How to use it
Enter your gross pay and set the frequency to match how you are actually paid: annual, monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, or hourly. Hourly needs your rate and your usual hours per week.
Pick your filing status, which sets both the standard deduction and the bracket thresholds used.
Add any pre-tax deductions such as a 401(k) or HSA. Set a state rate if your state charges income tax. The results update as you type.
The 2026 numbers this uses
The IRS published these inRevenue Procedure 2025-32on 9 October 2025.
| Filing status | 2026 standard deduction |
|---|---|
| Single | $16,100 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,200 |
| Head of household | $24,150 |
| Married filing separately | $16,100 |
Seven federal brackets apply on top: 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 37 percent. For a single filer the 10 percent band runs to $12,400 of taxable income, and 37 percent starts above $640,600.
FICA is separate from all of that. Social Security takes 6.2 percent of wages up to $184,500 in 2026. Medicare takes 1.45 percent with no ceiling at all, plus another 0.9 percent on wages above $200,000 for a single filer, or $250,000 filing jointly.
Anyone aged 65 or over adds $2,050 to the standard deduction filing single, or $1,650 per qualifying spouse filing jointly.
Your paycheck gets bigger partway through the year
High earners spot this and assume payroll made a mistake.
Social Security tax stops once your year-to-date wages pass $184,500. Not reduced. Stopped. From that paycheck on you keep the 6.2 percent that had been disappearing, so your net pay jumps by about that much for the rest of the year.
On a $250,000 salary you cross the wage base around September. Every cheque after it is visibly fatter. Then January arrives, the wage base resets, and your pay drops back to where it was. Nothing about your salary changed. You are simply paying Social Security again from the first dollar.
Medicare never stops. That is why the jump is 6.2 percent rather than the full 7.65.
Why a 401(k) does not cut your FICA
This one costs people money because they plan around the wrong assumption.
A traditional 401(k) comes out before federal income tax. It does not come out before Social Security and Medicare. Put $10,000 in and your taxable income drops by $10,000, but you still pay the full 7.65 percent FICA on it.
Cafeteria plan benefits are different. Health premiums, an FSA, and HSA money routed through payroll salary reduction escape income tax and FICA both. That is a real 7.65 percent the 401(k) never gives you.
So if your employer offers an HSA through payroll, use it. Same deposit either way. One route dodges FICA, the other does not.
Employer matching sits outside FICA too. That is on their ledger, not yours.
Marginal rate is not the rate you pay
Landing in the 24 percent bracket does not mean 24 percent of your income goes to federal tax. It never has, and the misunderstanding leads people to turn down raises.
Brackets stack. Your first slice of taxable income pays 10 percent. The next slice pays 12. And so on up. Only the money sitting inside a bracket pays that bracket's rate, so moving up applies the higher rate to the dollars above the line and leaves everything underneath taxed exactly as before.
A raise can never leave you worse off.
The number actually worth watching is your effective rate: total tax divided by total income. Someone in the 24 percent bracket usually lands nearer 15 or 16 percent once the standard deduction and the lower bands have done their work. Both figures show in the results.
Example: salary after taxes
Say you earn a 60,000 dollar salary, file as single and live in a no-income-tax state with no extra deductions. After the 16,100 dollar standard deduction, your federal taxable income is about 43,900 dollars, which the 2026 brackets tax at roughly 5,000 dollars. FICA adds about 4,590 dollars (6.2% Social Security plus 1.45% Medicare on the full 60,000). That leaves close to 50,400 dollars a year, or about 1,940 dollars per bi-weekly paycheck. Add a state rate or a 401(k) contribution and the calculator updates the take-home figure instantly so you can see the effect.
State income tax at a glance
State rules vary a lot, which is why the state field is a single estimate you control. Nine states have no income tax (enter 0): Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Several others charge a flat rate, including (2026 examples): Arizona 2.5%, Colorado 4.4%, Illinois 4.95%, Indiana 2.95%, Kentucky 3.5%, Michigan 4.25%, North Carolina 4.5%, Ohio 2.75%, Pennsylvania 3.07%, Utah 4.5%, Georgia 4.99%, Idaho 5.3%, Louisiana 3%, Mississippi 4% and Massachusetts 5%. States with graduated brackets (such as California or New York) are not flat, use your effective rate for the closest estimate.
Where the estimate falls short
Treat the result as a close approximation, not your actual cheque.
Your W-4 drives real withholding. What you put on it for dependents, multiple jobs, and extra withholding can move the number a long way in either direction. Credits like the child tax credit land when you file, not here.
State income tax is a flat rate in this tool. Most states with an income tax run graduated brackets plus their own deductions and credits, so enter your known effective rate if you have it. Nine states tax no wage income at all.
Local taxes are not modelled. New York, Philadelphia, and much of Ohio levy their own. Some states add disability or paid family leave on top.
Post-tax deductions sit outside this entirely. Union dues, garnishments, insurance taken after tax, all of it comes off the net figure you see here.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my real paycheck different from this?
Usually the W-4. Withholding follows what you put on that form, including dependents and extra withholding, and this calculator does not model those entries. Local taxes and post-tax deductions account for most of the rest.
Does a 401(k) contribution lower my Social Security tax?
No. Traditional 401(k) money escapes federal income tax but still pays the full 7.65 percent FICA. Health premiums and payroll-routed HSA contributions escape both.
Why did my take-home pay go up in the autumn?
You probably crossed the $184,500 Social Security wage base, so the 6.2 percent stopped for the rest of the year. It resets every January.
Will a raise push me into a higher bracket and cost me money?
No. Only the income above the threshold is taxed at the higher rate. Everything underneath keeps its old rate, so more gross pay always means more take-home pay.
Does this handle hourly pay?
Yes. Choose hourly, enter your rate and weekly hours, and it works from 52 paid weeks. Overtime and irregular weeks will shift the real figure.
Is this tax advice?
No. It is an estimate built on published 2026 federal figures, and it is a planning tool rather than a filing document. Check anything that matters against the IRS or a tax professional.
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Estimates only and not tax advice; verify important figures against IRS and your state tax authority.