shows "top rate, simplified," add your own rate. Enter traditional 401(k) deferrals, payroll HSA contributions, and other cafeteria-plan deductions (health premiums, FSA, commuter benefits) in their own boxes, because they're treated differently for FICA. Hit calculate. Results stay off the page until you do, which keeps empty $0 tables out of search snippets.

If net pay is far from your real stub, the usual causes are a local tax this model skips, a graduated state shown at its top rate, a Roth versus traditional 401(k) mix (Roth deferrals are after-tax — don't enter them as pre-tax), or a W-4 that does not match the filing status you entered. Fix the inputs before you assume the employer is wrong.

Informational use only

Pay frequencies, state tables, and W-4 settings differ. This tool does not print a pay stub, file a W-4, or guarantee net pay. Confirm with your employer and a tax professional when you are making a job offer decision or a mid-year withholding change.

Related: how to calculate your paycheck after taxes | tax withholding calculator | bonus tax calculator | 1099 tax calculator | payroll tax hub