Calculate your actual take-home pay after federal tax, state tax, Social Security, and Medicare deductions.
How to Use the Take-Home Pay Calculator
Your salary offer and your actual paycheck are two very different numbers. Federal income tax, state tax, Social Security, and Medicare all take their share before the money reaches your bank account. This calculator walks through each deduction so you know exactly what to expect.
- Enter your gross annual salary — the number on your offer letter before any deductions.
- Select your filing status (single or married filing jointly) and enter your state income tax rate, since both change your brackets and your total tax.
- Compare scenarios by adjusting the salary, filing status, or state rate — a raise, a move to another state, or a status change — and watch each deduction line respond.
- Review the breakdown: federal tax, state tax, FICA, and your final take-home pay per paycheck, month, and year.
Take-Home Pay Formula
Take-home pay equals gross salary minus all mandatory and voluntary deductions. The biggest deduction is usually federal income tax, which the United States taxes through progressive brackets — meaning higher slices of your income are taxed at higher rates, not your entire salary. For 2026, the single-filer brackets start at 10% on the first $12,400 of taxable income and rise to 37% above $640,600. Your effective rate is always lower than your top marginal bracket.
Next comes FICA: Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to the annual wage base ($184,500 for 2026), and Medicare takes 1.45% of all wages, plus an additional 0.9% on earnings above $200,000 for single filers. State income tax varies widely — nine states charge none at all, while others like California top out above 13%. Finally, pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) contributions, HSA contributions, and employer health premiums reduce the income that federal and state taxes apply to, which is why maxing them out visibly shrinks your tax bill.
Example Calculation
Consider Maya, a single filer in Texas (no state income tax) earning $85,000 per year. She contributes $6,000 to her 401(k) and pays $2,400 annually in health insurance premiums, both pre-tax. After those pre-tax deductions her income is $85,000 − $6,000 − $2,400 = $76,600; subtracting the 2026 standard deduction for a single filer ($16,100) leaves taxable income of $60,500. Federal tax on $60,500 for a single filer in 2026 comes to about $8,022 after applying the progressive brackets. FICA takes 7.65% of her full $85,000 salary (Social Security 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%), about $6,503. Her total deductions are roughly $8,022 + $6,503 + $6,000 + $2,400 = $22,925, leaving take-home pay of about $62,075 per year — or roughly $2,388 per biweekly paycheck. The same salary in California would lose several thousand more to state tax.
States With No Income Tax — and Why Pay Frequency Changes Your Check
Two details explain most of the paycheck variation between otherwise similar jobs.
First, nine states levy no tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming — New Hampshire never taxed wages and finished phasing out its tax on interest and dividends in 2025. Identical salaries can take home thousands a year apart purely on state lines.
Second, pay frequency changes each check’s size, not the annual total. Biweekly payroll runs 26 checks a year; semimonthly runs 24. The same $62,000 of take-home pay arrives as about $2,385 per biweekly check (62,000 / 26) or about $2,583 per semimonthly check (62,000 / 24) — roughly 8% larger, because there are fewer of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my take-home pay so much lower than my salary?
Three layers of deductions shrink your gross pay: federal income tax (progressive brackets), FICA payroll taxes (a flat 7.65% up to the Social Security wage base), and state income tax where applicable. Voluntary pre-tax deductions like 401(k) and health premiums also reduce your check, though they save you money overall.
What is the difference between marginal and effective tax rate?
Your marginal rate is the tax on your last dollar earned — the bracket your top slice of income falls into. Your effective rate is total tax divided by total income, and it is always lower because the earlier brackets taxed your first dollars at lower rates.
Do pre-tax deductions really save me money?
Yes. Every dollar you contribute pre-tax to a 401(k) or HSA avoids federal income tax (and usually state tax) in the year you earn it. A $6,000 401(k) contribution in the 22% bracket saves you about $1,320 in federal tax immediately.
How does filing status change my take-home pay?
Married couples filing jointly get wider tax brackets — roughly double the single-filer thresholds — so the same household income is taxed at lower effective rates. Head of household sits between single and married brackets. Withholding tables also differ by status.
Why was my first paycheck of the year bigger than later ones?
This usually happens when Social Security tax stops mid-year: once your cumulative wages pass the $184,500 wage base, the 6.2% Social Security deduction disappears for the rest of the year and your checks get slightly larger.
Which states have no state income tax?
Nine states do not tax wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Several lean harder on sales or property taxes instead, but state income tax takes nothing from your paycheck — so the state rate here can honestly be zero.
What is the difference between biweekly and semimonthly pay?
Biweekly means every two weeks: 26 paychecks a year, with two three-check months. Semimonthly means twice a month, usually the 1st and 15th: exactly 24 paychecks. Annual pay is identical, but semimonthly checks are about 8% larger because the same salary is split into fewer payments.
Related Calculators
Try our Compound Interest Calculator and Income Tax Calculator for more calculations.